A positive spin
In an Op-Ed piece published in January by the Boston Herald and Providence Journal, Beth Ann Caspersen ’96 wrote about unsung heroes and the good work being done in Africa.
Having returned from her second trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Caspersen said that positive stories need to be shared and that “the constant drumbeat of only bad news actually badly misinforms us about a vital and vibrant part of the world.”
“Africa is huge and diverse, and its people are so much more than what the headlines imply,” Caspersen wrote in the editorial.
She highlighted the work being done by the Panzi Hospital, which provides obstetrical and gynecological care to women in the DRC, and its founder, Dr. Denis Mukwege, as well as the efforts of Congolese coffee farmer Joachim Munganga, who founded a farmers cooperative in the same region.
The Tiverton, R.I., native is a coffee expert for Equal Exchange, working with farmer organizations throughout the world, including in the DRC, Ethiopia and Uganda.
She first traveled to Africa while majoring in anthropology at Wheaton, living and studying in a village in rural Kenya. She has since returned to the continent a dozen times through her work with Equal Exchange.
Read her editorial on the Providence Journal site or at BostonHerald.com.