Four out of five Bowdoin students planning to study in African countries in close proximity to the Ebola virus outbreak have returned early or cancelled their abroad plans altogether. The Office of Off-Campus Study (OCS) neither encouraged nor prohibited students from continuing their abroad studies.

Usually nine percent of all students studying abroad in any given year decide to travel to an African country. 

OCS encouraged students to consider both their health and safety while they made their decision whether to discontinue study plans in an area close to the outbreak of the virus. The individual study abroad programs also kept students informed about current health conditions in their intended areas of travel.

Christine Wintersteen, director of Off-Campus Study, told students, “As you prepare to go abroad [stay] abreast of current issues going on in your country, whether they are political or health related, and please let us know if this has impacted your decision to study abroad.”

According to Wintersteen, OCS was in close communication with students who planned to travel abroad to the infected areas.

“We were letting students know if your plans change, we are here for you and we can facilitate any sort of decision you want,” she said. “If you want to have a conversation with us and use us as a sounding board, you’re welcome to do that. If you want to come back to Bowdoin, we can help facilitate getting housing and classes while you transition back to Bowdoin.”

Three students who had already arrived in Ghana and Morocco decided to return, despite the fact that there have been no documented cases of Ebola in either country. One student who planned to study in Senegal decided to stay at Bowdoin before travelling to Africa, and one student is currently studying in Ghana. Six other students are studying in African countries that are farther from the outbreak of the virus. 

When Katherine Churchill ’16 chose not to travel to Senegal this fall after information about the Ebola outbreak became so prevalent in the news, the spread of the sickness was greatly expanding. Only one case of Ebola has been documented in Senegal.

Although it was initially difficult for Churchill to decide to stay in Brunswick, she says she is now content with her decision.

“When you’re lucky enough to not be in a place where something horrible has happened, it is a privilege to not go abroad and not be someone who lives there, who cannot escape,” said Churchill. “People learn best when they’re not afraid, and to be in an environment where you are really afraid of the disease would not be the best conditions under which to study abroad.”

Back on campus, Churchill did initially have difficulty readjusting. She had to arrange her living arrangements on very short notice and sign up for all four classes during the add/drop period.

Looking ahead to the spring, Churchill is still unsure whether she will study abroad or not. She said she “would want to go somewhere different. I would not want the same thing to happen again, because logistically it was difficult to manage. I would try to go somewhere where I knew my study abroad plans would be relatively solid.”

Wintersteen said that students should continue to consider timing in their study abroad plans. Deciding to go abroad is “an individual, personal decision and it doesn’t mean that that place is forever not a good place for them to go.”

Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that there have been documented cases of Ebola in Morocco and Ghana. The article has been updated to correct this error.