Shijo Benjamin of Bensalem Attends Widener University Cultural Immersion Trip to the Gullah/Geechee Nation

2015 Sep 3

Shijo Benjamin, a 2016 Biochemistry major at Widener University from Bensalem, Pa, attended a summer cultural immersion trip run by the university to the Gullah/Geechee Nation along the South Carolina and Georgia coasts. The Gullah/Geechee people descended from west and central African ethnic groups whose people were brought to the New World to work as slaves on plantations.

All of the Widener students spent time learning about the rich -- and well preserved -- culture of the Gullah/Geechee people and volunteering to help them in a number of different ways. Tasks included helping to create a digital archive, painting and cleaning up outdoor spaces.

The students also explored the cities of Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S.C. While in Charleston, they stopped at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, the site where nine people were shot and killed in June by a lone gunman. The preacher was a Gullah.

The students were impressed how the Gullahs have emerged from this incident as they always have -- with forgiveness and strength.