How a Collegiette Started Her Own Nonprofit & is Saving Lives in South Africa

We’ve been trained to think that our first job out of college will be a not-so-glamorous position with maximum hours and a minimal wage. However, Whitney Johnson did something out of the ordinary. Instead of filling out applications at the end of her senior year, Whitney founded Ubuntu Africa, a nonprofit organization that provides medical and social support to HIV positive children in South Africa. Five years after Ubuntu’s conception, the organization is expanding and Whitney, who moved to Africa to run the organization, serves as a true inspiration for collegiettes™ who want to make a difference in the world—read on to see why!

Studying abroad inspired her
Whitney never thought that she’d be saving the world one child at a time when she started school at Colorado College. “I was really into psychology and medicine,” says Whitney. “I was definitely contemplating going to medical school.” So what inspired her to create a nonprofit organization? Believe it or not, Whitney’s study abroad program changed her life forever. The day before her study abroad application was due, Whitney decided on a whim to apply to her college’s program in Cape Town. “It just suddenly popped in my head,” explains Whitney. “I just felt like I had to do it.”

When Whitney landed in South Africa during her junior year of college, it was clear that she wasn’t in Colorado anymore. “Living in Cape Town, it feels like you’re in a first world country: you have everything at your fingertips and it’s a gorgeous place to be,” says Whitney. “But when you drive 15 minutes outside of the city, you’re in a squatter camp and are surrounded by children who are sick, malnourished, and suffering.”  Although the conditions in South Africa are different than those in America, Whitney saw that South Africans aren’t so different than any of us. “I think at the root of it is that people are the same, no matter where you go,” says Whitney.
While she was studying abroad, she volunteered at an orphanage in a nearby township called Khayelitsha. With 60 orphans and four caretakers, Whitney found herself doing many less-than-glamorous tasks. Unlike your typical study abroad program, Whitney’s daily duties included everything from cleaning beds to changing diapers. “It was all in the moment and doing what I could,” she explains.