Global Dialogue, Local Impact: Rutgers School of Social Work Faculty Engages Youth in South Africa

At Rutgers School of Social Work, global engagement is not just a concept. It is a lived practice shaped by faculty who bring their scholarship, experiences, and commitments to communities around the world. For Assistant Professor Durrell M. Washington Sr., a recent trip to South Africa became a powerful extension of that mission. 

In February, Dr. Washington was invited to participate in a trip organized by Liberation for Us, in partnership with Camp of Good Hope, in Cape Town, South Africa. What began as a series of workshops with young people quickly evolved into something deeper. “The conversations were incredibly meaningful and often very informal,” said Dr. Washington. “It felt less like a traditional workshop and more like a shared dialogue.”

While he arrived with a structured plan, Dr. Washington found that the most impactful moments came organically. “Many of the most powerful moments came from simply talking with the young people openly,” he said. “I shared parts of my own story, including my academic journey and the communities I come from. In turn, they opened up about their own lives, aspirations, and the pressures they face navigating expectations from family, school, and society.” 

Those exchanges revealed a striking level of self-awareness among the youth. “What stood out to me most was how thoughtful they were about the tension between passion and practicality,” he explained. “They were thinking deeply about their futures. About purpose, security, and identity.”

Many participants spoke about wanting to pursue creative paths in film, art, music, and storytelling while feeling pressure to choose more conventional careers. “That tension is something young people everywhere are grappling with,” Dr. Washington said. “It was powerful to see how deeply they were thinking about what it means to contribute to their communities.”

At the same time, the conversations were grounded in a sophisticated understanding of structural inequality. “Many of the young people were already critically reflecting on the systems around them,” he noted. “They understood how inequality, historical legacies of apartheid, and economic opportunity continue to shape what feels possible for their generation.” 

Yet alongside that awareness was hope. “There was a strong sense of creativity and possibility in the room,” Dr. Washington said. “Through storytelling and dialogue, they were imagining ways to make an impact even when pathways feel uncertain.”

For Dr. Washington, those moments reinforced a central message of his work: the importance of imagination. “One of the main things I wanted them to take away was the importance of dreaming big,” he said. “Not just adapting to the world as it is, but imagining the kind of world they want to live in.”

He encouraged participants to think expansively about justice and freedom. “Real change often begins with people being able to envision something different,” he said. “And then collectively working toward making that vision possible.”

Dr. Washington also introduced ideas that shape his own scholarship. “When I talk about abolition, I’m not only talking about eliminating prisons,” he explained. “I’m talking about building new systems of care, accountability, and community support that make those systems unnecessary in the first place.”

That framework resonated with many of the young people, particularly those drawn to creative expression. “We talked about storytelling as a tool for social change,” he said. “I wanted them to recognize that their experiences and perspectives are powerful and that storytelling itself can be a form of advocacy and transformation.”

The program brought together an interdisciplinary group of facilitators from around the world, including social workers, clinicians, educators, activists, and artists. “That diversity created a really dynamic environment,” Dr. Washington said. “Each person brought a different lens to conversations about justice, healing, and community transformation.”

Even as facilitators led sessions in different spaces, there was a shared ethos. “There was a collective understanding that the goal was not simply to teach,” he said, “but to learn from the young people and the community as much as we were sharing with them.”

The South African setting added profound historical and cultural depth to the experience. Visits to Robben Island (Cape Town), the Apartheid Museum (Johannasburg), and the Hector Pieterson Memorial (Soweto) grounded conversations in the country’s long struggle against apartheid.

One moment stood out in particular. “Visiting Robben Island was incredibly meaningful,” Dr. Washington said. “The fact that the tour was led by a former political prisoner made it deeply moving. It’s something you can’t replicate through books or documentaries.”

Standing in the space where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned prompted deeper reflection. “For someone whose work centers on incarceration, it made me think even more critically about what life after confinement looks like,” he said. “What does freedom actually mean after someone has endured years of imprisonment?”

The experience also highlighted clear parallels between South Africa and the United States. “Both societies are shaped by legacies of racial segregation and structural inequality,” Washington said. “You can see it in housing, education, and access to opportunity.”

Young participants were eager to explore those connections. “They asked thoughtful questions about policing, immigration enforcement, and systemic racism in the U.S.,” he noted. “What stood out to me was how globally aware they were.”

Those conversations, he said, underscored a larger truth. “Struggles for dignity, equity, and liberation are deeply interconnected across the world,” Dr. Washington said. “While the histories differ, many communities are confronting similar questions.”

The trip is already influencing his work at Rutgers School of Social Work. “This experience will strongly shape both my teaching and my research,” he said. “It reinforced how important it is to show students that these conversations are not just theoretical. They’re connected to real struggles happening globally.”

Dr. Washington plans to integrate more international perspectives into his courses while also exploring new research collaborations. “I’m particularly interested in work that centers storytelling and lived experience,” he said. “My goal would be to create opportunities for young people to document their own stories and community histories while building research skills that empower them to participate in knowledge production.”

Ultimately, the experience reaffirmed his commitment to community-engaged scholarship. “The conversations with youth and activists reminded me that storytelling, reflection, and relationships are powerful tools for social transformation,” he said. “I hope participants walked away with a sense of possibility and empowerment,” Dr. Washington said. “That their voices, creativity, and lived experiences matter.”

The trip also left a lasting personal impact. “What I ultimately took away is that this work around justice, healing, and community care is part of a much larger global conversation,” Dr. Washington said. “The creativity, resistance,  and hope I witnessed reminded me why this work matters.”

And perhaps most importantly, he added, “It reminded me that we’re not just navigating systems. We have the capacity to shape and transform them.”