Student Safety When Studying Abroad

The lives of Charles and Anne Schewe changed forever when they received a phone call with tragic news on March 27, 1996.

During that call, Dr. and Mrs. Schewe learned that their daughter Sara, a junior at Georgetown University, had been killed in a charter bus accident on a treacherous road in India. The bus was transporting students and chaperones from the Semester at Sea program for a once-in-a-lifetime visit to the Taj Mahal. Meeting their untimely death along with Sara were two tour guides, one chaperone and four other students.

Since that fateful day nearly 14 years ago, the Schewes have thought countless times about what might have been when it comes to their daughter. Sara would be in her mid-30s now, and she was described as a loving and vibrant person, just as are her parents, whom I had the pleasure to meet a few weeks ago. There is no denying that the Schewes have grieved considerably, and there is probably not a day that has gone for them by without a subtle reminder of Sara’s presence.

But from my conversation with Dr. and Mrs. Schewe, and from my review of the work they have done in the wake of their daughter’s death, I can also attest that the Schewes have not been overcome by grief, but instead have been moved to act meaningfully in their daughter’s memory.

What have the Schewe’s done and what do they have in the works? The answers are quite a bit and a whole lot more.

First, to meet their goal of saving lives, the Schewes created Sara’s Wish Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to enhance travel safety around the world and to honor Sara’s memory.

Take a look at the group’s Web site, www.saraswish.org, where a new video on travel safety abroad is displayed prominently on the home page. This video was produced in collaboration with some of the leading organizations, domestic and international, which are concerned with road safety.

One of those organizations, the Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT), is dedicated to improving global road safety through education and advocacy. Working under the premise that road crashes are predictable and preventable, ASIRT’s mission is to inform travelers, especially those studying abroad, of existing road risks, thereby saving lives and minimizing crash-related injuries.

Please visit www.asirt.org to learn more about that group’s safe travel resources, including “A Global Road Safety Toolbox for the Study Abroad Community,” a 100-page manual for study-abroad professionals, which offers information to plan safe itineraries and prepare students to make safe, informed travel choices while traveling abroad.

Since 1996, thanks to the efforts of Charles and Anne Schewe, ASIRT and others, there have been a number of advances in the materials and information available to students and their parents. These advances have helped to minimize safety issues for students traveling abroad, but more remains to be done.

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