Marline Mushwana is a 24-year-old student from Pretoria, South Africa who is affectionately known by her nickname, ‘Precious’. Thanks to CHI, she is also currently interning at Oak Grove Pig Farm in Gillespie, Illinois, learning about the day-to-day tasks of raising pigs. At home in Pretoria, Precious studied Animal Production at Tshwane University of Technology. Discovering CHI’s internship program, she learned how she could spend a year in the United States studying hog management, and immediately knew it would be an enjoyable and valuable experience.
Spending time at Oak Grove has been exactly what she had hoped. She began learning about farrowing, then moved to the nursery and now she assists with breeding, which she says that she really enjoys. She’s glad that she’s been able to gain experience in such a broad variety of disciplines, since these are all skills that will help her in her future career. She has also enjoyed the benefits of just being in America, immersing herself in American culture and getting hands-on business experience.
As part of her internship, Precious has been able to lean on a strong support system.
She has been living with a wonderful host family and has become close to her supervisor, who has taught her a great deal. She is also extremely thankful for her CHI Community Coordinator, Dayna O’Brien, for all of her help and assistance.
Once Precious completes her internship, she plans to return home and use the knowledge and skills she’s gained to start her own animal production project in South Africa. But she will always fondly remember her time at Oak Grove, and will always be a part of CHI’s extended family.
