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Work of the World

Travel isn’t sight-seeing. Travel is experiencing. The Spring 2012 itinerary brought students to dozens of cities on 4 different continents in order to see firsthand how life takes place around the world–where people live, what they eat, how they get around, and–most importantly–where they work. From the endless activity of Shanghai to the sleepy slopes of Dominica, students spent the past several months seeing the diversity of the world by learning from the people who inhabit it. The following photos showcase the many methods people around the world use to sustain themselves, their families, and their futures.

Staff photographer Brian Scannell snapped the following gallery of photos throughout the Spring 2012 voyage.

A woman changes a diaper at the day care center she owns in Chris Hani Township, South Africa
A metal scrapper in Kochi, India welds old oil cans shut for reuse
Farmers balance on the steep trails of the mountainside rice terraces in Guilin, China
Just behind the arts market in Accra, Ghana, a woodcarver whittles an elephant for sale.
A butcher prepares offal, or animal entrails, for sale at her streetside stand in Chris Hani Township, South Africa
A Brazilian man prepares bananas outside the market in Manaus during his 10-hour-workday
Fishermen punt through the famous backwaters of Allepey, India
Religious tattoo artists ink customers on the city streets outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in Manaus, Brazil
Folding paper lanterns by day, selling them by night so visitors can set the illuminated art adrift in the rivers of Hoi An, Viet Nam
A South African barber at work in his combination barbershop/shoe store, housed in a former shipping container in Chris Hani Township
A man in Hakone, Japan boils eggs in the local sulfur hot springs, a traditional treat for visitors to the area
Indian seamstresses work the looms in Chendamangalam, making blankets for $3 a day
A bike mechanic grabs a wheel from his pile of scrap parts at Makola Market in Accra, Ghana
A man scrubs off his elephant in preparation for an afternoon show in Allepey, India
In Togorme, Ghana, potters craft cookware to support the village economy
Merchants waiting to filet fish at the daily riverside market in Manaus, Brazil
A woman sorts through produce in the local market of Hoi An, Viet Nam
An Indian man tasked with repairing the local roadways takes a short break from shoveling asphalt in Chendamangalam
A Zen tea master carries out the traditional tea ceremony in Kyoto, Japan
Some men make a living by hustling at the local pool halls of Manaus, Brazil
Indian fishermen use a rock counterbalance to lower nets into the Indian Ocean in Kochi
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