A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E - Colby-Sawyer College

Thousands of Little Moments
Finding Passion and Purpose in Africa
I
have been interested in Africa my whole life, and though I
am not sure how this interest started, I know what fueled
it. Throughout my childhood, the documentaries and
television programs about Africa I watched made me want to
experience the contrasting landscapes and incredible wildlife of
the continent for myself. I never let go of that dream.
My first year at college was a very uncertain period as I struggled
to determine what my time at Colby-Sawyer should look
like. Then the tug I felt about going to Africa deepened when
my Pathway, Migration, discussed the origins of mankind and
the possibility of the first early hominids having come from
Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. I cannot help but think of Africa as
the raw birthplace of the earth and my own species. My classes
“East Africa was the best and
hardest teacher I have ever had.”
at Colby-Sawyer encouraged my mind to “take off its Western
thinking cap,” as Associate Professor of Natural Sciences Nick
Baer says, and practice a global perspective.
The School for Field Studies (SFS) is an organization with
field stations all over the world for environmental, biology and
public health study abroad programs. I was fortunate that the
Colby-Sawyer Environmental Department has a partnership
with SFS which enables seniors to study abroad during/in their
fall semester, gain academic credits required for graduation, and
have their directed research project (the most important aspect
of the SFS program) become their senior Capstone. With the aid
of my professors, I completed the application to spend Fall 2010
in Tanzania and Kenya.
I usually refer to my semester abroad as a dream come true.
I wish I could properly describe the moment I was able to see
the Olduvai Gorge, which I’d discussed in my Pathway class on
campus, while traveling to Serengeti National Park on expedition
in Tanzania, but that seems to be the overall nature of
sharing my experience abroad: it’s a struggle to find words that
might not even exist for the purpose I need. In the months
since I returned, I have realized that my time in East Africa
colored my life in more ways than I could have ever imagined.
I never expected to leave a continent with two countries permanently
printed on my heart, affecting every thought and
action I have.
28 COLBY-SAWYER ALUMNI MAGAZINE
Story and photos by Jeanne Clark ’11
The SFS program I attended begins in one country, where
the students take classes and learn about the area, and halfway
through the semester switches to the second country, where
students conduct their final directed research projects. All the
professors and staff at each site (Moyo Hill in Rhotia, Tanzania
and Kilimanjaro Bush Camp in Kimana, Kenya) are from the
area, except for the Student Affairs Managers—the “Mom”
of each site—who were also Americans. I began my semester
in Tanzania, studying wildlife ecology, wildlife management,
environmental policy and introductory Swahili with 27 other
American students.
My group had the honor of being the first students at Moyo
Hill, , as the site had just j been built over the summer.
Sept. 5, 2010
We arrived at our Tanzanian camp site on Tuesday,
and as our Land Cruisers pulled past the gates (which
had beautiful elephants and lions painted on them by a
local artist), we were met by everyone who works here:
all the staff, cooks and professors were there to cheer and
welcome us with huge smiles.
It was overwhelming to walk down this massive line of
people, shake their hands, try to understand their Swahili,
and attempt to remember so many new names. I couldn’t
believe how happy they were to see us.
They built this new camp site in the past three months
and it is beautiful. At the original site, we would have been
living in tents with little or no access to a private bathroom.
Here, everyone lives in a little cement banda with
three or four roommates and has their own bathroom.
Our chumba (a bigger structure for large groups of
people) is in the middle of the camp, where we study and
have all our meals and big meetings. We have one classroom,
a small library and computer room and the staff
has their own offices and bandas. The camp is surrounded
by a fence of thorny bushes—believe me, you don’t want
to be caught in them.