August 2, 2016
I am home from Africa!!!
First of all, I never would have been able to make this trip and have
these experiences without the support of my family and friends taking care of
my house, my animals, and supporting me!
Thank you so so much!
It was a nerve racking trip for me…anyone who knows me knows
that I don’t travel- like ever. So I
left my house, my animals, my family, my friends- for a month, and traveled
halfway around the world, by myself. I
was homesick initially, there were a few times in the first couple weeks that I
wanted to go home. All of the volunteers
were in the same boat- travel hours and hours and get plopped down in a
wildlife orphanage with people from all over the world, different
nationalities, personalities, and backgrounds.
Now you have to live together and work together 24-7. I wouldn’t trade this past month for anything
in the world. I was hard to say goodbye
to people after two, three, or four weeks.
We became a family- we hacked up dead, rotten animals to feed the
carnivores. We got stuck in the middle
on nowhere on the side of the road on the way to Vic Falls after hitting a
cow. We all experienced new things- we
became an extended Brady Bunch. How odd
for Ryan and Micky (Nicky and Kevin’s children) to grow up this way…there are
constantly different people, from all over the world, invading their
house. Oh the people they must
meet! And then, they leave…maybe to
never see them again!
Overall, visiting Africa was an absolutely amazing
experience!! Some of these things I have
already written before, but I am want to reflect on the experience
overall. It was total culture shock when
I arrived. I found myself, on a daily
basis, asking myself questions about how daily life functioned.
How can people live without hot water?
How can people live with no running water?
How can they live with no electricity?
Your toilet is a hole in the ground?
How is it possible for families to struggle to afford $120 a
YEAR to send their child to school.
How can schools not have enough books for their students.
How does a school not have electricity?
What do you mean there are no power tools?
Can’t we use the chainsaw to cut this pole that is harder
than concrete???
Government turned to power out again?
Your definition of gross is different from their definition
of gross.
I can’t just turn on the tap and get a glass of water?
No you can’t go to the bank and use the ATM….there is no
money in it.
How do the police figure out who they are going to stop at
the roadblocks?
I’m not sure what exactly I expected when I left for
Zimbabwe- but I don’t think that I ever expected to have such an eye opening
experience. There were things that were
just as you would imagine- thatched roofs, dirt, lots of grass. We are so lucky in this country- and
wasteful! Nothing in Chipangali went to
waste. Nothing anywhere went to
waste. Food scraps go to the
animals. Things get reused. When we were in Matopos doing the carnivore
research, we found a dead wildebeest- she died from natural causes. But following a necropsy she was cut up and
the meat was given to the workers. A
kudu was found in a snare- rather than the poachers getting the meat, she was
cut up and given to the workers on that farm and some local villagers that
needed food. They don’t have
refrigeration- so what do you do with the meat?
Hang it over a fence in the sun so it dries out and lasts longer. There are people walking a herd of cows and
goats down the side of the road. Take
the old nails out of that fencing and hammer them all straight so they can go
in the new fencing. There is no just
running to the grocery store on a whim for dinner. No Dunkin, Wawa, or Quick Chek for
coffee. I’m still not sure where you go
clothes shopping…there were definitely no malls there. How easy it is to go to the store and buy a
padded envelope to mail something to someone?
Not there. Need a gift for
someone? Go on Amazon and have it
delivered to them or your house the next day…or within hours in some
areas! You don’t go to Tractor Supply to
get feed for your animal…you make their diet yourself. All of the houses have fencing topped with
razor or barbed wire or electric around them.
As much as we all complain about teaching in the US and in
NJ- we don’t have classrooms that have holes in the ceilings. We don’t have books that are so outdated and
have to be shared by 4 or 5 students per book.
We have paper. We have
electricity. We have computers. As teachers, we aren’t making every single
poster that is on the walls. When you
need supplies you can order them. The
pencil cases Natalie’s students put together were a huge hit with the
students! The kids and teachers were so
appreciative! Their supplies are so
minimal. The teachers loved the lessons
Natalie’s students made.
By our standards, I would say that the areas I was in are
poverty stricken. But I guess that the
term “poverty” is totally relative. I’m
not really sure what poverty is in Zimbabwe.
Despite all these things that we see as deficiencies- they
don’t see it that way- they don’t know any other way. That’s how life is for them and that’s how it
has always been- so who are we to feel sorry for them? We visited one of the villages in Matopos-
the children that lived there were so happy and excited to see us. They sang and danced for us. The don’t know about all the TV shows they
are missing- or facebook, instagram, or twitter.
Live each of your days to the fullest. Chase your dreams. Appreciate everything, everyone, and everyday
you are given!
