Skukuza Planning Stages

I've settled in to my living situation here in Skukuza, Kruger National Park and am quickly checking off things from my To-Do list. It feels so good to finally have whole days devoted to planning the actual project. Every time I check something off my list a huge weight is lifted off my shoulders. I think I've been much more tense about this project since I started fundraising than I thought I was.

Of course, being on vacation before the project really got underway with my mom and brother was definitely not "stressful." First, we went to Kenya to the Maasai Mara, a park known for the local community of Maasai people and the great migration that comes through every year. The wildebeest that take part in the migration come from Tanzania to the Mara during the dry season where there is more water. We only saw the beginnings of the migration (still thousands of wildebeest), but when it is in full swing apparently the entire horizon is black with millions and millions of the funny looking animals.

Zebras join the giant herds of Wildebeest on the migration, using the large numbers for extra security from predation. 

Photo: Eleanor Kenimer, 2014

After the Maasai Mara we headed back to South Africa, dropped my brother off in Johannesburg and then my mom and I flew to Skukuza to begin our stay with Jock Safari Lodge in Kruger National Park. It was really nice to get a reintroduction to KNP by being given tours by profession game drivers and rangers. All of the names of animals and plants started rushing back into my brain and I think those few days of intense game drives and walks at Jock will be invaluable for my confidence when I start teaching. The environment and the animals that exist here are just incredible. Even if you have seen an elephant or a big cat in a zoo, seeing them out in their natural habitat is a whole different feeling. It's hard to explain how you get a sense of true wilderness, how humans aren't meant to be such a huge part of the ecosystem and how much we've disrupted the habitats of these much more nobel beings.

Two young leopards hanging out in a tree while mama is off doing the hunting. 

Photo: Eleanor Kenimer, 2014

On the last day of our vacation I said goodbye to my mom in the Skukuza Airport and was picked up and brought to our site near the staff village of Skukuza. Immediately I was greeting with enthusiasm and brought back into the OTS/Nsasani family. Being in a familiar setting and getting my bearings is so wonderful. It instantly felt like all the worries I had about whether this project was actually going to come to fruition were gone. My first night here was a huge braai* with everyone currently doing work with the organisation I am here with in some way or another.

So now I get to the logistics planning stage of the project. We've selected the students that are going to come on the course, we've booked the accommodations and catering for them, and a vision is starting to form. And that feels amazing.

Thanks again to everyone that helped make this project a reality. This is where the donations from everyone are starting to be put to good use. Your money is invaluable for booking accommodations for students, for getting food for them, and for providing an experience these students would never get otherwise.

On my way!

I am sitting on my flight from Washington, D.C. to Johannesburg, South Africa and it finally feels like my summer working abroad has officially begun. Well, first my family is going to Kenya for vacation for a few days and then I will head to Kruger National Park in South Africa to begin work on the education project. For those of you who don't know, I have been fundraising and planning a environmental science and research skills camp for high school students that live in the villages surrounding Kruger National Park. I have been working with The Nsasani Trust and Skukuza Science Leadership Initiative to plan and implement this project. On July 6, ten high school students will join me in Kruger National Park to do an intensive science and research camp to help them learn skills necessary to pursue a career or further education in the scientific field. The students will all come from Acorns to oaks, a school dedicated to closing the academic gap and which is located in the Bohlabela District, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

My emotions on the way to South Africa are a mixture of excitement, nervousness, bewilderment, and anxiousness. Planning projects from abroad is hard. Fundraising is even harder. I probably should have learned from the last two times I traveled to South Africa that often things get figured out at the last minute. Communication from afar is tough and timeliness sometimes doesn't exist. Of course, being used to our capitalist time-is-money way of life in the United States makes this more chilled laid back attitude about deadlines and planning seem frustrating. But it has also taught me to be more relaxed and to trust that you have the ability to figure everything out and that everything will fall into place eventually. I know that what I am doing is important and I will make it happen no matter what.


The other week I heard from one of my former students form a pilot project I did in South Africa two years ago. She wrote to me about herself and the two other students who I worked with the most. They had all passed their final examinations and were preparing and hoping to further school soon. She finished by saying "we were just wondering when are you coming back to South Africa we miss you..."
These students, who live so close to such amazing wildlife, have never gotten to see it.

Her words came at a perfect time of self-doubt while planning for this trip. I suddenly realized my hesitations and anxiety about not being ready, not having enough money, not knowing how to communicate effectively, etc. etc. were ultimately selfish. It isn't about ME being ready. I have the ability to GET ready if it means that ten lives are impacted in a positive and life-changing way. I realize the injustice that this will be my third time flying across the world to South Africa. I have entered the gates to Kruger National Park countless times. 

So I have been working on a day-by-day itinerary, gathering materials for different projects, and finalizing the budget hoping that I have enough to give the students the best experience I can. I am on my way to a country that I now consider a second home and I can't wait to have the opportunity to give back to it.

A special thank you to everyone who donated to my project! I could not have done this project without you. If anyone wants to check out the fundraising page, here is the link. If you have the means to donate, anything will still help!
https://www.gofundme.com/qwmqs72k