Daily+Reflections


 * Daily Reflections - 2011**

This is where we will post reflections on daily activities throughout the program. Every day on a program like this can be exhausting with both amazing and difficult experiences. Often we forget to record these everyday occurrences. We would like to document these experiences for those of you watching the program from a distance.

May 12, 2011 Today we went to Mabarula High School in Mpumalanaga. We all worked diligently since lunch yesterday on what and how to teach the students a lesson. We finally decided on a lesson that would work. The lesson decided on for the 12th graders was on scatter plots, correlation, and slope. Each of us gave a portion of the lecture. While I was presenting definitions, I tried to engage the students and get them to answer questions, but they would not respond. After the lecture we divided the 92 students into 4 groups, and went out to the soccer field and did an activity where the students had to measure their leg length, do a running jump, measure the distance and record all data. After the data was collected we returned to the classroom and all groups did a graph of the data, drew the line of correlation, calculated slope (what they call gradient) and presented their group work to the class. Being at the school was great. I was a little nervous about the students not answering my questions in the lectures, and how that would affect our interaction during the outdoor data collection. When we reached the field they explained that they were listening to me talk. They were shocked because they expected me to have an African accent. They told me that I spoke very good English. After that, the ice was broken. The activity went great and the learners had so many questions about me, America, where I live, my children and just life in the United States in general. At the end of our visit everyone had 'Cokes' (a variety of canned sodas) and took lots of pictures.

KCS


 * Daily Reflections (//DFD//):**


 * 5/9 Drive to Kruger National Park (//Johannesburg to Nelspruit to Kruger//):**

The scenery is wonderful. We all had a solid sleep at the motel. I think that I can speak for everyone, that the shower was heavenly after twenty seven hours of traveling. I can’t believe I left my door unlocked in Joburg. I was too tired to deal with a faulty lock. In the morning, Melissa gave it a hard slam which did the trick. Welcome toAfrica!

Writing is declining as road conditions become less friendly. We have entered the Phabeni Gate and Professor David Bunn just showed us a grave site that was created in the traditional Shangaan way. When a man or women dies is this culture, a branch of the Buffalo Thorn tree is taken from the motherland and planted at the grave site. Supposedly this is to catch the soul of the person. I thought this was very poetic.




 * 5/10 KNP- Skukuza:**

Today we saw a rhino midden, which is a spot where rhino repeatedly defecate in order to mark their territory. Some of them appear to be colossal- indicative of the size of this animal and its ability to graze huge amounts of grass. No rhino sightings, however.

Interestingly, we also visited Rhinoceros Hill, the memorial site of James Stevenson-Hamilton, first warden of the park. The sunset was beautiful and I thought that there seemed to be more pink in color than a North Carolina sunset.


 * 5/11 KNP- Skukuza:**

We have a busy schedule here at vet camp. I feel like we have been submerged in a giant think tank, and we are little sponges soaking every bit of information that we can.

We have been fortunate to see many giraffe. They are one of my favorite animals as their large bodies and extremely long necks are so fascinating. Yet they are graceful and are excellent posers. Apparently their curiosity to look in the direction of movement is not a good survival tactic in the wild, but very sweet for our photograph session. Their long eye lashes and charming camel-like faces make for a great shot.

Lake Panic for sundowners- hum, I wonder why it has this name? I imagine myself as a giant piece of biltong in the bushveld!




 * 5/12 KNP- Skukuza:**

Professor Liesel Ebersohn spoke to us today about asset management in rural communities- identifying local concerns and obstacles, as well as facilitating access to communal resources. The aim of her recent study was to educate and empower the local communities so that they may solve real world problems in their immediate environment. Access to water, HIV & Aids related health issues, employment opportunities, domestic violence/ abuse, childcare and access to recreational facilities were some of the main priorities of the study group.

Our field guide and expert on disturbance ecology, Laurence Kruger, gave us a talk about biomes through out South Africa, and we met a man by the name of Joel Thekiso, who is a teacher at a rural community north ofPretoria.




 * 5/12-14 KNP- Skukuza:**

(//journal observations to be added//)


 * 5/14 Shingwedzi**

(j//ournal observations to be added//)




 * 5/16 HaMakuya (//translation- home of chief Makuya//)- Limpopo Province**









Homestay for me was really interesting and fun, despite the fact that I did not appear to drink enough water and left the village dehydrated.

Josephine our host was super friendly, and was not shy with food preparation. We were definitely well fed and welcomed into the Guyuni community.

I felt that one of the most compelling aspects of this rural community was how labor intensive the women’s role is inVendasociety. From the carrying of firewood to the long hours spent preparing and cooking food. The women appeared to be constantly active. I tried lending a hand to Josephine with the chopping of the wood, but could not wield the ax long enough to split the log- tough wood or weak arms? (at least, no where near the strength of our host) I am happy to say that I did succeed at the carrying of the wood the next day. TheVendawomen have a little trick of winding a towel into a spiral head cushion and a special way of binding the wood together with synthetic rope. A tree branch acts as a torque to tighten the rope, and off you go!

Day two at homestay- other activities included a hike over the hills to visit our guide, Rubin’s, sister. She showed us traditional fabric, and some of us bought an item of clothing or cushion covers. I bought a red dress with colorful patterns and considered breaking out in my new outfit back at the lodge at diner. However, the mood did not arise and shyness won that evening. We stopped in at the local shabine (tavern) in Musunda, as we were desperate for a Coke, but they only had liquor- definitely a bad idea on a hot day + long walk up a rocky slope. A few of the village people were socializing out front with the music pumping.

Later, we passed a woman preparing a floor at the front of her hut. The traditional home structures, made of tightly packed mud, reminded me of the adobe architecture inNew Mexico and Arizona. I think it is very beautiful and surprisingly neat and clean. The lady invited us to join the task. I threw myself in with wild abandon, as it was a kind of art, or I should say, there is an art to it. First you dip your hands into a bucket of cow dung mixed with water, scoop a good portion out of the bucket, and apply to ground in a sweeping fashion. Actually it is quite fun and I enjoyed the task, except for one small problem. My hands smelt of cow dung after three consecutive hand washings, including a chlorinated hand wipe kindly provided by NCSU health center, and a highly aromatic baby wipe provided by Melissa. On that note, I have to say that the baby wipes have been extremely useful as a quick and easy substitute for bathing!


 * 5/18-20 Tshulu Research Facility (//overlooking Mutale River//)**





Lecture by Coert Geldenhuys on Community Based Natural Resource Management in Congo area of Africa.

Lecture on Hydrology by visiting Professor April James.

Lecture on Water Quality by Professor Elizabeth Nichols from NCSU.

Asset Mapping Project- preformed under the guidance of Professor Toddi Steelman of NCSU.

(//journal comments to be added later//)


 * 5/25 Skukuza- 3 Day Workshop**

My fellow graduate companions and I completed our mini presentation on asset analysis with in the HaMakuya area. We incorporated some observances from our homestay in Guyuni, and each of us took a section- Kenkesha gave the intro, Paula, the focus group methodology + asset mapping exercise, I spoke about the results using the assets by demographics table, and Scott concluded with the emphasis on water. Water was identified as the combined primary community asset from within the four target villages, Guyuni + Tshiandzwane and Mbuyuni + Masunda. These villages were chosen because of their proximity to theKrugerNational Park. The relationship between communities bordering the park, and the park itself, has a history fraught with animosity and mistrust. One of the goals of the Imagine project is to slowly regain the trust of the communities along this border, while performing long term scientific and socio-ecological research in the area. The outcome of new relationships formed and research should mutually benefit all parties involved.

We presented to SAN Parks and faculty from NCSU, along with visiting professors. This took part during a three day workshop on the formation of the Imagine Project conceived by Melissa Mchale. It was fascinating and exciting to participate in the development of a new project- creating a vision together with SAN Parks, strategic planning and goal setting and brainstorming in general. I felt privaledged to be a part of a group of esteemed academics and scientists.



We have been given some down time to chill and reset our brains, which brings us to our next destination..


 * 5/28 Tshukudu Game Lodge**

It is so stunning looking out at the bushveld. I really love it. We have been treated to a two night stay at Tshukudu Game Lodge. There are red hornbills everywhere, butterflies and probably a mamba or two hidden in the grass! I hear many different bird sounds and the squawking of grouse. We will be going on a game drive soon, which I am looking forward to. The prize of the lodge is its resident cheetahs that lounge at the pool side, and elegantly slink through the place.

Day 1: After settling into our rooms, we went for a walk with all four cheetahs and a very large bush pig. I found the pig hysterically funny- it acted a lot like a typical family dog, and even rolled over for the guide to scratch its belly. The cheetahs were beautiful. Sometimes these cats hunt on a walk like this, but they did not care to indulge this afternoon (//thank goodness//). Day 2: Went on a walk with Savanna, a baby lion cub, and 1 x cheetah. Apparently, it is the only cheetah that is interested in spending time with Savanna. We also met a lynx in the neighboring enclosure and, as a matter of fact, it came over for a visit. Savanna is quite sociable in an all round inter-species way.



Evening game drive: Finally, we saw Rhino! I think there were eight in total. We saw them at dusk. It was awesome to hear the raw sounds of these giant beasts as they were scuffling with one another. You could hear snorting and shifting of heavy feet as they came together and separated in what looked like a battle of the egos. Just after the sun went down, on the way back to the lodge, we saw a mother and baby elephant close together. It is different seeing these animals at night. There is a heightened sense of “wildness” in the darkness.

Thanks to our ranger (//Brad Pitt look-alike//), we had a taste of extreme bush driving- I never knew you could drive over acacia trees (however, we nearly lost Scott's finger on route).