Habari Gani?
(Swahili for “What’s the news?”)
John Linsley ’04 (KSP fall ’02)
History Department
Stratton Mountain School
World Cup Circle
Stratton Mountain, VT 05155
jlinsley@gmail.com
As noted last time, Jessie Davie ’04 (KSP
fall ’02) and Sarah Ellis ’04 (KSP
fall ’02) spent much of this past year volunteering in
the West African country of Ghana at the Kopeyia Bloomfield
Local Authority Schools. Jessie wrote of their experience;
this is an edited summary, and you can e-mail me for the complete
account.
“Two years after leaving Kenya, both Sarah and I confessed a longing
to return. We both felt like it was time to do something significant
and altruistic. While researching potential programs, we came across Kopeyia
Ghana School Fund (KGSF).
“The village was a far cry from the hot running water and ice cream desserts
fed to us on the KSP. But, my rural homestays in Meru and Samburu had
given me a solid base to create realistic expectations which allowed for a
gentle transition into life in rural Ghana. The village of Kopeyia, with
a population of 2,000, lies about two miles from both Togo and the Gulf of
Guinea. Agriculture--harvesting maize and cassava in particular--is the
main source of income, while family and traditional Ewe culture are its true
livelihood.
“My daily routine
focused on the local public school, which was constructed by KGSF
in 1988. Grades
ranged from kindergarten through middle school. KGSF funded
all of the six buildings which make up the campus, now provides half
of the teaching staff, pays for various extracurricular activities,
and sponsors many native Kopeyians to continue their education or
pursue an apprenticeship in the trades.
“In my first few
months there, I had to force myself to recite a new mantra. That
mantra was the slogan on a bumper sticker which I had purchased at
the Maasai Market in Nairobi: ‘There is No Hurry in Africa.’
“My to-do lists melted as quickly as I did in the equatorial swelter
and I eventually let go of my clichéd hopes of ‘making
a difference.’ Instead
I fell into a slow routine of chipping away at projects: meeting
with the girls’ club,
assisting with football practices, conducting business and computer
lessons, teaching English. There were no textbooks to teach English,
the girls could rarely attend club meetings because of household
duties and market trips, the Ghana Education Service teachers wouldn’t
show up for their scheduled classes, and power outages were common.
Disappointments became routine.
“At first it was hard to get
beyond some of the frustrations, protruded bellies and inequalities,
but the more time I spent in the village, the more I was able to
realize that perspective is necessary when living in and, ideally,
learning from another culture. Everyone has time to stop and
help each other, no matter what they’re doing. The children’s
playground is boundless and their family is the village. The
sound of drumming fills the air at all hours of the day and laughter
accompanies the beat. ‘You
are invited’ is customary when one is about to eat.
Sarah joined
me five months later. Realistically, our impact on the village was
minimal. Moses’ vocabulary is
a little stronger, Akpene can type 20 words per minute, and
two children stricken with malaria are alive today because
Sarah rushed them to the hospital. Our journey to Ghana
began in Kenya and we hope it will continue from there, a journey
without hurry, and one that includes learning and optimism.”
Kathleen Fitzgerald ’92 (KSP
spring ’91), plans
to lead a trip to Tanzania in the summer of 2007 for the Adirondack
Mountain Club. You can explore details for
her upcoming trip at www.kathleenfitzgerald.net or www.adktravel.org/07fitzgerald_tanzania.htm.
Kathleen is based in Boston, where she is executive director of the
Northeast Wilderness Trust.
Suzi Barry (University of Montana,
KSP fall ’05) spent
her independent study attached to Save the Elephants (STE),
an organization which focuses its conservation work in Kenya’s
Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves. She assisted
with a project which traces elephants’ migration routes
using GPS. Having witnessed the financial obstacles which
keep so many young Kenyans from attaining a secondary school
education, Suzi recently established the Kenya Education Fund
with the mission of benefiting those in need of financial support
to further their education.
Suzi noted, “My semester in Kenya
was the greatest thing I’ve done in my life up to this point. I
learned more about the world, other cultures, and myself than I could
have ever dreamed. I received the greatest gifts while
there, and I’m not talking about material gifts. I
made friendships which will last longer than a lifetime.”
KSP Reunion Update
If you are among those KSP alumni interested in participating
in a reunion in Kenya in the summer of 2008, please contact
me at jlinsley@gmail.com. A
reunion would likely take the form of an abbreviated KSP
semester during which alumni, along with their family and
friends, would go on safari and visit homestay families. Asanteni sana!
Send Your Updates!
If you have a story from your KSP semester or can provide an
update of your current adventures, please contact me. Sawa
basi na bakini salama!
Summer 2003 Entry
Fall 2003 Entry
Winter 2004 Entry
Spring 2004 Entry
Summer 2004 Entry
Fall 2005 Entry
Spring 2006 Entry
Summer 2006 Entry
