By Halverson Gemignani from Lake Superior State University
The overall summary of the 2022 Botswana semester is one of learning, camaraderie, the building of connections with trust amongst the various communities where we have been doing transects, and, overall, a building experience on a personal level.
In the beginning, few knew what to expect. Some of us come from urbanized area, others from rural America. Some had been out of the United States, others had never. As we all came together for this experience, we all held various life experiences and different perspectives. We all had this one common interest though, a deep love for nature, and that was the crux for us overcoming all the challenges that lay ahead. The group learned what it was like to come together as a handful of strangers, live together for 90 days in tents, all while taking classes, doing transects, taking tests, and making community involvement days the best that they could be. We adapted, overcame, and thrived.
Early on, one of the connections made was Cosmos. He set a motto for us all, “Re ta fenya” which translates to as “We will win”. We experienced all sorts of working and personal experiences here. Those experiences showed us how to be versatile and adaptable, but in the end how to overcome those spontaneous changes that sometimes just occur and must be dealt with. We faced some pretty interesting roadblocks, from being stuck in the mud in the middle of the Mababe Depression, having equipment be temporarily misplaced, or running out of supplies in the bush. Other challenges to our group included holding classes and taking tests in scorching heat, and downpours of rains which forced us to hold a class in the bathroom at Rakops. We dealt with vervet monkeys stealing from us, honey badgers breaking into our food tent to eat our food, rescheduling classes and tests on a whim, power outages while assignments were due, plus the inability then to communicate with friends and family. We had to learn how to come together with each other, as well as everyone that we’d come across locally, and to do all of our responsibilities even if the heat or the gravity of a situation was weighing on anyone personally. I’ll always think back to a group of us in a car that also got stuck in the mud on a transect and laughed our way into getting unstuck in no more than 15 minutes, quickly gathering logs, sticks, and shoveling muck. Watching the wheels throw mud, as the vehicle finally crawled its way out. We all learned to make the most of sink or swim scenarios, and did so very well. At the end of every day, we always won. Re ta fenya!
The guides, the Community Trust members, the people, and the places we frequented became a second family, in a home away from home. Some of the things we’ll never forget were being taught the language, plus the nuances of it in each different concession area, as well as learning the traditional dances and craft making. The social structures and dynamics, as well, have become ingrained within all of us. We’ve learned in very professional environments, and in very informal ones. The variation gave rise to not only formal training, but also educational and cultural experiences. We learned from the personal experiences of our guides, the community members, and from each other within our own group as well. The effort and care of everyone has been what made this experience so much more than just a study abroad program; so much more than just getting an education. Everyone offered us kinship, just as much as we offered it. Some of my favorite moments weren’t just being taught about a bird that a guide loves to see as we came across it, but the way they’d take a deep breath and smile and chuckle to themselves, as they’d share to us other stories about their children or family, or some crazy experience between themselves and their friends.
This semester is almost impossible to summarize in just a single pass, as the experiences gained here will be those that take a whole lifetime to fully understand and appreciate. No matter what, it will stick with all of us forever. This experience will become integral to our personalities, our future experiences, and how we choose to go about them. Most of all, the time spent in Botswana will forever be fond memories coupled with lifelong connections, a love for which is difficult to describe.
