By Natalie Liquindoli, University of Vermont
This past summer an 18-year-old girl decided she wanted to study abroad in Botswana, Africa during her sophomore year of college. She has never been on a plane before, let alone out of the country. This girl was also lost. Not lost in the sense of physically being lost in the wood or unable to find her way back home but lost in the sense that she, like many other young college students, didn’t understand her purpose in this world. She wanted to go to Botswana to escape everything in life that had been suffocating her, like a cobra wrapped around its prey. This girl is me.
With only a week left out here in the bush I have begun to reflect on how this trip has shaped me and taught me. Throughout the past three months each day hasn’t been as glorious as I thought it would be, but that is life in the African bush. There were days where I missed friends, family, my dogs, and having solitude in my bed at home; but then I remember, “Hey, at least I know that at the end of the day I have a house to go to with electricity, never having to worry about running out of water.”
I’ve always known I’ve been privileged, coming from America, but you never realized the full scope of it until you spend months living in the wild, talking to communities who carry smiles on their faces, bigger than you have ever smiled before on your own. Even though they have so much to be sad about, they never show it and are grateful for everything that comes their way. Just a few days ago, we camped outside our very generous escort guide, Innocent’s, house while one of our cars was being fixed. We ran around playing with the kids, drawing on the ground, and playing with the hula-hoops; in those moments, you would never think anything could turn for the worst until you remember how just a few weeks ago the same village in Sankoyo went 4+ days without water.
I’ve been so lucky to have the chance to be out here in Africa collecting data to help the animals I loved. Each day I watch the sunset and each day I can’t believe how unbelievably beautiful it is. It’s so hard to not appreciate and love life out here when we are able to watch a breeding herd of elephants walk through our camp, surrounding the newborn’s in order to protect them. Laying in my tent at night listening to the lions and hyenas call out or hearing the alarm call of an impala warning the others of danger. I’ve always had a love for the environment, but it has grown even more since I began my journey here; I just wish everyone could experience it in order to share the appreciation for all living things and to see how truly similar these animals are to us.
Things in life rarely ever go as planned and half the time we don’t even know what to do with ourselves, but that doesn’t mean life is any less worthwhile because life is so beautiful and delicate that you can’t take anything for granted. Even when you want to give up, you must keep going because you never know what is waiting for you ahead. Although I will not be returning home a new person, I will be returning home next week a stronger girl who is ready for what life has to throw at her. I would like to end with a quote that I have carried with me throughout this trip:
“The fear of death comes from the fear of life. Those who have lived fully are prepared to die at any time.”- Mark Twain
Students hang out around camp, photo by John Potenberg