Gonzaga University Psychology Program in Africa

The second group has arrived and they waived goodbye to the first group as they waited in line at the airport.

Hi from Chimfunshi!

Time here is only 9 hours off of Spokane. But time here is really not anywhere close to real Spokane time. The contrasts are right out in front of you. Significant wealth and extreme poverty sit side by side. You see Hummers right next to ox carts that are next to an old man pushing a wheelbarrow. The kids from up north-many of whom have not spent much time in the outdoors recently (in other words just completely pale) next to very black. New everything. My senses are not swimming they are simply drowning.

The trip to Chimfunshi from Spokane was very long-50 hours door to door. Two very long flights to get from Seattle to London and then from London to Lusaka. Having a 7 hour layover in Seattle gave jetlag the upper hand. Once we go to Lusaka, a few husky gals driving a modified safari bus called the monster showed up to pick us up and drive us to Chimfunshi. Another 10 hour drive. Most of it was quite comfortable, except for the last few bumpy miles. Zambian people walk or ride bikes rather than drive-only a few can afford cars. So, there was a continual human procession of walkers, hitchhikers, people waiting for buses, people riding bikes, or people riding along the shoulder of the road along the 80 km highway from Lusaka to Chimfunshi. Even 20 km off of the main drag on dirt roads people are assembled along the side of the road.

There are two 18 Km dirt roads from the main highway to the Ed center where we stay. The old road is under water much of the year and impassable to anything but a 4×4. The newer road is fairly straight, but lesser know. Mark was told that the monster bus was so tall that it may not get under all of the branches of all of the trees. He chose to go on the old road. We spent about an hour and a half on that and the monster couldn’t go any further. So, we had to turn it around in the dark, and drive all of the way back to the highway before taking the newer road. It took another hour to get back to the highway and another hour to drive down the new road to the ed center. Everyone was weary, but very glad to be here finally. The students really kept their cool, no complaining, no moaning and groaning. They seem like a very strong group.  After a quick few introductions to major Chimfunsh staff members we had a fabulous dinner – it was simple, chicken rice and veggies, but we were all famished. Slept very well that night.

Friday AM I went with the TAs into Chingola to get supplies. It was a major adventure. I drove a diesel manual transmission minivan that had the driver’s seat on the right hand of the car. Traffic flows forward in the left hand lanes just like in England. Talk about your potholes. Spokane holds nothing on Zambia! Everyone dodges them by pulling into the other lane. The fear of seeing the front bumper of an oncoming fuel tanker subsides when you realize that the upside is that driver has more potholes to deal with than you do. They eventually swerve back into their own land and tragedy is averted. Supply shopping was surprisingly easy. There was a large, reasonably modern market for most food items. The trouble comes when you try to find specialty items-cell phones and calling plans, or have to stop to exchange dollars for Kwatcha-the national currency. There are around 5200 Kwatcha to the dollar this week. We next had to make separate stops for ice, pop, and a new spare tire!  We spent about 4 hrs and about 4 million Kwatcha in town. The drive back to the ed center only took about an hour and a half-rather than the 4 hours it took the night before!.

Saturday, was my first intensive time in the Miombo forests. There must be 50 different types of tree species in each acre of woodland. I haven’t sorted things out well enough yet to really tell. The main thing is the diversity of plants and birds here is astonishing! This isn’t Kansas or even the coast range forests.  It is really hard to fathom. We walked up to the chimp pens ~4 km up the dirt road toward the river. Mark took 4 students up at 5:30 AM for dawn watch – when the students can watch the chimps greet the new day. I took another group up around 8 AM to meet them. I got up there at around 10 AM I really felt that I was running through the woods at 2 KM per hour, because there was simply too much to take in. Mark apparently makes the trip in about 45 minutes at a brisk walk.  The diversity is just astounding. Good day. It was hot in the PM about 80 degrees.

TTFN
Bill

We are here! We arrived late last night and after a nice dinner I (we) went to bed a wee bit exhausted. A long journey indeed. The new ground transport that we arranged worked out very well. We were picked up by a vehicle referred to as the monster. HMMMM? Wonder why? See the photos below. We were told that “monster” was 4.8 meters tall. We had plenty of room, we also stopped for food on the way and had nice pizzas. Since the vehicle was so tall we had to be careful about which road to take into camp. I picked the old route in, but alas we had to turn around and retrace our steps. To my surprise the new road worked great. It made for a long day. Our drivers were awesome. I picked up our mini-bus also.

Today after letting the students sleep in a little we headed up to see the chimps for the first time. Bill Ettinger and a few students went to town to get some supplies and get some tasks done. One task was to get our cell phones working. We now have three cell phones that we can be reached at. One issue is that the signal isn’t always great, my student assures me that we can receive text messages and if someone is trying to reach us and isn’t having luck then they can send us a text message to call and then we can call them as soon as we get the message.

Tomorrow I take the first group up for dawn patrol, see chimps at sunrise. I can hear the students returning from their visit with the staff children; lots of laughter and happy voices.

Cell phone numbers:
+260 978 965 823
+260 978 965 836
+260 978 965 838

Also number for Tony Rauch Chimfunshi General Manager
+260 977 336 710

Day 1 of our Journey from Mark Bodamer

We have made it to London! Everything went very smoothly. Some of us got a little sleep. Lots of the students are currently spread out on the floor snoozing. We have a seven hour layover in London; we have about three more hours to go; then a 10 1/2 hour fligth followed by a 7 hr. bus ride. It is a true “journey”.

Terminal 5 is new and very nice. Well, the last student to meet up with the group (Willa) has just arrived so all 27, going to Chimfunshi are here. We have 19 students enrolled in either a psychology class or a biology class (or both). (We offered three psychology class options: Comparative Psychology, Applied Child Psychology both at 300 level and also offered a 200 level psychology class called Nurturing Reverence for Life. The biology class is called Biodiversity). There are 4 TAs, 2 people that will be working primarily in Muchinshi for HANDZ (see link for more on HANDZ http://www.handzambia.org/pages/what.shtml), and 2 faculty (Dr. Mark Bodamer, Psychology and Dr. Bill Ettinger, Biology).

Time for coffee.

Sarah the T.A. Says:
So far so good! We are all excited and getting used to the time change – currently sleeping in bunches on the floor of London Heathrow. Students seem to be excited too! Can’t wait to be in Africa!

Just a quick note to say that we’ve called the hotel in London and they have all checked in safely.

Their flight is on the way from Lusaka to London. Flightstats allows you to receive emails and text messages about when flights have departed and arrived, if you want to keep tabs on your loved one’s travel. Most of the students are on British Airways 49. Once everyone gets back we’ll get more of the stories posted.

I am now on my way home (glad to be returning to my family but was sad to leave — there are still many great things in store!). The students have really bonded with one another — it is a great group! They are in good hands with Prof. Mark Bodamer and his wife, Amber. On-site, are also five students for whom this is a second or even third trip, including our Chelsey — the students have been generous and helpful. Everyone has settled in nicely and are eager for more adventures to come, especially the bush walks with the baby chimpanzees and the upcoming visits from the local village school children. Other than a few minor colds/allergies, everyone is healthy. Today the whole group will go to the nearby village of Muchinchi to join the women at the Fubanzi Women’s Center for a greeting, a meal, and singing and dancing! I will put up a longer post (with pictures!) once I am home. Posting from Zambia proved impossible, but I have asked Chelsey to email me with updates that I can post from home. The students send their love!

After nearly two days of travelling, the students have reached Chimfunshi. All I got from Molly before the satellite phone cut out was “We’re in Africa. Please call Wanda so she can email the parents.” So everyone is okay, but I’m sure they’re exhausted.

We’ve made it this far in our journey. All are accounted for and most are now exploring the Heathrow airport. I am enjoying a cup of tea while I figure out a somewhat complicated Internet system! The flight was not too bad — the food was pretty good and the movie selection was great. Most everyone managed to get a bit of sleep. We leave at 7:15 pm to arrive in Zambia at 6:15 a.m. (9:15 pm your time). We will let you know once we are on-site at Chimfunshi (sometime Thursday morning for you). This promises to be a great adventure and we are glad to be on our way.

Dr. Kretchmar and all the students (except for those intrepid ones already in London) have safely met up in Seattle and begun their 35+ hour odyssey. According to the real-time flight tracker, their flight is 33,000 feet up, approaching the Hudson Bay, and cruising at 694 mph. They’ve got about 6 hours and 20 minutes left to Heathrow. When last spoken with, the group was in good spirits: eating and playing cards while they awaited their flight.