I should have started this journal the moment that I found out that Africa wanted me…
That was the first line of a handwritten journal I kept as a senior at Oregon State, before and during my internship at the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in Namibia. I applied on November 15th, 2002. I found out on January 21st, 2003, that I got in. Was I ecstatic? Obviously.
I started writing in the journal two weeks later.
My parents were thrilled for me and also made it clear that they were not going to pay for it. It was on me to find the $7,000 needed to make this offer a reality.
So over Christmas break, while I was still waiting to hear whether I had even been accepted, I wrote a fundraising letter. My mom encouraged me not to ask people for money, but to invite them on the journey. On January 22nd, I sent that letter, printed out on colorful paper I picked out at Kinkos, to 85 people. Actual letters (remember those??!!), in envelopes, with stamps, which cost me nearly $50! I put a return envelope inside each one, because I figured the easier I made it to say yes, the more people might (now you understand why the postage cost was so high :)
Enough of them did. And on March 25th, I got on a plane to Windhoek, Namibia, by way of London and Johannesburg.
I decided the best way to bring all of those people on the journey with me was through a weekly email. Remember, this was 2003. No iPhone, no Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram…just a shared computer and a slow connection. Every week I wrote to everyone who had helped me get there, thanks to my dad, who forwarded the emails to the list.
What I did not understand at the time was that those emails were not just updates. They were reflections, which anyone who has been reading here for a while knows is not a small thing. It is the part of transformative learning where the change actually takes hold. I was in the middle of a transformative learning experience and had no idea. I happened to be doing the exact thing that makes it stick, sharing my stories to people who would be there when I came home.
Recently, my dad found the printouts of the original emails, and I decided I needed to keep them somewhere other than paper.
People ask me all the time WHY AFRICA. What made you fall in love with it? This is the answer, in eleven parts, in my 21-year-old voice, typos and all. I am adding photos because it is 2026 now, and I can!
Here is the first one. Enjoy!
Email #1 - March 28, 2003
Hello Everyone!!!
Well, after a very long and tiring 20 hour plane ride, I arrived in Namibia safely!! I only slept about 5 hours in those 2 days of traveling, so I was pretty exhausted by the time I reached Windhoek, (the capital of Namibia).
It is absolutely beautiful here! There are lots of low trees and bushes, and the sun is beating down — won’t take long to get a tan :)
I spent the first few hours here in Windhoek, helping Audrey (a vet tech) run errands. Very fun and very chaotic! I never thought that driving on the other side of the road would be such a weird experience! But let me tell you, every time Audrey pulled in the left lane, I thought for sure that we were going to run into cars, but then I realized that the oncoming cars are in the other lane! The drive up to CCF was very nice, the road was good — we saw a baby warthog, very cute!!, and some baboons! By the time we reached CCF I was pretty tired, but I had something to eat (spaghetti and meat sauce which was very delicious!), and then went to sleep. I am staying in a rondaval, which has 2 beds, a sink, mirror, and cupboard for clothes in it. All the roofs here are thatched with straw, I think.
There is about a 10 hour time change from Oregon, but going to sleep was no problem, but I woke up at 2 am, but fell asleep again shortly after that. Then, I didn’t wake up until 1pm! I think that is the most I have slept in quite awhile, but I still feel tired. It will take a couple of days for me to get used to the time schedule there. So, I woke up this morning, and took a shower. There are shower and bathroom (toilets) facilities that I have to walk to — and they are very nice! My shower felt wonderful. Then I went and had some lunch. I sat and talked with Fabiano, who is from Angola, and is a graduate of the University of Namibia, who is working here at CCF. Then I was able to go back to my room and unpack and arrange my room.
The coolest thing that I saw last night before I went to sleep was a housecat kill a gecko! Right on my windowsill — outside of course! There are geckos and all other sorts of lizards that run around, it is so neat! About 3:30, Bonnie came and picked me up, and I went with her to go feed the cheetahs. That is going to be one of my daily jobs, but I was basically just being shown how today. There are currently 29 cheetahs here. They are fed around 3:30 everyday, except for Sunday when they are fasted, mainly because that is our day off! There are quite a few names and identifications that I have to make on the cheetahs, but I don’t think that will take me too long :) When we were finished feeding, I helped to bottle feed baby goats — and man, were they hungry!
Tonight there is going to be a big dinner because there is a special group of people that are here. I will probably start working in the morning, or the day after — depending on how I am feeling. They are very good here about making sure that I am not tired and that I am well rested — they all understand about jet lag! The landscape is absolutely beautiful here, and there are termite mounds everywhere! There is one in front of my rondaval. There are all sorts of wildlife here that are running around — I have seen quite a few animals so far — jackal, African wildcat, gemsbok, all of which you probably have never seen!!
Just to let you know, I can receive emails here, but keep them short and put “Debra” in the subject line, that way people know that the email is for me. Also, please do not send me any forwards or pictures, the files are too big, and plus they just plug up the system. Mom and Dad, I have a special request for you :) Could you please forward this message to the list that is typed below every time you get an email from me and I ask you to forward to people? I do not have a place to store all the addresses, and I really do not want to have to type them in every time I go to send messages! All you have to do is copy them into a Word file or something, and then paste them into the message when you get one from me! That would help me out a great deal!
Anyway, I think that is all that have for you today! Feel free to send me emails — I know that I will love to receive them! Please forward this message on Mom and Dad!! I love you very much!! Talk to you later!
Love you lots! Debra
Closing invitation
That was week one. There are ten more, and each one is filled with moments I remember, even some I don’t!
Here is the thing I keep thinking about. The people who helped me get to Namibia weren’t buying anything in particular. Most of them were never going to see Namibia in person (maybe never in pictures or video either, honestly). They just wanted to help a 21-year-old go have the adventure of a lifetime. And it certainly was! It also turned out not to be the only one.
What happened after the CCF experience was Peace Corps, Benin, meeting my husband, D’Aquin, having three boys, and a dissertation about how travel changes people. And now a piece of land in Kabolé, Benin, where we are building a tour company and a research site that will spend the next ten years studying what actually shifts in people when they travel, and how to make those shifts last.
Right now it is land, a plan, and a growing number of people who are becoming interested.
So I am doing what I did in 2003 again. I’m inviting you to join me on the journey.
The Founding Circle. Thirty people. $300 for the year. Once a month we meet, and I take you to Benin via an online tour, but it is so much more than a Zoom call. It is the format I designed during my doctorate, where I found that it is possible to have a transformative learning experience without leaving home. You get a look into a country that only someone who lives in both worlds can give you. When I head to Benin in real life, the tour comes with me, and you really are watching a thing get built from the inside. Your name goes in the founding record at Kabolé, in the place itself. And whenever you want to come for real, you go first.
Everything I write here stays free, always, including all eleven of these letters. So if the Founding Circle is not for you, nothing changes, and I am so glad you are here.
But if you want in, I would love the company.
I do not have a return envelope this time…just a button.
Until next week…
Cheers,
