A First Safari

Last weekend, thanks to a very generous gift from a friend in Minneapolis, 120 students plus the staff and teachers spent a weekend at Ngorongoro Crater. It is truly one of the most magnificent sites you will ever see. The wildlife aside, the crater itself is breathtaking in its size and beauty. The Crater, which formed when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed on itself some two to three million years ago, is 2,001 feet deep and its floor covers 102 square miles.

Thousands of people visit every year--virtually no Tanzanians visit this or any game park. Although it costs $50 per person to enter the Crater for tourists, it only costs about $2 for a Tanzanian. The issue, of course, is with transportation. Visiting a game park requires a car for a day--and the Crater charges a hefty $200 car fee to enter. It's such a shame that such a treasure exists and is inaccessible to the citizens--so this trip was a huge opportunity for students and staff to see something spectacular!

Students went in groups of 40--accompanied by staff, cooks, drivers, and teachers. They camped on the rim and spent the day watching lions just finishing a kill, a family of cheetahs, black rhinos, and the everpresent wildebeest and zebras. Most had never seen an elephant or giraffe!

One of the highlights was hearing the compliments about our students. The people at the campground were surprised at how well-behaved our students were--how they worked together and pitched in to set up and clean up for meals, how they shared and waited politely for sodas and food, etc. As a veteran chaperone of countless field trips, I can affirm that there isn't much that surpasses compliments like that about your group!

Another great highlight--hearing from our cooks and cleaners how honored they were to be allowed to be a part of the trip. Particularly in Tanzania, where status is so important (real or perceived), there is a definite hierarchy between teachers and staff, a situation that can lead to negative feelings and difficulty in the workplace. At PHS we have worked hard to develop an ethos of equality--that EVERY employee is important, that the work they do is valued and necessary, and that they are contributing to the mission of PHS. We require students to give the same level of respect to a cleaner as they do to their headmistress. Even though the cooks and cleaners were responsible for working, they were so thrilled to be allowed to participate! There have been a few other things where we've scheduled to make sure we include everyone at PHS and gotten the same feedback. Clearly we're doing something very different from other schools, and it's working!

I wish I could show you pictures of the students enjoying themselves. We did send a camera with instructions to take pics of the people, not the animals; however, it was clear upon return that remembering to take pictures was a problem, followed closely by the ability to take pictures! Unfortunately we got very few usable shots. I'll add a few in this week if I can, but you'll have to use your imaginations to see the faces of PHS having a wonderful time!