Anthropology turns 'intense and magical' in Kenya

Story by Donna Ragsdale Dunn ('94)
Photos by and courtesy of Jennifer Coffman

 

There were uncertainties. Travel and terrorism warnings for East Africa. Difficulties obtaining visas. The prospect of sleeping in tents amid elephants and hyenas. No running water or electricity.

Yet students returned from JMU's first-ever study trip to Kenya saying they are certain that it was one of the most remarkable experiences of their lives.

"I didn't really know what to expect because I felt it would be different from anything I've ever known," says Jacquie Mauer ('03). "My only expectation was that it would be amazing, and I think that I can safely say all of our experiences far surpassed that."

Thirteen students, 11 from JMU, traveled to Kenya on May 13 for a five-week journey with anthropology professor Jennifer Coffman. Coffman guided the students through three distinct cultural experiences: camping by Amboseli National Park near Mount Kilimanjaro, staying in the homesteads of people of agricultural Kakamega, and living in the bustling and
poverty stricken city
of Nairobi.

Coffman en-listed help from the friends and colleagues she had developed in the years since she first went to Kenya as a junior at Duke University. During her first visit, she participated in a semester-long study trip sponsored by St. Lawrence University in New York. Her research led to a paper for Kenya Wildlife Services, spawning her specialization in community-based wildlife resource management.

Since that trip in 1989, Coffman has returned many times, including in 1995 when as a graduate fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill she encouraged her mentor, Robert Daniels, to begin a field school in Kenya, after which she stayed to conduct her dissertation research. The UNC experience taught her lessons about creating study experiences in Kenya and led to valuable relationships for the May trip.

"People I started working with as an undergrad were mentors to my students 14 years later," she says. "For them it was the biggest compliment -- that I have spent my life to get students back to them to show how amazing they are."

Coffman, who wed her husband, also an anthropologist, in Nairobi, has two children, Austen, 7, and Gabrielle, 5. Talking about the trip just after her return, Coffman and student Matthew Schnable sat in her Sheldon Hall office surrounded by African décor, books on Africa and crayon pictures by her children.

"I was a little worried my parents were going to be nervous," says Schnable ('03), who had never even been on a plane before going to Kenya. "But I told them we were going to be camping by a national park
-- probably the safest place to be."

Through biweekly information sessions, listservs and a Web site prior to the
trip, Coffman had given students and parents information about Kenya to help them determine their comfort level with the trip. That process allowed for "a lot of self-
selection," she says.

Coffman conceived of and planned the trip with assistance from English professor Ramenga Osotsi. However, difficulties in obtaining a visa back to his native land for Osotsi led Coffman to proceed solo.

"Camping at Amboseli National Park was my favorite part of the trip," says junior Naheed Ahmed. "We were divided into two groups, each assigned Samburu and Maasai elders. In our groups we worked together to set up camp and prepare meals. Our elders taught us about Samburu and Maasai culture, the local environment, and shared their life experiences. I enjoyed my time with our elders, and I am grateful for their friendship."

"I speak a little Swahili. They spoke a little English. So we'd just mix and match, and it was amazing," Schnable says. "While cooking, that was the best time to learn Swahili."

Coffman says she was extremely pleased with what she observed around the campfires. "I'd stop by these cook groups and they'd be talking about polygamy and patrilineal society, but not using those terms … The students are getting all this anthropological theory just through the practicality of it," she says.

Coffman recalls one of the most touching moments at Amboseli -- their last night at camp. The Maasai sang songs and danced, then they asked the students to sing. "It was intense and magical," Coffman says as she remembers her students spontaneously singing Lean on Me and Amazing Grace.

While students say the people they met were the most important part of the
trip, they also enjoyed the landscape and the wildlife.

"Our campsite was amazing. The first day that we drove into Amboseli a herd of 50 elephants crossed the road," Ahmed says. "The elephants were about 20 feet away from us. We woke up each morning to the sight of Mount Kilimanjaro. Zebras, gazelles, and wildebeests grazed near our campsite. During the night we heard hyenas and lions. Each night we sat around a campfire talking about what we did that day and shared stories and jokes." 

As the students spent time with the Maasai, they also studied with a rangeland ecologist and met with a variety of local inhabitants.

"I didn't want to be a tourist in Africa, so it was very important to me to study abroad there as opposed to just take a trip," Mauer says. "I wanted to learn about and experience more 'traditional' culture and ways, and this program was the perfect opportunity to do so."

The second leg of the trip was spent living in homesteads with people in agricultural Kakamega. The homesteads, which generally house several generations of a family, had no electricity or running water. Students said they quickly adjusted to the accommodations and fell in love with the people and the food.

One mother hand made dresses for her American "daughters," and all gave gifts.

"By the last day, they were saying 'my mama' did this, 'my father' did that -- they were calling their homestay hosts by family names," Coffman says. "By the last day there were teary-eyed students."

Bryan Hoofnagle ('03) says living in a different culture gave him new insights. "I came to Kenya with no real expectations. I think more importantly I came with a set of perceptions of the world and life formulated from within the cradle of a middle-class American upbringing," says Hoofnagle. "In this, I grew and learned an incredible amount about life and humanity as I watched my perceptions shatter and reform. My experiences there were overwhelming. "

The final leg of the trip took the students to Nairobi, a large city with nearly 2 million people living as squatters. Unemployment is 30 percent. 

"Although I had read a little about the way people lived, it was a big shock to see the differences within the country," says Amanda Fox ('05). "Nothing you read or pictures you see can prepare you for seeing some of the poverty that some Kenyans have to live with, especially in an area like Kibera."

While the students stayed in middle- and upper-class homes in Nairobi, they visited a health clinic in one of the poorest areas. "Urban poverty is a problem all over the world. And we were able to see people trying to do something about it," Coffman says.

While the trip was academic -- the students read books, kept journals and wrote papers -- Coffman says it was more. "We learned a lot," she says. "People genuinely appreciated each other. And I couldn't ask for more than that."

Schnable, who has now graduated from JMU, says he is uncertain how his Kenyan experience will make an impact on his near future, but it is certain to have a long-lasting effect on him. "It will influence what I do with my life," he says.