Moving On: Conservation Academy --> Gonubie (East London) --> The Donald Woods Foundation (at Hobeni)

“Give people the knowledge to ask questions.” – Wendy Sadler

During our final days in the Grahamstown area, we visited SciFest Africa. We reconnected with Basil, who took us for a hike on the Discovery Trail. 

We purchased what remaining tickets we could scrounge up for SciFest sessions on Friday and enjoyed the day learning about science and taking in the culture of the festival. Most of our group attended a session by two high school seniors, who encouraged their peers to get active and pursue the sciences. It was neat to see such young adults researching and inspiring others. 

We were thrilled to be invited to the United States Consulate General’s V.I.P. reception on Friday evening. Not only did we get to meet Consul General Teddy B. Taylor, but we also met the astronomer, Dr. Eric Wilcots, who appears on Season 1, Episode 13 of Bill Nye the Science Guy! After the reception, we stayed with the V.I.P. crew for SciFest Africa’s opening ceremonies. With a reach of 15,000+ South African children, it was amazing to think about what SciFest Africa has achieved in twenty years.

I really enjoyed learning from the keynote, Wendy Sadler. Her presentation, Science Made Simple, focused on using demos as a means of communicating science information. Two quotes from the presentation resonated with me, “Break myths, don’t make them.” When we use demos to teach, we need to talk about what is really happening, instead of deferring to magic. When we take the time to teach, we engage children, building interest in science.

The other takeaway from Wendy Sadler’s presentation was the quote, “Give people the knowledge to ask questions.” In Parks & People, we give our students a wealth of information and experiences, with the goal of empowering them to take charge of their own education. It’s been amazing to be part of this experience and watch the students grow in our seven weeks together (and three remain).

We left the Conservation Academy on Saturday, March 5, for the Bluewaters Hotel in Gonubie. Our time in Gonubie provided some much appreciated rest and relaxation along the Indian Ocean.

We left Gonubie on Tuesday (March 8) in steady rain. We had been warned that we may need to avoid the main roads due to protests and were also informed that the gravel roads may be washed away. According to Google Maps, the drive from East London to Hobeni was expected to take about 4 hours and 30 minutes. Given our travel history (frequent bathroom breaks, slow going up hills, etc.), we were prepared for a full 8 hour day of travel. Surprisingly, the travel went very well and we got to Donald Woods in 6 hours, even with 3 stops along the way.

Since arriving at the Donald Woods Foundation, we have been spent quite a bit of time in the classroom. We concluded last night by watching the movie, Cry Freedom, about Donald Woods and his role as a newspaper editor informing South Africans about the injustices of the Apartheid. Donald's son, Dillon, will be joining our group tonight, and we're really looking forward to meeting him! 

We were able to connect with a group of students from Penn State Berks who are on an Alternative Spring Break Trip to Belfast, Ireland. Betsy, one of the staff members in Ireland, assisted with the Parks & People program in 2014, and came up with the idea of our students engaging. Many of the students on our trips strive to become global citizens and the social problems each group is studying have similarities. Each student was encouraged to post with #psuthisisourclassroom to showcase our experiences online. 

We have many great experiences awaiting us in our final module of the program. We will be in Hobeni until we start our journey back to the Western Cape on March 25.