"Why Africa? Don't they have lots of unusual parasites?" I've been asked this by many of the adults who hear that I'm going to be traveling to Africa. The second graders in my computer lab classes, however, ask if they can come along! I've met people who have been on photo safaris and have read books and articles by people who have been to Africa. They all say it "gets into your blood". I'm hoping that they mean in a spiritual or awe inspiring sort of way, not because of something transmitted by mosquitoes.
I've wanted to go to Africa since I first heard about Jane Goodall and her studies with the wild chimpanzees at Gombe in Tanzania. I was nine or ten years old when she started her work with them. I grew up and went to U. C. Davis and was able to work as a research assistant at the Primate Center for a short time. I also had what my young students think was "the coolest job in the world" ... I was one of Koko's (the signing gorilla) babysitters at The San Francisco Children's Zoo one summer while still in college. Well, I've grown up even more since then and have been an elementary school computer lab teacher for quite a number of years, still longing to travel to Africa sometime.
Last year my husband and I heard about a safari being organized for a group of teachers from the Sacramento area. This could turn out to be a great adventure and an interesting way to spend my off-track time away from school. At about the same time I decided to apply for a New and Innovative Practices grant from my district. With funding from the grant I'd be able to purchase a laptop computer, modem, video capture card, etc. and tie my experiences traveling to the curriculum. I received the grant and then people started asking, "Why do you want to lug a computer around with you in Africa?" My plan was to send email to and receive email from school and have an interactive experience for the students and teachers. But, as luck would have it, we don't have Internet access at school quite yet. Then there's Tanzania itself. I've been told it is unlikely that there will be phone lines along our safari route. They communicate by two-way radio. And if there are phones, they don't always work.
So I've developed these web pages. They'll be there when we finally get Internet access at school. I'll add to them when I return from Africa. I'll be able to share my photos and experiences on the pages that I develop upon my return home and teachers (especially those working with primary age students) will be able to use the pages as a resource. And, who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and actually find a working phone somewhere along my route and succeed in sending a message from Africa. It COULD happen!