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Aaniiih Nakoda College students participate in Namibia Field Course

Press release

For the second consecutive year, Aaniiih Nakoda College students and faculty traveled to Namibia, Africa, this year from June 26 to July 26, for the ANC Namibia Field Course.

ANC students Darrellyn Black Wolf, Terron Gray, Xavier Hawley, Tobias Jones, Adrian Kulbeck, Tevin Messerly, Makayla Renfro and Weslyn Schilling participated in the course.

The students and ANC faculty members Dan Kinsey and Randall Werk departed from Great Falls on June 26 and arrived in Namibia’s capit0l, Windhoek, the evening of June 27. For several of the students, this trip was their first time traveling by airplane.

Upon arriving in Namibia, the group met up with fellow ANC faculty member Liz McClain, who traveled ahead of the group to finalize logistics in Namibia. John Pallett of Namibia also travelled with the group while in Namibia and taught the course.

The first day in Namibia, the students were given a tour of the city of Windhoek and were treated to a meal that included Namibian traditional foods such as mopane worms (caterpillars), mahangu (millet porridge), marathon chicken, tripe, and wild spinach.

After leaving the capitol, the students conducted range assessments and calculated carrying capacity for cattle grazing on a private farm near Windhoek. Throughout the 20-day long course, this same exercise was also done at other types of environments in Namibia including the following areas: The gravel plane and the Kuiseb River bed of the Namib Desert; the Uibasen Twyfelfontein Conservancy; and the AfriCat Private Wildlife Preserve.

Other activities the students were involved in during the course included touring the Gobabeb Desert Research Station; traveling to the town of Swakomund on the West Coast of Namibia where they experienced the Atlantic Ocean and met Namib desert scientist and the former director of the Bobabeb Research Station, Mary Sealy, who was involved in the negotiations for the Namib Desert being designated as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site; toured the Twyfelfontein World Heritage Site where they viewed 3000-year-old rock art; toured the Damara Living Museum in Twyfelfontein; toured the Etosha Wildlife Reserve; toured the AfriCat Okonjima Nature Reserve and large carnivore conservation center. The students also met and interacted with members of the Namibian government including Executive Director of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism Teofilus Nghitila, Supreme Court Judge Dave Smuts, Ministry of Information and Technology Franz Nghitila, and Director of Tourism Sam Shikongo.

“My favorite thing of the Namibia trip was getting to experience the different cultures and lifestyles,” ANC student Darrellyn Black Wolf said.

“I met and spoke with people who were smart, intelligent, and kind and who I will not forget. The overall experience was unforgettable, the food, seeing the beautiful animals in their natural habitat, the environment and people were amazing and I am thankful I got to experience this.”

“My favorite thing about Namibia was being able to experience the different cities and towns,” Terron Gray said.

Xavier Hawley said, “My favorite thing about Namibia was the cultural differences, whether it was traditional or nontraditional. To be able to see it all and compare it to the US was cool.”

“The Gobabeb Desert Research Station was by far my favorite part of the trip, mainly because we got to climb a giant sand dune,” Tobias Jones said.

“My favorite part about Namibia was seeing all the different types of animals,” Adrian Kulbeck said. “My favorite one was probably the cheetah because we were able to get pretty close to them when we were at the AfriCat Wildlife Preserve.”

Tevin Messerly said, “My favorite thing about Namibia was the Gobabeb Desert Research Station and an evening of star gazing.”

“The dunes in general were the best part, just walking through them and that whole experience was amazing,” Makayla Renfro said. “It’s even better when you get to roll down them as well.”

“My favorite things about Namibia was getting to see the animals, mainly the leopard that close up. Also, the dinner on our last night there, meeting all the people we met,” Weslyn Schilling said.

This course is included in a project funded by the National Science Foundation Tribal College-University Program.

 

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