For Doane students, Dr. Betty Levitov opened the door to Africa in 1996 when she took the first group for a semester of travels and studies. The professor of English repeated the feat for the fifth time in 2006.
Each trip summons conflicting emotions. It’s challenging and gratifying. Heady, yet exhausting. She questions the sanity of bearing responsibility for numerous college students in a foreign country, 24 hours a day. But the successes of the program renew her energy and fill her heart.
This spring, there are reminders of the program’s value at every turn. Her book “Africa on Six Wheels: A Semester on Safari,” written during a 2004-05 sabbatical, is on bookshelves, published by the University of Nebraska Press.
A Publishers Weekly review praised it as “a unique and lyrical memoir … one that captures an exquisite sense of place in just a few words … a fine travelogue.” The 2006 Semester in Africa drew feature articles in L Magazine and the Lincoln Journal Star.
Levitov was particularly touched by an article in the Friends of the University of Nebraska Press Newsletter, written by Doane graduate Jenni Moore, a member of Semester in Africa 2002. She wrote:
“As we studied words from the Kiswahili language, we latched onto one word that remains in our vocabulary still today: Mwalimu. The rough translation? Teacher...above all else we knew (Levitov) as our mwalimu—the one determined to help us collectively find our own lessons.”
Another treat of the spring semester was a visit from Isaack Kinyanjui, the wildlife guide and naturalist who leads the Doane groups on a safari in Kenya. He arrived in April to share more lessons in Doane classrooms.
Levitov was first introduced to Africa as a teacher at Our Lady of Fatima College in Liberia, West Africa in the 1960s. To date, she has visited 25 of 50 African countries, some on her own, some with a total of 65 students from Doane. Finding the language to describe those trips was one of the biggest challenges of her career.
“It’s so hard to put those experiences into words. I had so much I wanted to say. We ended up cutting about 100 pages.”
How can you describe what it feels like to watch students bungee jump from Victoria Falls Bridge? To sandboard the Namibian dunes? How can you capture the experience of watching Maasai men dance by firelight? Or the somber imprint left by the simple graves marking children who died of AIDS at an orphanage?
At times, the group was covered in the red dirt of Africa. Other times, they sat silent and still, drawing experiences from memory to paper.
Travel and learning is the common denominator of all, and a good portion of the learning takes place in rugged vehicles transporting them through seven countries. “It truly is a classroom on six wheels,” Levitov said.
Students design a portion of the semester. Levitov teaches courses including introduction to African studies, African literature, writing and Swahili. Each student completes an apprenticeship with African villagers and puts in volunteer hours, which in 2006 included refurbishing a school library or working at an orphanage of HIV positive children.
“The volunteer work is exhilarating,” she said.” At times you are faced with overwhelming poverty and you don’t know what to do. To respond, even minimally, feels good.” Both Levitov and Kinyanjui try to show Africa beyond the images of poverty seen on television, to contrast it with its riches, including a “deep, wonderful respect for life and spirit.”
“What do you think of when you think of Africa?” Kinyanjui asked a Doane class in Gaylord Hall. “You think of AIDS, drought, famine, tribal wars … But the picture of Africa is not a malnourished child with a big bowl of emptiness, there is more than that.”
He tells them of Kenya and its history. How everyone speaks Swahili, English and another tongue; he himself is fluent in four languages. He tells them of government, Christianity, courting, weddings, climate, all part of a “vast and beautiful land” with a complicated mix of ancient traditions and modern influences.
He tells them stories of his wife, Joyce Nduta, and the two sons and two daughters waiting for him at home. He met Levitov while he worked for a safari tour company. They became fast friends. Levitov stuck by him when he told her the company he worked for was corrupt. He eventually became an independent guide, leading each Doane group on safaris where they have been fortunate enough to spot rarely seen wildlife such as the serval cat.
“To those who will give me the time, I talk about conservation, preservation and learning from tradition.”
He also makes sure they interact with the native people. He met with Doane’s Roots & Shoots chapter and gave a presentation during his visit to campus. It’s his own way of making a difference, he said.
“What if one student from Doane takes something and builds on it? I wanted to get across to them that what they do here affects everyone in the world. Everyone has to conserve the environment.”
The Semester in Africa doesn’t only affect U.S. students from a college in Nebraska. In a small way, it touches Africa, too. As Kinyanjui left the village of Nyahururu to come to the United States, the entire village celebrated, he said. They celebrated his opportunity, the first among them to go to America. They celebrated the knowledge he would take to a place called Doane.
Eighteen village members accompanied him to the airport in Nairobi, a touching gesture when one considers the money spent for travel fare and overnight accommodations.
It’s the same joy he sees when he tells people travelers from Doane will be coming to Africa. “People ask if Betty (Levitov) is coming. They await in happiness for her coming,” Kinyanjui said.
African Adventure 2008
Professor Levitov will be leading a tour through Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar. Find out details on registration and costs.
Interterm
Long a student favorite, Interterm is the three-week period following Christmas break when students take one class for three hours a day. Interterm also provides a valuable opportunity for students to travel. In fact, more than half of all students travel in the U.S. or abroad before they graduate. Since an entire semester abroad is not always feasible, a majority of travel opportunities come during Interterm or in the two-week period following commencement.
With six to seven trips offered each year, students get to embrace life-changing experiences and develop a true well-rounded education. Previous trips include destinations such as Italy, Mexico, Ghana, the Caribbean, India, England, Japan, China, France, New Orleans and Galveston, Texas.
The Interterm concept was introduced in Florida colleges in the late 1950s. At Doane, Interterm was first taught in 1971 and offered only to first-year students as a means to address retention. Anthony Catana added Interterm to the Doane Plan when he was appointed as dean. In 1972 the program opened to older students.
Dr. Maureen Franklin, dean of faculty and vice president for Academic Affairs, said that the trips reflect the interests of current faculty. Faculty members propose the trips and also serve as sponsors and teachers while traveling. “Travel interterm is one of the finest experiences our students can have,” Franklin said.
Franklin said that no major changes are planned for Interterm, but as new faculty are hired, their different interests will create the opportunity for new trips.
Travel Abroad
Doane students will have additional funds for travel abroad, starting with the 2007-08 academic year. The college approved an increase to its unique travel scholarship, and will now offer $1,000 toward travel expenses for every full-time student on the Crete campus.
“We hope that by increasing the scholarship, more students will be able to travel, broadening their perspectives of global issues and international affairs,” said Dr. Maureen Franklin, dean of faculty and vice president for Academic Affairs.
Doane also appointed a director of International Programs who will offer greater guidance and information about studyabroad programs.
Doane students can use the travel scholarship during their junior or senior year of study. Transfer students receive the scholarship on a pro-rated basis. Students can use the travel scholarship toward three-week interterm travel courses offered each January or May, or apply it to extended study abroad.