Pray for Skiller

7-30-12

For those of you who are of the praying persuasion, I’d like to ask you to pray for my research assistant, Skiller. We have been having some very interesting spiritual conversations. It started about a week and a half ago. We were headed to the park when we saw a woman wearing a DWNP (the wildlife department that I work closely with) uniform waiting for a ride. Having an extra seat, I pulled over and we offered her a lift. It turned out she was going to the regional wildlife office, not the front gate like we were, but it was still on the way so it wasn’t a problem. After proceeding to the front gate we checked in like normal. There was a Motswana lady standing by the gate and I said hello to her as I went in. When I came back out Skiller said she was looking for a ride to Chobe Game Lodge, a lodge inside the park. We weren’t planning on heading that way since it would take longer, but the route to the lodge would still get us close to our final destination so again we gave her a lift. After we had dropped her off Skiller looked at me and said, “So what makes you different from other white people? No one ever offers a black person a ride and you just went out of your way to give two people rides.” I was surprised and a bit disappointed to know that the white people here have such a poor reputation and such little compassion. I tried to explain that because God has given so much to me I try to help others as well. I said I would like to be helped if I were in their situation so I try to help others when I can. He didn’t really say anything to that so I left it as it was, praying that the Lord would use the situation as He would.

The next conversation came over dinner a few nights ago. I’ve been learning a lot about culture in Botswana and especially among the Herrero, Skiller’s tribe. One night I said that while he had told me a lot about the culture he hadn’t mentioned many spiritual beliefs so I asked what kind of religious or spiritual background he had. He described a system of ancestor worship that he held to and which seemed fairly important to him. I wasn’t really sure how to respond to that but when he asked if I was a Christian I took the chance to say that I was and to describe what I believed, giving a quick summary of the Gospel. Again, he didn’t really have much to say after that and I left the conversation praying that he would think about what I had said and that the Lord would open doors to other conversations.

A few nights later the opportunity came. We were talking about a variety of things when he noted that I was very different from Botswana men because even though my wife was thousands of miles away I was sitting in my tent every night rather than going into town to chase after women. This is a rather sad commentary on the sexual morality of Batswana (citizens of Botswana) and matched what I had heard before from others. What was interesting, though, is that I found that Skiller was very open to talking about the issue and seemed to feel something wasn’t right about the way they were treating women through their infidelity (“their” in a general sense, he wasn’t clear on whether he was part of that or not). This led to talking about other moral issues of a related nature like the spread of HIV and drinking. As that conversation started to die down I decided since we were already talking about heavy things I’d return to issues of spirituality.

Praying for wisdom, I began asking him for more details about what he really believed about his ancestors and how the dead could influence the living. He talked for a while, really opening up and sharing his views. One thing he said really stood out to me. He said that although he prayed to his ancestors, he believed there was one creator God. He said his ancestors served as a sort of intermediary for him to make requests to and get guidance from God. I feel like the Lord really set this up because this was a perfect connection. I told him I completely agreed that we needed an intermediary between God and men because God is so perfect and we are so broken. But I said that where we differed is that instead of looking to ancestors as my intermediary I look to Jesus. I borrowed an example from my Crusade training in college and adapted it to Skiller’s context. I asked if he’d ever to Victoria Falls and he said he had. I pointed out that if we were both to try to jump from one side of the falls to the other, he would probably go farther than I would (I suppose it’s true what they say about white men and jumping J) but that nonetheless neither of us would make it across. The gap was just too far. In the same way, the problem I saw with ancestors serving as the intermediary is that since they were fallible people, they weren’t qualified. That’s why God came down Himself in the person of Jesus and lived a perfect life. He is able to span that gap that none of the rest of us can and that is what makes Him the perfect and only intermediary. Reading back over that I feel like that sounds far more eloquent than I actually was…I didn’t have my thoughts all that quite put together and I fully attribute whatever good was said to the Spirit speaking through me.

We talked for a while more and Skiller surprised me suddenly by saying that he truly believed that some day he would become a Christian. I asked why someday; why not now or soon? He said he hadn’t found a church he liked. He’d been to several and he didn’t like what they taught or did. I responded that while getting involved in a church is definitely important to do, it doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to KFC makes you a chicken (they don’t have McDonald’s here but they do have KFC). I suggested that first he focus on his personal relationship with God, praying and reading the Bible to get to know Him, and then worry about finding a church later. I talked about having to find a new church when I went to Davis and again when I moved to Florida and how the criterion I used was finding a good Bible-believing and teaching church. I asked if he’d ever read the Bible and he said yes, he’d read his mother’s. I asked if he would read one if he had his own and he said he definitely would. I told him I’d try to find him one before he returned to Maun.

That is pretty much where the conversation was left. I was encouraged by Skiller’s openness to talk about things and about his comment about believing he would eventually become a Christian. Some day may never come, however, so for those of you who are Christians I would appreciate if you would be praying for Skiller that he would come to a real and personal relationship with Christ. We only have two more days together (probably less once I actually get to internet and get this posted) so please be praying for God-given opportunities for further conversations. Pray also for me for wisdom and that the Lord will be the one speaking through me. Finally, please pray that I will be able to find a Bible for him. I have one idea of where to look but I do not know if the store is even there anymore. Also, we’re likely to be pretty busy over the next two days. I want to make this a priority, but it will be tough as there are other demands on my time also. Thank you!

7-31-12 Update

Praise the Lord! We got a Bible for Skiller! We had some time this afternoon so we went searching for a Christian bookstore I remembered in town. We found it and got him a small NIV Bible. I'm so glad this worked out! I think I'm going to suggest he start with the book of Luke. I know many people like John but I've always found the opening chapter to be a bit metaphoric and for someone who doesn't have English as their first language I figure the straightforward approach of Luke is better. Please be praying now that he reads this Bible and that the Lord uses His Word to change Skiller's heart.

Almost done!

7-30-12

The research is going very well! We completed all 200 random points that I originally generated for the area (technically we skipped two because the GIS layer said there was a road where there really wasn’t so we couldn’t get to them, but we made up for them with some extra opportunistic sampling). We then spent the last two days doing further random samples along other roads that weren’t in the original GIS layer. He currently have done almost 60 of these. We were supposed to finish these in the park today but after completing one training sample we returned to the car, tried to turn it on…and nothing happened. No click, no engine turning, nothing. I popped the hood and took a look but it wasn’t clear what the problem was. Another car drove by and as it pulled up I tried it again and it worked! Praise the Lord! The clock had reset so I assume the battery had fully died but when I talked to Thata about it later he said he didn’t think it was the battery (though he didn’t suggest what else it could be). Not wanting to risk breaking down on the little access road we were supposed to try next we left the park and headed into town. Since then we haven’t had any problems and I really don’t know what the issue was. I wonder if it could be from using the inverter to charge phones, laptops, etc. There have been a bunch of times in the past few days where we turned the car on, drove a short distance (like 200m) while charging, and then turned it off again and then repeated. Maybe that wore things down. This afternoon we didn’t charge anything and we had no more problems. I still do want to collect data on that access road so hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday we’ll be able to do it. I’ll just keep praying for no more car trouble.

In the afternoon we drove to the Chobe Enclave, a set of 5 villages west of the park. We were looking for areas that are human impacted where we can test our methodology to see if it applies to more than just elephants. Yet again, Skiller was a huge help as we talked to chiefs and officials in three villages, requesting permission to collect data in their areas. I suspect I’d have had a much harder time of it without him there. We have permission in two of the villages (the chief was out in one and we’ll have to try talking to him tomorrow) so hopefully starting tomorrow we’ll be collecting some data there.

This all reminds me, I’m not sure I ever described what I’m doing here (if so I apologize but you get to read it again). My dissertation research involves impacts of elephants on large herbivores and vegetation in southern Africa. As a Geography major I am taking a spatial ecology view of this, looking at elephant impacts on spatial distributions of species (the data I collected last year), elephant movement in relation to vegetation impacts (the project we’re starting in Addo), and detecting elephant impacts via satellite remote sensing. This last part is what I’ve been collecting data for these past three weeks. We are gathering information on the status of the vegetation (how impacted it is by elephants) all across the park and are hoping to link that to what we learn from the satellites. A technique called the Moving Standard Deviation Index (MSDI) has been proposed to work for detecting elephant impacts (basically it picks out variable areas in the landscape with the assumption that elephant impacts break up the normal vegetation patterns) but there hasn’t been much work done to validate it. The data I am collecting are designed to assess whether the MSDI really works. If it does I can use it to look at patterns of elephants in space and how that affects how other species use the landscape. I can also use older satellite data to look back in time at how elephant impacts have changed in the park as the elephant population has increased. Even if the MSDI doesn’t work I have been thinking of other ways to use the data I am collecting to get at some of the same issues so it will be useful either way. This has meant far more time staring at plants and far less watching animals than I prefer, but I am excited about what the data may tell us, helping improve elephant management.

7-31-12 Update

This morning we stopped to get fuel and when we tried turning on the car again it wouldn't start, same as yesterday. Fortunately we were at the filling station and the attendant there checked it with us and determined that the battery terminal was loose so after tightening it down (thanks again Uncle Ed for the socket wrench set! We really would be in trouble without it) things worked fine.

We went into the park and finished data collection there. I'll admit part of me is a bit sad about being done working in the park, I like it there a lot. Then again I'm also really excited to be coming back home to my wife and family and friends.

After that we headed back into the Enclave to start data collection there. We only got a few done but we found some other interesting sites so hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to go and finish the work there.

The end is in sight! Praise the Lord!

Vehicle troubles

It wouldn't be a trip to Africa for field work without some vehicle troubles. I'm using the trusty Mitsubishi Pajero that I've used each year I've been here and in general it's working well. The engine had been making a squealing noise, however, for the first few minutes when we turned it on. It did it some last year so I wasn't too worried, but one morning it was extra loud so I popped the hood to check. It's a good thing I did. One of our fan belts had come off and was rubbing between the engine block and the alternator, causing the squealing. It was almost worn completely through. There are two fan belts so we were able to drive it into town to the auto part store. We had to wait for them to open but eventually we got a fan belt. Then it needed to be put on. They didn't have anyone who could do it but I thought I remembered how from fan belt problems we had back in Moremi Game Reserve in 2010. I didn't want to mess up the car further, however, so we thought we should double check the procedure. Fortunately Skiller's girlfriend is a mechanic so we called her in Maun and I described what I thought I should do and she confirmed that it was correct! My Uncle Ed gave me a socket wrench set for Christmas that had metric attachments and I was able to use that to loosen the alternator, slip the new fan belt on, and tighten things up again. We turned the car back on and everything worked fine! It was back into the park for another day of work...

The work progresses

We've now completed about 160 training samples! This is wonderful and is more than I expected to complete this summer...and we still have another week of data collection time. I am very excited by the progress we are making. Something growled at us from a bush the other day, making us quickly retreat to the vehicle, but other than that we haven't had any other close animal encounters.

In camp it's been fairly quite on the animal side, though two nights ago there was a big elephant that came and ate from the tree right next to my tent. In the morning there were a number of branches on the ground next to my cement slab that the elephant had ripped from the tree. Last night as I was gathering firewood I looked up and saw a herd of buffalo standing staring at me about 150m away. Buffalo can be quite dangerous so I kept an eye on them, collected wood in the opposite direction, and built a nice big fire to keep them back...and everything went fine.

It's crazy to think it's only a week and a half until I head home. There's still lots to do but I'm looking forward to being back.

Update on research and things

Hi all,

The work is going really well! Skiller is a great research assistant. We've taken 45 training samples in the last two days. Considering I was hoping to average 10 a day, that's excellent! I hope we can keep up this pace because then I can get more samples than the minimum I'd set. In this case, more data will always be better. No more scary animal encounters during the training samples. It's always a bit disconcerting when you research assistant suddenly asks if you know how to climb trees while you're out in the middle of a sample...but he was just checking.

Things have been quieter around camp. Two nights ago a herd of buffalo came by camp, but the kept a wide distance from our fire so things were fine. This afternoon Skiller found what he says was a snake track. If that's what it was then it's from a BIG snake. He said Mr Cash said there were African Rock Pythons around. Based on the track size this one is probably at least as long as I am. Personally I'm hoping not to run into it.

Thanks for your prayers, there's more I'd love to say but I'm out of internet time so it'll have to come later. I hope you all are well!

Tim

Camping and working in Chobe National Park

Hello all!

So things ended up working out wonderfully! Skiller arrived later than expected but he did get here. We set off for the park and they directed us to a campsite at the old gate, just past Chobe Safari Lodge where we've stayed in the past. We were met by an old man named Cash and his wife Porche who showed us the camp. It's very run-down now with most of the buildings in disrepair but there is water, toilets, showers (fairly sketchy, but working), and electricity in Cash's place. Our camp is farther up the hill on top of the foundations of some buildings that are now gone. Stepping into our campsite for the first time was interesting...there was a buffalo skin that was all that remained of some lion or hyena's meal about 10m from where I was told to pitch my tent in one direction and when I looked at the tree in the other direction, I saw the skin of some antelope hanging from it...the work of a leopard who stashed his kill there. That first night herds of elephants came walking just behind our camp, just outside of the fire we started to keep them back. There are certainly animals a plenty here, which though a little scary is also amazing. The other incredible thing is the view. We look out on the Chobe River and can see the herds of animals grazing in the morning and evening and watch the sun set over the river. People pay a lot of money to go on boat rides to see the view we get from our tents. Definitely a blessing.

Work in the park has also now started in earnest. In the last two days we've done 21 training samples (to link satellite information about vegetation to elephant impacts on the ground). This is far more than I expected, which is wonderful! We have had some interesting experiences along the way. Yesterday we walked up a hill and started recording data only to have an elephant get up from where it had been resting about 15m away on the other side of a bush! It was a big bull but lying down we didn't see it. We hurried back down the hill and were fine. We decided to come back and finish that site later (we did it today and no elephant this time). This morning we were collecting data at another site when tour operators said there were lions nearby. We returned to the car for a while but never saw the lions and since we were working in the opposite direction we finished our sampling. Then later we ran into worse problems. We got stuck in some thick sand. Unfortunately our shovel and tow rope are with Thata and we're getting them this afternoon so we were down in the sand digging with our hands until a tour car came along and lent us the shovel. The tourists had a great time laughing at the "Do Not Follow" sign on our car and the fact that we were stuck. All this has worked out fine and the Lord really has provided for us but please do keep praying for safety from animals, sand and other things in the upcoming weeks.

Skiller has been amazing! He is a hard worker and dedicated. He knows some of the trees, which has been a help, and he took it on himself to look through the guide book I have and to write down the English and Setswana names so he can learn what the ones he recognizes in the local language are in English. I've been very impressed with him so far. He has a certificate in building construction but wants to go back for a degree next year so he can start his own building company. I hope all the best for him. I'll admit he won major points for me when we were in the store this afternoon and asked if we wanted some after dinner drinks, now that we had ice for our cooler box. I said sure and he walked to the juice aisle and started looking around. My kind of person!

That's about all the internet time I have for now. I hope you're all doing well!

Into the park

It's been a good last few days in Kasane. Camping at Thebe has worked out fine and I've been in the park each day collecting data from the car. It's tedious at times but I feel good about actually getting data collected. And it's always wonderful to see and be close to Chobe's amazing wildlife!

Hopefully tonight I will start camping in the park. There's a great game scout working at the gate named Thero who has been very friendly and helpful. He suggested camping at the old gate, which is not too far from town and has water, toilets, and a shower. Sounds luxurious :) Skiller just called and says he's about an hour out from town so hopefully he'll get here, we can pick up some supplies, and then we can go find out about this camp site. I'll let you know how it goes once I find out more. Soon the real work begins in earnest.

I'm in Kasane

The Lord provides! I made it to the DWNP office this morning and got the permit with the Skiller's name on it. The flight was a little bumpy as we were landing but was overall fine. Now I'm in Kasane. Thata (our local contact) has his brothers meet me at the airport to hand over the Pajero. I'm actually surprised how good of shape it's in. It has cracks in the windshield and is missing the driver's side door handle (which makes getting in interesting) but it was recently washed, the tires look decent, it had full oil and transmission fluid, and it was clean inside. All in all fairly impressive.

Unfortuntately Chobe Safari Lodge was all full. This is the first time in a long time I haven't stayed there. I'm camping at Thebe River Safari Lodge, which is outside of town a few km on the way to Kazangula. The campsite seems decent but unlike Chobe Safari Lodge I can't get internet there. That and the lodge is across the street from the prison, which is less than encouraging. But really I don't think there is any danger, it's more just funny.

Skiller, my research assistant, says he can get here Monday so tomorrow and Sunday I'll try to collect data from the car. I was planning on doing some of that anyways so it should work fine. We'll see.

Quick update

Since I posted this morning, several things have happened. I called the person I mentioned previously and he said he was interested in working with me and would email me once he got to his office. When I got the email, however, he said that he had misunderstood what dates I was wanting to work and actually was not available. He suggested a friend of his named Skiller who he says is a good worker so I called that person and he said he would be interested in working with me. Not wanting to completely abandon Tererai as an option, I nonetheless asked for his information that I would need for the permit.

At 2:00 this afternoon I went to my scheduled meeting with Dr. Taolo. He expressed frustration at the Ministry’s decision and said we’d have to figure out something to do. I told him about Skiller and he said since he is Motswana (a citizen of Botswana) that is probably the best choice. He took down his information from me and said he would push to get the supplemental permit ready by tomorrow morning at 7:30 so that I can swing by and get it before heading to the airport. I feel very bad for Tererai, he seemed like a good guy and a great option, but I will trust that the Lord has a plan in all this.

I filled out a new form requesting officially adding the new research assistant to the permit and sent it off to Dr. Taolo. He will send it to the Ministry but Monday and Tuesday are national holidays so he doesn’t think they will respond until late next week, which is why he’s just giving me the Supplemental Permit (the one that actually gets us into the park and lets us camp) anyways. Lord willing this should work…we’ll see if it all ends up coming together.

One other good thing, when I got back there was an email from a contact I made at the QLEES conference in Durban who suggested a few other people I could try so if something goes wrong with Skiller I may have another option (though I really hope it doesn’t come to that). Ok, my “quick update” is now four paragraphs so I’d better stop.

Yes and No

Yesterday was an interesting day for me. In the morning I received an email saying that the journal article I had submitted about my Master’s work had been accepted with minor revisions. This is very exciting as it is my first real journal article! It’s not a for sure thing yet, I have to make the corrections suggested by the reviewers and get them approved, but the editor said if I did this he would be happy to publish my paper so I feel encouraged. This is a big hurdle for me and was a nice confirmation that what I’m doing is okay.

Then in the afternoon I hit a problem. On Tuesday when I met with the official from the wildlife department he said that since my research assistant wasn’t a local I would have to submit a form to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism petitioning to add him to our research permit. Then Dr. Taolo could add him to the supplemental permit. This made me extend my time in Gaborone by two days but Dr. Taolo was pretty sure it would work out, so I submitted the form. Yesterday afternoon I got the response saying that my request was rejected. They wanted a local, not a foreigner. I sent them a response requesting a petition of the decision because while I understand their desire to have locals trained and hired, this situation arose because of an unexpected cancellation of my previous research assistant and my time constraints keep me from being able to mount a full search for a new assistant. As I was sending this, however, the internet went out and did not come back.

I’ll admit it was a bit confusing. In the morning I got a great Yes, affirming the work that I do, and then in the afternoon a No on what I’m trying to do this season. I believe that the Lord has a plan and is going to work this out; it’ll just be interesting to see how these things go. He has a plan and a purpose in all this.

This morning, as soon as I could get to an internet connection I send off my request for the petition to the authorities and have yet to receive a response. At the same time, I need to be ready in case they still say no so I emailed contacts at the Okavango Research Institute in Maun to ask if they knew of any locals who might be available on short notice to serve as a research assistant. One, Lin Cassidy, who got her PhD at the University of Florida, just responded proposing a young man who might work. I sent him an email and will call him shortly. We’ll see how this all works. I’m trying to trust the Lord but I’ll admit there’s a bit of stress as I have a plane ticket for tomorrow but no guarantee that my permit will be ready by then. I’d really rather not push back my flight again, Gabs is expensive and as it is I’ll be pressed to get all the data I need in the time I have left. We’ll see.

On top of all that, something interesting has been happening. I’ve had four different people come up to me in the last two days, requesting food, oil, bus fares, and prayer for a job. While I have definitely had people come ask me for help in the past, it’s never been this many in this short a time. It makes me wonder if the Lord is trying to tell me something, or if there’s something else I’m supposed to see or do. I came here to study elephants but perhaps my being here is supposed to have a larger impact than that. I’m really not sure. I guess we’ll see what comes of all this. The Lord is in control, I just hope I’m paying enough attention to see His purpose in these various things that are going on.

Preparing for research

As I said previously, I’m in Gaberone now and trying to get ready for my research. This afternoon I will meet with Dr. Cyril Taolo, head of research for the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks to obtain my research permit. Hopefully that will go smoothly, I have meet with Dr. Taolo each time I have worked in Botswana and he has always been very helpful.

There is, however, a bit of a complication. Typically other students from UF come with us to Botswana and so we all help each other as research assistants. This year, however, it is only me so I am hiring a research assistant. In April or May I communicated with a local named Fidelis who had worked with some of my teammates previously about helping me out. He seemed excited so I made the plans. I emailed him Friday to confirm and just heard back this morning that he got another job. I am excited for him as it sounds like a good job, but this might alter my plans a bit.

The good thing is, he says he has a friend who is studying wildlife in South Africa but currently is in the Caprivi Strip of Namibia, not too far from Chobe. It sounds like this friend is willing to work with me. He gave me his phone number and email but not his name, so I don’t even know what to call him. I just sent an email to him to confirm that he is available when I need and to get his information. See, I need to have him listed on the supplemental permit if I am going to bring him into the park with me. I think for that I need his passport number and birth date. Well we’ll see, the whole thing is in the Lord’s hands so I’m sure it will work out. I just hope it comes together soon because time is limited and I can’t do what I need to do without a research assistant. I’ll let you know how it works out.

Okay, since I typed that I got a response from him. It turns out his name is Tererai and he is a student with the Southern African College of Wildlife getting a certificate in conservation. He says he can meet me Friday morning and he gave me the details I need for the permit. That sounds good, I’m impressed he responded so quickly. I guess we’ll see how it all works.

QLEES

I am now in Gaberone Botswana. A lot has happened since the last post. I left Port Elizabeth on July 2 and flew to Durban, South Africa. There I participated in the Quantitative Landscape Ecology and Environmental Sustainability workshop put on by Rutgers University and the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. It was a great experience! There were about 40 participants, probably around 2/3 students. Each morning there was a little training session in animal movement analysis or agent-based modeling, or using GIS for ecology work. I learned a lot of helpful things that should aid my Addo work. Then in the afternoon there were research presentations by students and faculty. It was mostly Africa focused so many of the talks were right up my alley. There is a lot of really interesting work going on!

One of the coolest talks was by a girl named Nancy. She is the first deaf zoologist in the world. She gave a really good talk about brown hyena and spotted hyena interactions in which she signed the entire thing and an aide translated for us. I was very impressed! South Africa is making a documentary about her so they filmed her presentation. She was also really friendly and very good at reading lips. I talked to her a little bit and she could understand what I was saying and then answer back. She impressed me even more the final night at the banquet when she and another student danced together. They hadn’t planned it, it was spur of the moment but they did a really great job. Considering that she can’t hear the music and had to rely on watching the guy for cues, that was really impressive as they did spins and twirls and dips and other things. Very cool.

The funny thing about the conference was that even though my work is based in Africa I actually presented on work from Florida. The IGERT fellowship that supports my degree is the one that actually paid for me and a fellow graduate student to attend the QLEES meeting so we presented on the IGERT work we’ve been doing this past year modeling distributions of invasive species in the Everglades. I wasn’t sure how it would be received because it wasn’t in Africa but we actually got some very positive feedback and people seemed to enjoy the talk.

On Wednesday we visited Ushaka Sea World, a well-known aquarium in Durban. We got a tour for an hour and then had an hour to wander around on our own. I was very impressed, the exhibits were well maintained and the entire place was very well themed. The outside looked like a wrecked ship and inside it was themed to be four different ships, each of which was from a different time period and was wrecked at a different depth and thus had different types of marine species. Unfortunately we got there too late in the day for the seal or dolphin shows, but it was still really cool.

All in all, a great conference and a good week seeing a new place in South Africa!