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News Flash
Brand Name
I enjoyed your article about Athabasca Hall in the spring edition of New Trail [pg. 16] and I have an answer to your query about what a flashlight machine is. A flashlight machine is a piece of photographic equipment filled with explosive flash powder used to produce a bright light, which is needed to produce short exposures. Before the development of the electric strobe light in 1931, a flashlight machine would have been used to take what we now call high-speed photographs. It was used to investigate events that happen very fast, such as the brief moment when a galloping horse has all four legs off the ground.
The following is in response to the “Home & Native Land” article [Winter 2011, pg. 6] regarding the 5,000-hectare ranch in southern Alberta generously donated to the University by Edwin [’57 BSc(Eng)] and Ruth Mattheis, [’58 BA]. The property donated by the Mattheis’ should correctly be referred to as being “originally” called the Three Walking Stick Ranch, not “currently” referred to as such. John Ware, the legendary black cowboy who came up to Alberta on a cattle drive from Texas in 1882, initially established the Three Walking Sticks Ranch. He registered the Four Walking Stick brand (Left Ribs) with the Territorial Government in May 1885 and ran cattle with this unique brand. In 1898 he had the brand revised to the Three Walking Stick, as the original brand proved to be too large.
Ashley Zinyk, ’03 BSc(Eng) Edmonton, AB
Spruced Up I enjoyed the Spring 2011 New Trail. Great article on Spruce Meadows [pg. 24]. What a great job. Dean McKenzie, ’68 BEd Edmonton, AB
Capital Idea I read the article on Tanzania [Spring 2011, pg. 19] with nostalgia as I worked there for two years as a volunteer with the UN in the mid-’70s just after graduating from the U of A. Thus, I chuckled when I read that “Arusha is the capital of Tanzania.” Dodoma is actually the capital city of Tanzania. But
F. Merritt Chisholm, ’52 BCom Sidney, BC For more on the Three Walking Sticks Ranch go to www.newtrail.ualberta.ca.
it was a lovely article and I appreciated reading about the writer’s journey. Keep up the good work. Of the three alumni magazines I receive, New Trail has always been my favourite. It really shows the depth of the U of A student body. Guy Milner, ’74 BA, Courtenay, BC
Editor’s Note: Dodoma is the national capital of Tanzania. Tanzania’s National Assembly moved to the city in 1996 from the previous national capital of Dar es Salaam. Arusha is the capital of the Arusha region in northern Tanzania. It is a major international diplomatic hub and is host to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Into Africa By Lyndsay Hobbs, ’11 BSc
Flamingos landing in a lake
in Ngorongoro crater; Wildebeest grazing on the
Capital Experience
An alumna takes us into the heart
T
Photos: Lyndsay Hobbs, istockphoto.com
your letters
here is a perpetual heaviness to the air in Tanzania. It is thick with dust and heat and the scent of vegetation and sweat. But last summer, as I stood underneath the canopy the of deep green leaves at the base of Sanje Falls, the air was clear and the than temperature several degrees cooler my usual. Although a chill ran through get body, I knew I would probably only one chance to swim in a pool at the base of an African waterfall. I hesitated for a moment, my toes curling around the slimy bark of a log balanced across the water, then I took the plunge into culthe falls and dove headlong into the ture of East Africa. of I had travelled to Tanzania as part environin course a month-long field the mental and conservation studies at Lee U of A, led by Naomi Krogman and 15 Foote. Our group was small, about students, and the size and pace of the course encouraged personal reflection. or Tasked not with typical assignments mainly were we papers or presentations, responsible for observing and experiencing this remarkable country.
Our journey into the heart of Tanzania began at the Kilimanjaro Airport,
of Tanzania
Open Hearts & Open Doors
It’s easy to develop an intimate relationship with Tanzania. Storefronts, bars, onto restaurants and homes all open up life, the road, creating a vibrant street where neighbours always stop to talk and where music crackles out of tired, old speakers. Gates and fences are emoscarce, so there are no physical or tional barriers between you, the tourist, and the real Tanzania. However, this and social means that the country’s vast economic problems— such as the lack gap between the rich and poor, the of infrastructure and access to education — are also on display. This openness extends from the personal to the political in Tanzania, which openly struggles between western and of more traditional values and models eye, western the To economic progress. Tanzania may seem underdeveloped, but it has stumbled across a balance between traditional community self-sufficiency and big business, privatization forand conservation. For each massive, eign-owned sugar cane plantation—a
where my classmates and I piled into a creaky, dusty bus for the drive through the centre of Arusha, the nation’s capital. Ensure that upon arrival you search the skyline for a glimpse of Mount Meru, an active volcano that can be seen from almost anywhere at Arusha's within the city. Besides a beautiful Children mugging for the camera annual Nane Nane Agricultural Fair. view, Arusha hosts the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, bringare major export and employer—there ing employment and political represenhundreds of tiny family farms, where tatives cof- to the city since 1994. Tanzanians raise livestock and grow Although Arusha has a population tradiemploying bananas, and fee, yams ofNot 1.3 million, this number belies the tional—and sustainable—methods. serenity has that permeates its crowded just some recent fad, sustainability streets. of “Crowded” does not mean long been important to the farmers the same usedthing in Tanzania as it does East Africa, who have traditionally in Canada. Being surrounded by hunnatural pest control, such as boiled dreds tobacco leaves, and raised diverse crops of bodies that move with a languid, to prevent the risks inherent in mono- almost rhythmic lilt will lull you into a sense of security that cultures. Likewise, within this country is both is a and soothing. There is no of vast national park space, thereunexpected notion of anticipation in Tanzania, dialogue happening in each conservaonlytracontentment with one’s immedition area about how best to support ateand present. This becomes obvious ditional hunting and grazing needs while travelling through the guard people from dangerous animal country rarewatching carefully species, while still protecting theand planned timetaregion. crumble away. Learn to embrace and exquisite biodiversity of thebles trail 19 newtrail 20 new Spring 2011 Spring 2011
crater’s plains.
the moment and let the country sweep you up and carry you in any direction it pleases. Just north of the city lies Arusha National Park, the safari park that shattered my preconceptions of what a
An elephant wanders past tour trucks during a safari in Lake Manyara National Park.
safari is. When I visited in the summer, the savannah was surprisingly lush and green. Alkaline lakes hosted flocks of flamingos so large that they created a seemingly solid pink surface on the water. And, glimpsing the curve of a giraffe’s neck rising suddenly from the nearby treetops, I was reminded of why conservation of the vast wild spaces in Tanzania is so imperative.
Down the Rabbit Hole
From Arusha, you can travel westward toward the Ngorongoro region, whose rich colour palate derives from the area’s dark red soil and stands out in stark contrast to the more jungle-like surroundings of the capital city. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that incorporates wildlife conservation and human habitation in a multi-use system, and its highlight is the Ngorongoro Crater, which was created when a large volcano collapsed in on itself two- to three-million years ago. Our long drive down into the Ngorongoro Crater, some 2,000-feet deep, was foggy and damp. Reaching the crater’s floor felt a lot like falling down the proverbial rabbit hole. My proportions were all off balance. The surrounding walls seemed to stretch up forever. And although I could see shapes in the distance I couldn’t tell how far away they were or what lay immediately ahead of me. It took the sun until almost noon to breach the crater’s edge, but, when it did, it illuminated the scene with the evocative blues and yellows that are synonymous with the Serengeti. The afternoon heat
Another Africa Today I received the Spring 2011 issue of New Trail, with Lyndsay Hobbs’ article about her experience in Tanzania. I think you’ll find many U of A connections in East Africa. Here’s mine: I travelled to Kenya in the summer of 2009 as a volunteer with Education Beyond Borders (www.educationbeyondborders.org). Our mandate is to engage, educate and empower teachers in developing countries. For the past three summers, teams of teachers from Canada and the United States have worked with teachers in remote rural regions of Kenya to develop strategies for successful teaching in their unique learning communities. The teaching situation in Africa is far removed from our Canadian context, and the Kenyan teachers provided me with a very different perspective on the challenges of our profession. Mary-Anne Neal, ’76 BEd Victoria, BC Corrections We inadvertently listed Elsie Dorothy Milne (Chivilo), ’53 Dipl(Ed), in our In Memoriam section. She is very much alive and we apologize for our mistake. Kristen Brown—Spring 2011, pg. 52—is not a U of A alumna. newtrail autumn 2011
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