Matt Geary ’20, Kayla Balfour ’21, and Tyra Wentz ’21 were among the students who studied in Tanzania during the 2019 winter term. Helen Kohler, visiting professor of nursing at Moravian, provided financial support.

Students Learn Valuable Lessons in Tanzania

Among her many years teaching in Africa, Helen Kohler, visiting professor in Moravian’s nursing department, worked 2 ½ years at Cuttington College (now University) in Liberia developing a community health nursing course for the BSN program. Her best friends there, Rose and Randy, had a hog farm a mile from the college. Rose was the principal of the local elementary school, and Randy was the local head of a farmer’s organization. Both had degrees from Cornell University.

“Their house had mud floors, and their latrine was some distance from the house. There was not a single luxury item in sight,” Kohler describes. “After living in areas with scarce resources, among people who have so little, I came home totally disinterested in the acquisition
 of stuff. This is very freeing. I can focus on sharing my resources, especially for providing educational experiences.”

And she does—generously. Kohler has established two endowment funds at Moravian College that support students’ global experiences through study abroad, a service or mission trip, or a short-term experience in another country. “I choose to make it possible for some Moravian students to have a welcome-to-the-world experience much earlier than I did at age 36,” says Kohler. “Having an opportunity to know what scarcity of resources really looks and feels like can foster a basic belief in lifelong service to others.”

“I choose to make it possible for some Moravian students to have a welcome-to-the-world experience much earlier than I did at age 36,” says Helen Kohler.

“Tourism is the primary contributor to GDP in Tanzania,” says student Matt Geary ’20, “but in many ways it violates long-held cultural norms.

With scarce resources, Tanzanians are thoughtful and conservative in their use of resources and acquisition of stuff, explains Kohler.

Kohler’s funds provided financial assistance to 10 students who traveled to Tanzania during the 2019 winter term for the course Modern African Culture and Society: Case Study Tanzania. Taught by Akbar Keshodkar, associate professor of sociology and anthropology, the course’s primary objectives were to engage students in learning about the culture, economy, and social structures of Tanzania within the context of globalization.

“Tourism is the primary contributor to GDP in Tanzania,” says student Matt Geary ’20, “but in many ways it violates long-held cultural norms. For example, the community frowns upon women who take jobs outside the home that force them to interact with people from other countries, but jobs in tourism pay higher wages than other jobs available to the poor."

“Having an opportunity to know what scarcity of resources really looks and feels like
can foster a basic belief in lifelong service to others.”

“Then there is the affront of tourism itself,” adds Geary. “The social norms 
of Tanzania dictate that men and women should be covered when they are 
in public. Many tourists show a blatant disregard for this custom. You see women walking the streets in bikinis and men in shorts and short-sleeved shirts. It offends the sensibilities and values of the local population. I and the other students in the course researched the culture ahead of time, so we knew to dress modestly. The experience reinforced the importance of understanding where you are going when you travel to another country.”

Geary and fellow student Tyra Wentz 
’21 came away from Tanzania with new awareness and perceptions of consumption. With scarce resources, Tanzanians are thoughtful and conservative in their use of resources and acquisition of stuff, as Kohler puts it. “We produce more trash in a week than they do in a month,” says Geary. “It made me think about my habits at home.” Wentz agrees. “I’ve become quite aware of how much waste I contribute to throughout the year,” she says. “I’ve grown fond of repurposing items and reducing my plastic waste as much as possible.”

Welcome to the world, thinks Kohler with a smile.