Describe the biggest risk you have ever taken, the outcome, and what you learned in the process.

(500 words maximum)

While there are several risks I have undertaken throughout my time in Africa, perhaps the biggest risk overall was moving here immediately upon graduation. I moved to Africa not speaking any of the languages necessary to communicate on a daily basis, not knowing much about the culture, and not having the slightest idea about how my life was about to change. When I moved to Africa, I only had a secured position for three months, not knowing what the future held after this. I was also heading to some volatile parts of the continent in Eastern Congo and living here has not been without incident. I’ve been robbed three times and held up at gunpoint by twice. Unfortunately, both times I had a gun pointed at me were by the army and the police, two groups which in an ideal world should provide security for their citizens rather than detract from it.

I moved to Africa because I saw a great need for both people and wildlife. Given my undergraduate training, I felt I had the skills necessary to make a difference for both instances. Despite the risks being high, I have learned that the rewards can be higher. I’ve learned a great deal about mitigating these risks. Nothing in Africa ever goes according to plan; something always breaks, a road gets washed away, some group is always on strike, and corruption can inevitably thwart your best intentions. The list of things that can go wrong is endless, as is the creativity required when crafting solutions.

Given the organized chaos that is the African continent, the “best thing” I’ve ever learned here is actually quite simple: be prepared. You always need a back-up plan and you typically need at least three. Even after all of your back-up plans, you must also be very creative with the limited tools at your disposal. My creativity has proved enormously successful in my career across the continent. It has helped me with jobs as varied as negotiating contracts with government officials and introducing new projects to traditional village leaders. For instance, I drew upon my creativity when community leaders in Uganda were lobbying for a soccer field for their village. I had to convince community leaders in Uganda that a fully staffed and free medical clinic would likely serve the needs of the community better than would a soccer field.

Finally, I have learned that despite vast cultural, religious and linguistic differences, in my experience, the essential elements that motivate me as an American, are no different than those that motivate nearly every human being on the planet. We all want to be safe and healthy and to be able to provide for our families and children so that they may grow up in a better world than we have. There is a common African proverb that I’ve adapted slightly which continues to motivate me in my endeavor to conserve Africa’s biodiversity, ‘We never actually own the earth, we simply borrow it from our grandchildren.’