

Tz students







January Study Abroad Trip to Tanzania- Just a Few Spots Left


Seeking adventurous students to participate in our winter session study abroad trip, January 5th – 22nd.  Through this unique 12-day experiential learning course, students will travel to the Mara Region of Northern Tanzania to explore community development through four interrelated lenses: education, health, economics, and infrastructure.  Trip highlights will include visits to community development projects, clinics and schools; engagement with local villagers, community leaders, and educators; and a guided safari through the famed Serengeti Game Reserve. The study abroad trip is part of our larger Buffalo Tanzania Education Project (BTEP), a multi-faceted engagement initiative that has focused on a developing school for girls in Kitenga Village under the leadership of the Immaculate Heart Sisters of Africa. You can learn more about BTEP by exploring the “Tanzania” section of my blog site.

The trip will be co-facilitated by Dan Nyaronga from Empire State College who hails from the Mara Region. Students from all disciplines, backgrounds, and colleges are welcomed to apply. Deadline is October 1st.

Visit the UB Study Abroad website to register and contact me at with any questions about the trip.

Thank You Global Explorers


Close your eyes and hold out your hands, Cazau and Julia instructed the children as they stood in a circle somewhere off the road near Gallup New Mexico. It was the final day of our adventure and although we needed to head for the airport in Albuquerque, they wanted to squeeze in a final discussion, so the roadside clearing would have to do. Luckily, over the past nine days, the kids had become so immersed in the spirit of the Canyon and the San Juan River, that they were able to hold their energy even so close to the city.

I too held out my hands, wondering what memento would be offered and whether it could do justice to the experience that we had all created and shared. When I felt a small smooth marble placed in my palm, I immediately understood the symbolism. The notion that these children held the Earth in their hands- that even though it was so much older and bigger than any of them, or us, they were largely in control. And how they would choose to utilize their influence would in many ways define our individual and collective futures.

The children understood the significance. The trip had been full of powerful moments – sleeping on the Canyon floor under a blanket of stars, experiencing the joyous embrace of Kathy and Ravis who welcomed us into the Navajo traditions, and spending lazy days and nights on the river, sharing stories and laughter, and a sense of community for which we would always yearn.

In that moment, perhaps the children felt the magic slipping away and the sense of responsibility settling in its place. How would they take what they learned and transport it back to their individual lives? They shared their reflections- spending more time outdoors, less technology, trying to be present and not overscheduled. They promised to come back to the Southwest, to become river guides and group leaders, continuing the journey that we had all started together.

As I stood within the circle listening and watching, I was moved beyond words. I felt so hopeful that these children would carry this experience with them forever, that they were changed in some important and profound way.  I wished that I could follow each of them home to help them process the jarring reality of return, reconciling the fact that they are changed, yet expected to be the same, helping them reflect on the wisdom of the Canyon when they are tested by the challenges of their lives.

Perhaps this is our next frontier as educators and parents, creating tools and forums in which to share and integrate experiences, helping others to process new-found truths and epiphanies within the borders of existing realities.  This integration  is more complex than we may realize. But ultimately, it offers the promise that we so desperately need. By creating and leveraging high impact experiences, we can become kinder, happier, and more responsive to the world around us, global citizens worthy of the precious earth we hold.