Scholarship Entry

“Hakuna mata.” These were some of the first words spoken to me after I entered the East African country Zambia. The panic radiating off me must have been palpable, it was not the 40 degree Celsius weather that caused beads of sweat to drip down my back. Without proper currency and the ATM’s not working a Zambian visa to enter the country did not seem like it was in my future. “I can see you are about to panic, you do not worry, hakuna mata. Everything will be fine,” the words were accompanied with a reassuring grin from the immigration officer. “Take a breath, and we will figure it out.”
This mantra followed me throughout Eastern African, hakuna mata, “there are no worries.” It helped me put my fear aside and get through checking for deadly black mambas under my flimsy tent in Tanzania, or pushing a car through clay-like African sludge in torrential down pours. This mantra allowed me to take a deep breath instead of hysterically crying when an African spider bite caused my eye to instantly swell to the size of my fist. In a potentially dangerous part of the world there are no worries, and that is because the of the incredible people all helping one an other out. A native Masai taught me how to carefully look for the poisonous snakes, a group of children splashing about in puddles helped us move our car out of the mud filled pothole, and I luckily found out that local herbs can bring down a swollen eyelid.
From that moment in the Zambian airport I adopted hakuna mata as my own person motto. Life, like travel, will always throw obstacles in your way, but there are always solutions. You deal with your problem and hopefully come out a changed person with a great story. I spent 3 hours in a sweltering hot Zambian airport learning Bemba words, and playing card games with the local officers while the ATMs rebooted. In that time I was taught a valuable lesson and could not think of a better way to start an adventure throughout Africa.