A Long-Awaited Journey
By Madeleine Gefke ‘20, Keystone Foundation Fellow 2020-2022
Hello from Kotagiri, India! I still can’t quite believe I am saying this, but after almost two years of a remote experience as the inaugural Shansi Fellow with Keystone Foundation, I have finally arrived in India. I am incredibly thankful for this opportunity to make this dream of mine a reality, and I very much appreciate all of the support I have received from Oberlin Shansi in allowing me to extend my fellowship for a total of 10 months in-country. This generous amount of time allows me to establish a life for myself here in the Western Ghats and contribute more significantly to projects at Keystone.
View from Maddie’s desk
View from Maddie’s desk
I have now been in India for just over one month, and wow there is a lot to say! This is my first time in India and the learning curve is steep and thrilling. After two and a half days of travel from the US to reach the Nilgiris District, I met Ted, Deputy Director of Shansi, at the Coimbatore airport. Over the next few days, he gave me some introductions to the culture, the food (eating with my hands on banana leaves), the language. He was with me when I stepped onto Keystone Foundation's campus for the first time and met my mentors Anita and Bhavya, with whom I have been remotely working with for so long! It felt totally surreal, still does.
Hill Station in the Mountains
When Ted left on a Friday, I was daunted by the fact that I would be spending my first weekend alone. From the last time I was abroad, I remember the really poignant feelings of loneliness, isolation, being at a loss of what to do that first weekend. I was nervous about reencountering these low feelings again. But I found myself really surprised to actually have plans! I was asked to attend an event with my coworkers to distribute scholarships to the kids of forest caretakers in the threatened Longwood Shola ecosystem, as this is what the caretakers had requested. I met up with Sharada, a mentor of mine, who had practiced Tamil virtually with me for nearly a year, and we went to the vegetable show in Nehru park (the local park in town)! Art made out of vegetables, it was pretty spectacular and an extreme waste of vegetables. I also continued the housing search process with help from Keystone through a chaotic word-of-mouth frenzy.
Maddie and Vandana in the field
Office work (Left to right): Maddie, Habeeba, and Vandana
I have now settled into a house with my co-fellow Reet and we've gotten into more of a work and life rhythm, starting with a 20-minute morning and evening walk to Keystone, up and down this huge hill that everyone complains about. It is very steep! In terms of work, I am happy to say that I finally sent all materials to the publisher for the Sustainable Use book project I have been working on with Anita and the other editors since the beginning of my fellowship! Now, I am learning more about the biodiversity team's many other endeavors, including wildlife monitoring, human-wildlife interactions, restoration plantings, and education. I have taken on a climate historians project, traveling to indigenous villages to document people's stories about their experiences with climate change. I was able to go on my first overnight field visit to Sathyamangalam Tiger Preserve to meet our partners in the Irula and Soliga tribal villages who are doing incredible work with plant nurseries, farming for local food security and reclaiming traditional foods, monitoring tree phenologies, and leading ecological and climate education programs in their areas. I feel incredibly honored to have the opportunity to learn from these keepers of traditional ecological knowledge about the ways of the forests, traditional livelihoods and culture, and their lived experiences with climate change. This field visit was just an introduction for now, but I'm excited to return and dive deeper into our conversations. I also have followed along on sign surveys at breathtaking sites around Kotagiri to look for direct and indirect signs of wildlife. We’ve found tracks, hair, and/or scat from sloth bear, leopard, civet cat, jungle cat, wild boars, gaur, goat, cattle, and even elephant! I am still getting used to the incredible biodiversity in this part of the world, it’s just astounding. Keystone also knows how to shake things up a bit, most recently with a big habba celebration: hundreds of people dressed up, from all of Keystone’s field offices and partnerships, for a full, colorful day of non-stop song and dance, mingling, eating and celebrating the Keystone community. After 2 years without a party, everyone was happy to have a chance to gather together. I learned so many new dance moves with Bhavya, complete with traditional band music, and did not sit down the whole day!
Habba outfits (Left to right): Namrata, Harsha, Reet, Maddie, Habeeba, Vandana, Natasha, and Bhavya)
Field crew for sign survey (Left to Right: Natasha, Vandana, and Maddie)
Outside of work, I am finding a pretty amazing community of friends here. Even from the first day, I was introduced to so many people at Keystone and was invited to people's houses. Keystone has so many fun, cool, young interns and employees, so I have had a blast getting to know them. I have found a wonderful running buddy in Namrata from the community well-being team! And the biodiversity team mostly consists of awesome, inspiring, empowering women, so it felt easy to jump right in to the group and become friends. Reet and I have hung out with Natasha, Vandana, Harsha, and Habeeba, singing, dancing, playing games, and cooking an assortment of meals including ramen, paneer masala, Thai curry, pasta, dosa, pav bhaji, panipuri, and coconut chutney (which I could literally drink) both at their houses and hosting at ours. Our tight-knit crew had a jam-packed week of birthday celebrations for Reet and I at the end of May, involving cake at midnight, homecooked meals, Bollywood movies, a fancy dinner out, sleepovers, and even a 3.5 hour surprise stakeout! So happy to be part of such a great team, and so thankful for their immediate warm welcome and long-lasting friendship! While I expand my community of people in India, I also continue to hold my loved ones close in my heart, as my story would not be complete without my family, friends, and partner, who have woken up early or stayed up late to call me and send messages of love and support my way. So, as much as this is a personal journey of growth and exploration for me, this is also very much a journey I am on along with everyone I feel honored to call a part of my loving community.
Cofellows Maddie and Reet
Maddie’s Birthday Stargazing (Left to Right): Natsha, Reet, Vandana, and Maddie)