Nov. 24, 2015
Every Tuesday, the Nevada athletic communications department will post a feature story as part of its Wolf Pack Weekly series. These stories will provide fans with an inside look at the Wolf Pack, and will focus on athletes on the field, in the classroom or in the community.
By Tara Park
Special to NevadaWolfPack.com
RENO, Nev. - As Thanksgiving approaches, Nevada track and field's Anna DuBois has a new sense of appreciation and thanks after a volunteer trip last summer in Tanzania.
Prior to her junior season here at Nevada, DuBois sought out a three-week trip volunteering in Tanzania, a country on the east coast of Africa. DuBois helped build a library for a local school, explored the culture of the country and even climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.
The experience left a lasting impression on DuBois. From being born and raised in Elko to seeing an impoverished country in Tanzania, DuBois has a new perspective on her life and a desire to help those in need.
"The entire experience of just being in a new culture and especially one that's so poor, like where children are walking around in the same clothes they've been wearing for a week and barefoot on dirt roads that are covered in trash, it just kind of makes you realize you should help or that you can do something to help," DuBois said. "It was just really different and it was hard to leave-it gave me a new perspective on life."
DuBois' adventure started last fall after attending an informative session from Give, a volunteer and travel group that goes all over the globe to aid poor communities. Although DuBois - who has a 3.98 GPA in materials science engineering - already had a great summer internship with Goldstrike Mines Inc., she was determined to join Give and be a part of their upcoming project.
"I applied in the fall and was accepted a few weeks later, and then I paid for everything and completely committed to it," DuBois said. "I worked everything else in my schedule around it."
It wasn't easy for DuBois to maneuver her schedule around the three-week trip as she had to cut her summer internship short, but she doesn't regret it. While in Tanzania, DuBois assisted in building a library for a local school. In addition to community service projects, she was able to explore bigger cities and their market places along with going on expeditions, exploring national forests and safaris.
One of DuBois' favorite aspects of the expeditions is that some of the local children would frequently join them, which gave her a better understanding of their lives.
After two weeks of aiding communities in Tanzania and Zanzibar, it was hard for DuBois to say her good-byes to everyone she met. But her adventure was not over yet. The last week of her trip was dedicated to hiking Mount Kilimanjaro with the other 12 Give volunteers.
"If I'm going to Africa, I'm going big. So I thought I'd climb the tallest freestanding mountain in the entire world," DuBois said.
It took DuBois four and a half days to hike up the mountain - which towers over 16,000 feet tall - and one and a half days to travel back down. After finally reaching the peak, DuBois took a picture on top and created an Instagram account just to share the scenery.
"It was harder to go down the mountain right away because it was so steep - I don't even know how we summited," DuBois said. "We summited in the dark so we couldn't really see where we were going. On the way down it was just unbelievable thinking how I climbed up this because now I take a step and go down like 10 feet; it's pretty much skiing down a mountain of gravel."
DuBois had already become good friends with the other volunteers, but after the hike up Mount Kilimanjaro, her friendships solidified. All 13 volunteers stay in-touch through an app called Group Me where they share memories from their trip. They even discuss having a reunion in the future.
In addition to hopefully reuniting with her new friends, DuBois would love to go back to Africa again, or do another Give program. She wishes she could afford it for this upcoming summer, but emphasized at some point in her life she will make it happen. DuBois loved every bit of her experience.
"I always wanted to go to Africa, because it is completely different from anything I've ever known. It's a whole new culture," DuBois said. "I brought it up as much as I could [when returning this fall semester]. It's like 'Oh hi my name is Anna and I went to Africa this summer.' I was telling everyone I met that they should do it, it'll change your life and it's one of the best experiences you'll ever have."
Wolf Pack Weekly Archive - Last Five
Nov. 17, 2015 - Baseball Nov. 10, 2015 - Softball
Oct. 20, 2015 - Women's Basketball
Oct. 13, 2015 - Niki Silveria, Rifle
Oct. 6, 2015 - James Butler, Football
