Moral: Not everything on the Internet is true. Sometimes this can lead to you being arrested.
Sorry, but this is not a confession of my previous life as a porn star. You'll have to Google "Foxy Frosty" for that. Rather this is the story of how one idealistic girl set out to change the world but almost got arrested instead.
As the end of sophomore Summer approached, I realized I needed to figure out a game plan. I had an off-term coming up in the Winter my first off-term since freshman Summer, and I wanted it to be perfect. Only problem was I was going to be in South Africa in the Fall, so I needed to plan it right then.
I thought what I did next was very logical at the time. I e-mailed every farm in Africa listed on the WWOOF website.
In case you were under the impression I was a canine enthusiast, WWOOF stands for Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms. And what WWOOF does is provide volunteers interested in working on organic farms with a network of farms interested in taking on temporary labor in return for room and board.
I couldn't have been happier as I sat there in Collis and e-mailing every farm that was listed on the African division page of WWOOF. I had met with Dickey regarding my project idea and they supported me. And I had just taken Organic Farming over the summer, so I was pretty much utterly convinced of the potential organic farming had to save the world.
I just needed the opportunity to do it.
I had interned at the World Wildlife Fund my freshman Summer and it proved an invaluable experience. I had the opportunity to see how a big-time NGO operated on a day-to-day basis and to learn about the stakeholders and issues involved in creating environmental policy.
But this time around, I wasn't interested in policy. I was interested in the application of policy or lack thereof. I'd seen how it worked on paper, but how did it work in actuality?
And that's when Alex McCausland of Strawberry Fields Eco-Lodge in Konso, Ethiopia, e-mailed me back. Yes, there was a position for me there. Could I please send back a copy of my CV?
I immediately logged onto the Strawberry Fields Eco-Lodge website absorbing as much information as I could. Strawberry Fields was a Permaculture operation the only of its kind in Ethiopia. It offered training courses in Permaculture design. And, it was a community development project interested in improving the lives of the Konso community. Not to mention, it was one man doing all this. This increased my interest 10-fold. "What a humanitarian I thought! Imagine what I could learn from him!"
Well, the first indication that this might not exactly be the case was when I learned his computer password was "bin laden." The second indication came when I learned his real name in Ethiopia was not actually, "Alex McCausland," but rather "Kenelm Piers McCausland." A fact he never disclosed when we discussed payment.
And see that's what led to the threat of my arrest the issue of payment. Now normally, you don't have to pay when WWOOFing. But I had an "internship" position with Strawberry, so we decided I would pay for my room and board. And I had paid Alex in the form of a cashier's check the day upon my arrival for the full pre-negotiated sum of $800. Alex had taken the check and said nothing of it to me again until two days before my departure.
That day he called Strawberry frantically on his way from Addis, yelling at me and calling me a whole slew of names. I knew he was mad. For when Alex would come to visit Strawberry to survey his property, the entire staff would tense up in anticipation of the yelling that would accompany his arrival: "Stupid, Illiterate Ethiopians!" he would bellow, yelling about this and about that. Alem, the storekeeper, an older woman in her 40s ended up leaving while I was there because the verbal abuse became too much to bear.
Alex said he no longer had the check that the bank was processing it. And I said I couldn't do anything for him without the check. He knew I was leaving that following Monday to travel and seemed at ease with the situation. I had notified Dickey of what happened and the issue appeared to be resolved that day.
And that's when shit hit the fan.
Alex e-mailed various departments at Dartmouth, including the English department of all places to file a formal complaint regarding my lack of payment and willingness to do so, threatening to have me arrested if I did not respond to his demands within 24 hours.
The next time I turned on my phone I had five voicemails and 12 text messages all with varying in degrees of concern. Dartmouth had called my parents. My Dad was in talks with the U.S. Embassy. And so, this is when my life as an international outlaw began. I made the 12 hour bus ride from eastern Ethiopia to Addis in a day. Luckily, I had friends in Addis and a place to stay. For the next two days I was in limbo, in talks with the Embassy, the school and my parents.
In the end, the money somehow "magically" appeared in Alex's account at the last second. But if it hadn't, I would have had to pay another $800 to get Alex to drop the charges. Because in circumstances such as these, the U.S. Embassy won't fight your battles or take sides. They're only there to mediate and ensure your safety as a U.S. citizen.
I've been back to Ethiopia since then though and I'm glad I went back. If not for anything else, I needed to go back just so I would believe in my capabilities again. And I must say, I'm a fast learner. This time, I met the lady at who's establishment I would be staying before I left. And I paid her in advance.
Also, I didn't call up Alex while I was there and arrange to have a coffee ceremony. Nor did I accept his Facebook friend request. I would recommend you do the same if you ever find yourself in Ethiopia.
