A lioness lounges in the boughs of a tree, poised above the savannah grass. Her stomach peeks out from her perch, round against the spotty brown bark. Dappled light shines grey through the leaves, striping her fur.
For 16 days this summer, this was the view of Ojai Valley School math department chair Karen Haldeman.
Lions roamed outside her room, and hippos grazed nearby. Giraffes towered above the ground, astride zebras racing over the dusty plains. Cape buffalo trudged sullenly along, while giant birds flew overhead.
Ms. Haldeman’s adventure was the result of a generous grant, awarded to deserving female faculty and students of Ojai Valley School. The grant, which comes from the Salimbaceous trust, provides the recipient with the means to achieve a dream otherwise unavailable due to financial constraints.
“I’ve always, always, always wanted to go to Africa on a Safari,” said Ms. Haldeman. “[So I designed] the trip of [my] dreams.”
Over the summer, Ms. Haldeman flew 21 hours and traveled 9,664 miles from Los Angeles to Nairobi, Kenya to achieve her lifelong dream of going on a real African Safari.
She was anonymously nominated for the grant, unaware that she had even been considered when she was notified that she won.
The grant is administered by three anonymous OVS alumnae, and has been generously bestowed upon deserving women in the OVS community since 1996.
“[The grant is offered] to girls and women who have a dream and a plan but lack funding,” explained Katie Patrykus, the school’s director of development and alumni relations. “This private charitable foundation was founded in 1996 through the estate of a woman who believed that lack of money too often stood in the way of females achieving their full potential.”
Departing on a 16 hour flight from Los Angeles International Airport on July 22, she arrived in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and boarded another plane, flying another five hours to Nairobi, Kenya.
Ms. Haldeman joined eight other women on a guided tour. Staying overnight in Nairobi, they left for the Karen Region the next morning and toured the home of Karen Blixen, the author of Out of Africa. Staying in Kenya for six days, she then traveled through Tanzania for 10 days.
Experiencing a true Safari, Ms. Haldeman was surrounded by wildlife. She had to be escorted by a security guard armed with a rifle or spear, to fend of wild animals in case of close contact.
Ms. Haldeman encountered lions that ambled past her jeep, paying no mind to the tourists inside. Zebras, she recalled, populated the area in the number that cattle appear in the California countryside.
“A couple of the places we stayed were on lakes, and there would be hippos in the lakes that came out…at night to graze,” said Ms. Haldeman. “And you’d look outside your window and there would be a hippo right outside your room. I woke up one night, in the Serengeti, to the sound of lions roaring.”
Even so, she never felt afraid. In fact, she was delighted how close the animals got to the vehicle, and she had a positive experience with the people.
“I was surprised by how warm and friendly the African people were, the children would run out of their houses if they heard a car coming,” she said. “They were really curious…so excited to meet new people.”
Ever a teacher, she visited a school, built by a German charity, at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya. Sitting in on a seventh grade math class, she showed the students post cards of Ojai so they could see where she came from. 
“They love school,” she said. “These kids will walk miles [to get there]…[they have] no food. It’s a privilege to go to school. They all used to fight about who got to go, but now they all can go.”
She said that talking to the children was rewarding and that seeing the school made Ms. Haldeman really appreciate what she has. She explained how the school she visited still uses chalkboards and how it is dusty and dirty.
“It makes me think about all my technology. I think we’re very spoiled and we take for granted what we have back home,” Ms. Haldeman said.
Indeed, Ojai Valley School is fortunate enough to have the resources to provide deserving female teachers and students with a grant that has the potential to act as a catalyst for a life-changing experience.
“[The trip] was really, significant,” she said.
“There were so many experiences; I did a hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti,” Haldeman said. “I felt like it was a dream. I kept going, ‘am I really here? I have a really hard time coming up with words to describe how amazing it was.”
By Emmy Addison, Class of 2014