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John Schnell

Professional Guide, Photographer. John served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Zimbabwe, Africa from 1997-1998. While in Africa, John taught business skills at the Magamba Training Centre. He also developed a business plan for a commercial farming enterprise at the Centre. Revenues from the commercial farm sustain the Centre, providing an opportunity for hundreds of economically disadvantaged students to learn new skills. John photographed several walking, rafting, canoeing and horse riding safaris, and advised the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority on website development and implementation, which gave him insight into untapped tourism opportunities in Africa. After spending much of his career selling IBM e-Business solutions in the US, the current technology slump finally caught up with John, and his job "went away." No reason to panic! John has also been an adventure travel photographer for several years. His images have appeared in Audubon, Nature Conservancy and Sierra Club Calendars, and in many travel magazines. He has photographed over thirty sea kayaking, white water rafting, canoeing, dog sledding and whale watching expeditions, for prominent adventure travel companies like Mountain Travel Sobek and Alaska Discovery. John has an MBA from the University of Illinois.

Our Guides

Frequently, we ask ourselves an important question. Why should you travel with us?

We think it's all about vision, about planning the smallest details, and about doing the things that matter. We realize you expect a magical and fascinating experience, and we hope to share that experience with you. Take some time to get to know us. View the images in our Gallery. Imagine the possibilities, and get an idea of what you'll see and do. Magamba Safaris has created one of Africa's finest experiences, in some of the most breathtaking locations on the planet. Our extensive knowledge will help us to provide you with an African safari that you will never forget.

What can we say about our guides? Art Bloom and Jeff Sloss are perennial client favorites, and two of the best adventure travel guides around! Art has worked for Alaska Discovery and Mountain Travel Sobek for over 20 years, and has guided exploratory trips all over the world (including Africa). Jeff has guided Alaska Discovery and Mountain Travel Sobek trips for over 20 years, and has also spent considerable time in Africa. Both have a compassion for wilderness and wildlife, and sensitivity for other cultures and ethnic groups. Their knowledge and expertise are legendary.

Letters From Africa

10 December 1998 Dear John, Having a person like you in life is a wonderful thing. You have a blessing that can only be found in true friends and nowhere else. Remember it is because of you that I now know places around me — Nyanyadzi, Nyanga, Chipangayi, and Burma Valley. I learned a lot of good things from you John, even American recipes! You don’t know how much you did to my life. John my heart will always remember you. You take your time thinking about other peoples’ lives, and you go out of your way to lift them up. It is so sad that you are going, I will miss you. I will give you my love and God’s wonderful blessing. Thank you for everything. I hope to see you again. Go well! Charity Mavhisa Gweru, Zimbabwe

10 December 1998 Hi John, Well, thanks for the time we spent together. It was the time of happiness and everything was running in good condition. Now I am left in a desert forest, missing your lovely smile and all the ideas we shared together. How was your journey? I believe it was okay. Here we are well, except for the pain of missing you. I won’t forget the day you arrived at Magamba Training Centre, that was a pleasure. Greetings to everyone there, who you share love and jokes with. Ellen Bottowman Mutare, Zimbabwe

10 December 1998 Hi John, How was your journey back home? I believe it was fine. Well, thanks for everything you bring into my life. I felt depressed when you departed. How are you there? Here I am quite fine. I don’t have much to point out, only to share these few words with you. You are cheerful and lovely, only a precious gift from God. My thoughts will ever be with you. I really want to wish you lots and lots of happiness. Take good care of yourself, lovely and caring friend. Catherine Machikwa Mutare, Zimbabwe

2 January 1999 Dear Mr. Schnell, How are you? I am okay. How is the life there? Here life is difficult. I don’t have much to tell you. I am very happy to write this letter to you. I hope that you are quite fine to receive it. When I remember the things we are doing together, you are missing. It is easy to say hello but difficult to say goodbye, as years and more years come. I will never forget you. Shapaa Maundu Opuwo, Namibia

12 January 1999 Dear Mr. John, I would like to say how was the journey from here to America? How is America, John? I hope it is not boring like Zimbabwe. I wish I was a butterfly, I would fly to come there. Everyone here is all right, including my mother, father, the family, and Catherine and Charity. You know when mother and father took you to the airport, mother came home not happy. I asked her why and she said "I can’t believe that John has gone." She is always happy for the good you have done for her. I am studying hard. I want to be a nurse if I can. I hope you are fit and fine. Pass all my greetings to all your friends. Grace Mupuro Mutare, Zimbabwe

15 January 1999 Dear Mr. Schnell, I am glad to spare this moment with you. How was your journey back home after your tour of duty in Zimbabwe? I hope you did not miss much from the local scene while you were away. As for me, I am missing you and your jokes, it makes me feel so bad. The Magamba Training Centre is finding its way. I personally think for our programs to be a success, resources should be budgeted for follow up, and for assistance to entrepreneurs in establishing their businesses. For the Commercial Farm, I am currently concentrating on the forty hectares we have been irrigating. Everyone at Magamba Training Centre including my family is okay and healthy. Shepherd Chinyerere Mutare, Zimbabwe

25 January 1999 Dear John, I was so happy to receive a letter from you, and the most important thing being that you had a nice and safe journey, that you found your property in position, including your three cats. I hope you have now adjusted to the environment and everything around you. Sorry that your letter waited for me for a whole week without my attention. I was in the rural areas for a funeral. My cousin passed away and was buried in Marange. It was so painful. Anyway, that’s part of life. God bless you. Character Sachinda Rowa, Zimbabwe

26 January 1999 Dear John, I would like to thank you for helping us get started in our business of garment making. Mostly I would like to thank you for help with the financial assistance and the wonderful ideas. Your strong support and the encouragement that you gave us made us realize that we are capable of doing great things. We are committed and willing to exploit our efforts to carry on from where you left us. Thank you. Pamela Pedzisa Masvingo, Zimbabwe

30 January 1999 Dear John, I am sorry for delaying to keep in touch with you. Anyway John my word alone can’t express what is really on my heart. You have paved the way for my success in my farming business. Since I started, you were the only person to spend your valuable time on my farm. The effort you put on my business, I really value it. You gave me the basic tools to be a success. I don’t think we can get any other person of your class to spend several days in rural areas like mine, eating African meals. I hope we keep on communicating, and I will update you on the progress of my farm. M’gwagwa Bere Chivhu, Zimbabwe

January 20, 1999 Mr. Shepherd Chinyerere Farm Manager Magamba Training Center Mutare, Zimbabwe Mr. Chinyerere: Thank you for your letter informing the Peace Corps of the outstanding service that John Schnell, our Volunteer at the Magamba Training Center, has done with your student’s business training. We particularly appreciate your kind praise for John, and his effective partnership with you in the farm commercialization program, that has benefited your center and the community. Mark D. Gearan Director of the Peace Corps

January 22, 1999 Catherine Machikwa Area C Dangamvura Mutare, Zimbabwe Dear Ms. Machikwa, Thank you for your letter informing the Peace Corps of the outstanding service that John Schnell, our Volunteer at the Manicaland Training Center, has done with your training in garment making. We genuinely appreciate your kind praise for John, and his effective partnership with you that has benefited your business. Mark D. Gearan Director of the Peace Corps

15 Dec 1997 Today I was sworn-in as a Peace Corps Volunteer by Madeline Albright, U.S. Secretary of State, at a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe. Our eleven week training program in Zimbabwe was broken into two parts. We spent the first six weeks focusing on language and cultural skills, living in the small rural village of Zhombe. I enjoyed staying with the Rugube family. I especially enjoyed playing with their two sons, Muzondiwa and Sibongani. I got involved in many of the daily activities, including putting the yoke on the oxen, and manually plowing a few rows in the fields. For the last five weeks, the Business Advisors relocated to the capital city of Harare, and received an orientation to the business environment in Zimbabwe. It was quite a shock, going from the quiet rural life in Zhombe, to the oppressive life of a major African city. Finding housing and transportation in Mutare has been very difficult. Our allowance is meager at best, forcing us to make compromises (or dig into our personal savings). Mutare is a small city, on the border with Mozambique, in an area of mountains and tropical forest! Since we are in the mountains, it is usually cooler and rainier than in the rest of the country. I will be working with a rural vocational training center, teaching practical business skills to students, so they can start their own businesses. I also plan to help promote tourism opportunities in Zimbabwe. My initial impressions of Africa are mixed. An overwhelming number of people are living at the poverty level, without any opportunity to find work. The urban areas are very densely populated, and people are selling just about anything they can, just to survive. Alcohol is a big problem. With such oppressive living conditions, and no work, many people seem to want to escape the reality of their lives. AIDS and HIV are huge problems in Africa, and Zimbabwe leads the world in terms of the percentage of the population infected. One out of every four adults, over 1,000,000 people, is infected with HIV, more than in the entire United States! I recently began some volunteer work with the Family AIDS Support Organization, a self-help group for women. However, in spite of disease, corruption, crime and suffering, Zimbabweans are some of the nicest people I have ever met! They are genuinely interested in working with Peace Corps Volunteers, and hope to learn from us while we are here. I feel good knowing that I can make such a huge difference in the lives of people, by just sharing the ideas that we in America can take so much for granted.

14 Jan 1998 I have started my assignment as a Business Development Advisor. I believe with the help of the Peace Corps, the hopes and dreams of many families in this small country can be changed forever. I work at Magamba Training Centre, a rural vocational training organization. Their goal is to provide men and women with practical entrepreneurial skills, which enable them to create, rather than seek employment. A recent goal of the Training Centre is for the revenues from their farm (40 hectares of market-garden vegetables) to sustain their administrative and vocational operations. I am writing a proposal for capital funding, which will be presented to a number of donor organizations. With nearly 50% unemployment in Zimbabwe, I have determined that there is a need for people to supply the basics of life — food, clothing, and shelter. I am teaching students how to start businesses in farming, garment making, and home construction. I assist the students in developing business plans, and help them seek financing for their business ventures.

7 Feb 1998 I'm spending all of my time focusing on the proposal for expansion of the commercial farm at Magamba Training Centre. We have requested over $3 million in loans and equipment grants, from several donor organizations. I think that we will secure the financing we're looking for. The government has called for an Indigenous Farmer Resettlement Plan, and has recommended the confiscation of over 1,400 commercial farms. The fear of everyone is that production will fall dramatically. In a country where most people are already living on the edge, and where drought can mean mass starvation, a reduction in food production is a major concern. Most of the indigenous farms are run in a traditional subsistence manner. The crop yields are less than half of those of commercial farms, which are highly mechanized, use good crop rotation procedures, and intensive irrigation. The subsistence farms still rely on the use of ox and plow, and are dependent on highly variable rainfalls.

17 Feb 1998 I'm really enjoying Zimbabwe. I've been exploring the countryside, visiting rural villages, and doing a lot of photography. Yesterday, I saw my first Baobab trees. They're amazing! They look sort of like huge jade plants. The trunks of the trees are enormously over-sized. I think they must store water in them, to ensure their survival during long drought periods. Anyway, there were miles and miles of these trees along a dry riverbed. Then I went to the Chirinda National Forest, a small tropical rainforest of old-growth mahogany trees, vines and ferns. I was the only one there. At first I was comfortable walking alone through the jungle, smelling the moist and decaying vegetation, and marveling over the lushness of the place. But as I heard more and more unfamiliar sounds, I became a little nervous. I've also been visiting some of the other Peace Corps Volunteers, who are teaching at secondary schools in the rural areas. Most of them have pretty challenging living conditions. They have no running water or electricity, and the nearest water source is often a walk of a couple of kilometers. It’s difficult to imagine the every day ritual of carrying two buckets of water, one for cooking and drinking, and the other for washing and bathing. It's funny, the time is going by quickly, and the good times help remind me why I'm here.

18 May 1998 Every day, I'm reminded of the unbelievable odds that my students face. I know only a few of them will ever succeed. We work very hard on their business plans, and I want to be sure they are confident about their projects, and understand every aspect of the business they hope to begin. But there is hardly any money available to start new businesses. Still, each student believes that they will somehow succeed. Facing those odds, they continue to struggle ahead, with such quiet dignity. My little cat Matilda is doing fine. She is my buddy, and sleeps with me every night now. I think she knows I'm lonely, and is being more affectionate than ever. I just got over having tick-bite fever. The symptoms were very much like malaria — fever, chills, body aches, and very bad headaches. 9 July 1998 I hope my remaining time in Africa goes smoothly. I feel like I've learned a lot about myself this past year. I've always had a desire to travel and seek out the world, and after this experience with the Peace Corps, I can see that there will be a big adjustment period when I go home.

29 Sep 1998 I had a wonderful time on holiday in Namibia! I started my journey by heading into the heart of the Namib Desert. The huge orange sand dunes at Sossusvlei were impressive, up to 1,000' in height! Later, in Etosha National Park, I nearly ran over a lioness, which was sleeping in the road. As she stumbled to her feet, she walked right past the car door window, which of course was wide-open! The park is so large that you can drive for long distances, without seeing another person — just lots of giraffes, elephant, zebras, and oryx! The highlight of the trip was visiting the Himba people of Kaokoland, and staying in a Himba village! I was very captivated with the Himba women. They rub a mixture of butterfat and ochre over their skin, turning it a rusty reddish-brown color. I enjoyed trading personal items with them. One trade was hilarious. My Himba-speaking guide noticed a young man who was interested in my Timex watch, a status symbol among Himba men. The young man offered to trade a goat for it — a prized Himba possession. I agreed to the trade, and then it got interesting, since I now owned a goat I didn't really need. Finally I found someone who was interested in trading for my goat — a young married girl. She graciously offered to trade a couple of body ornaments she wore around her waist, for the goat.

2 Dec 1998 Today I start the long journey back home to the United States. In many ways I’m sorry to be leaving Africa. I enjoyed the opportunity to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I am personally saddened, as I enjoyed having the opportunity to advise the people of Zimbabwe on the American model for business success. I will miss Africa. I hope to correspond with the many friends I helped get started in business ventures, in the rural villages of Zimbabwe. I would like to return to Africa again someday. I enjoyed giving the possibility of hope to the people that I helped. Perhaps I have found my life’s work.

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