If crossing the Sahara Desert in a Kombi van, dodging civil war and interacting with great apes sounds like an adventure and a half you may want to read Annette Henderson’s memoir.
To be published by Random House in 2009, Wild Spirit: Halfway Through Africa forms part of Annette’s Master of Philosophy (Creative Writing) degree which she receives at a UQ graduation ceremony tomorrow, July 16.
Annette said the book was inspired by the time she and her husband Win spent in Gabon, West Africa while attempting to cross Africa from north to south 30 years ago.
“Many people over the decades have told me: ‘you really must write this book’. Completing the memoir and having it published means a great deal to me. It’s like closing the circle that began in 1975 — an outcome I never could have envisaged,” she said.
Annette and Win arrived in Gabon during the Angolan war and, unable to travel to South Africa as planned, found themselves working at an iron ore exploration camp 600km from the coast.
“The first night we were in Gabon we were robbed. One $20 traveller’s cheque was all we had left,” Annette said.
“So we knew no one, we had almost no money and we couldn’t go anywhere because of the war further south – we were totally stuck.”
By chance the couple met the New Zealand Director of the mining project who offered them work and accommodation for a year.
During their time in the forest they met and cared for Josie, an orphaned baby gorilla, but it was an encounter with Ikata, an eight-year-old male gorilla who had been raised in captivity, that changed Annette’s outlook on life.
“We were visiting a research station where orphaned gorillas and chimpanzees were being rehabilitated to the wild. I was coming up the pathway, as he was coming down and I thought ‘I’ll have to indicate to him that I’m very peaceful in my intent’ so I stretched out my arms towards him palms upwards and he just kept walking towards me,” she said.
“When he got within reach he just enfolded me with a gentle embrace and he put his face beside my cheek and I rubbed the top of his head. It was just the most wonderful moment.”
Having read about the pioneering work with great apes by primatologists such as Jane Goodall, Annette decided she would pursue tertiary studies in anthropology after returning to Brisbane.
After several years working in London, Annette completed her Bachelor of Arts with first-class honours in anthropology at UQ in 1983, and used her skills to contribute to Indigenous land and cultural studies projects in the Northern Territory.
She then took up university teaching in Brisbane before spending a memorable five months in Indonesia, teaching social science in the local language, which she learned in just four months before taking up the position.
Annette’s life took another unexpected turn when she began what would be a 17-year career as a senior administrator within UQ’s School of English, Media Studies and Art History (EMSAH).
Over the years the gorilla photos in Annette’s office intrigued former EMSAH colleague and award-winning author Amanda Lohrey, who encouraged her to return to study in 2006 under an APA scholarship and finish the book she’d always wanted to write.
“This will be the third degree for me in three very different fields. It’s not something that I had planned to do, but I see I t as the start of another phase of life,” she said.
“I plan to spend the rest of my life writing and continuing my involvement with conservation.”
Fellow EMSAH graduates, as well as those from fields as diverse as journalism and communication, education and music will graduate at the joint Arts and Social and Behavioural Sciences ceremony to be held at the UQ Centre at 6pm on Wednesday, July 16.
Award-winning artist and UQ alumnus Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox will be the guest speaker, while Bachelor of Arts (honours) graduate Meegan Capsopoulos will give the valedictory address.
Media: Annette Henderson (07 3200 0450) or Cameron Pegg at UQ Communications (07 3365 2049, c.pegg@uq.edu.au)
