From Tanzania to Turku: PhD student, Zahor Khalifa, adapts to South West Finland

After completing a first and Masters’ degree in geography at Dar es Salam University in Tanzania, Zahor Khalifa is spending the first year of his doctoral studies at the University of Turku. Pluses are the very latest software and small class sizes; among the minuses - adapting to Finland’s freezing winter temperatures!

“When I first arrived in September 2010, I stayed in my room for three or four days because it was so cold. I even wondered whether I would remain”, he says. It’s minus 15 degrees Celsius outside when we meet in Turku University which has a worldwide reputation for academic excellence. He is finalising the outline of his PhD on the subject of deforestation in Zanzibar’s Pemba Island. His suggested title for the doctoral thesis is: “The causes of forest change and the implication on people’s livelihoods.” One hundred and fifty years ago, 95 per cent of Pemba was covered by forests. The Ngezi national park created on the island in 1960 encompassed all of the remaining five per cent of the forest area. In spite of this protected status, 40 per cent of the Ngezi Park has since disappeared due to human activity. “There are multiple uses of the land and many different causes of deforestation”, explains Zahor.

The invaluable Geographic Information System   (GIS)

Turku University’s Faculty of Geography has provided Zahor with office space, a desk top computer, a laptop, an allowance (stipend) and accommodation. He is particularly delighted to gain practical experience of the Geographic Information System (GIS) involving the collection of data and satellite imagery about a location to enable models and maps to be created. He explains the applications of GIS: “If you can map where human settlements and transport systems are, you know where to place a market”. He says that he was always top of the class in the theory of GIS in Dar es Salaam, but initially failed the exam in the subject in Turku simply because he had never previously used computer software to apply the theory and find solutions. On doing a re-take, he was among three out of twenty students who passed. Whereas 1,400 students cram into a university lecture room in Tanzania, there are just 20 to 30 in a class in Turku which is a factor in the high quality of teaching in Finland, says Zahor.

He particularly enjoys the feeling of safety, security and peace of mind in Finland and enjoys some traditional local activities. He has learnt to ice skate and shares a sauna ‑ the cabin of intense dry heat found on nearly all Finnish premises ‑ with friends and colleagues. “At first, I was a bit shocked when I found you had to take off all your clothes and the sauna got hotter and hotter as water was added to the hot stones”, he says of his sauna experience. Although academic classes are taught in English, he has learnt about 50 Finnish words. In the summer, he will go back to Pemba to do some field work alongside his fellow researchers from Turku who are analysing environmental issues on Zanzibar’s Unguja Island. He hopes to extend his studies in Turku in the autumn but is pleased that the University of Turku has already guaranteed access to the invaluable GIS when he eventually returns to Dar es Salaam University.

Debra Percival