Hallam Hurt Travel Recipient Returns From Argentina
- by R. Ankrom
Rising Chatham Hall junior Walker Abbott has recently returned from Argentina – a trip made possible by the Hallam Hurt Foreign Travel Award. Walker traveled with her father and Chatham Hall’s Chief Financial and Facilities Officer Ron Merricks to study the Argentine organic beef industry.
The trip took the group from Buenos Aires to La Paz and the Estancia Beef’s Argentine branch. The ranch uses a series of islands along the Parana River (comparable to the Mississippi River) to house the cattle before they are ferried to port for auction and sale. Gauchos (farm-hands) live on the islands with the cattle to manage and care for them.
“It was just really refreshing to see how healthy and natural these cows were,” shared Walker. “Unlike the typical American feedlot cow, covered in mud and manure and a poor coat, these cows that have been living on large, grassy spaces simply look better and more alive.”
In addition to getting first-hand access to several aspects of the operation, the group also had opportunities to work side-by-side with the gauchos. Time was also made to do some sight-seeing, shopping and sampling of Argentina’s renowned asado cooking.
Through the generosity of Frances Hurt, a former trustee and parent of an alumna, Chatham Hall is able to offer an annual travel award for foreign study and research to a student and a faculty member who will serve as her sponsor.
After applications have been submitted and reviewed by the Hurt Award Committee, funds are granted to support this student and teacher to travel together on this project of independent study. The student keeps a journal during the trip, and after the trip she makes a presentation about her experiences to the Chatham Hall Community and invited guests.
Past areas of study have included Andalusian horses in Spain, the Holocaust in Germany, musical history in Italy, and the evolution of the pilgrimage in England.
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