Newspaper Page Text
Paul
Smith’s
College
S
E
Q
U
E
L
SUMMER,
1985
Smitties
Foster
African
Hospitality
Training
Program
By
NANCY
BOYER-RECHLIN
What
do
the
YMCA,
Tanzania
and
Paul
Smith’s
College
have
in
common?
Alumnus
John
Hutchins
and
student
Christian
Mushi,
for
starters.
And,
key
to
the
connection,
another
alum,
Joe
McCranels,
’54.
John
Hutchins
energetic
hotelie
(class
of
’80)
is
now
working
in
Tanzania,
East
Africa,
as
manager
and
prin
cipal
at
a
YMCA
hostel
and
vocational
training
center
for
hotel
service
and
catering.
Christian
Mushi,
a
serious
young
Tanzanian
staff
and
faculty
member
at
the
hostel,
is
mid-way
through
the
hotel
program
at
Paul
Smith’s.
Both
John
and
Christian
speak
with
enthusiasm
and
a
touch
of
wonder
about
their
new
experiences.
John
was
working
at
Phoebe’s
Garden
Cafe
in
Syracuse
last
year
when
his
dad
alerted
him
to
the
intriguing
job
opportunity
in
Tanzania.
John
had
worked
for
the
Y
in
his
hometown
of
Corning
in
earlier
years,
and
his
father
was
still
involved
with
the
Y.
To
prepare
for
his
new
job,
which
includes
overseeing
about
55
resident
student-workers
as
well
as
running
the
64-room,
80-bed
hostel,
he
made
a
trip
to
PSC
to
get
some
management
textbooks.
He
found
the
books
indispensable
in
his
new
role
of
manager/educator.
John
returned
to
PSC
last
February
while
on
leave
in
the
U.S.
and
described
his
experiences.
He
recalls
his
ar
rival
in
Tanzania
with
precision.
It
was
March
22,1984
—
Easter
Sunday,
and
he
was
greeted
at
the
Kilimanjaro
In
ternational
Airport
by
dancers
and
by
officials
who
welcomed
him
to
Moshe,
and
escorted
him
to
the
hostel.
At
the
hostel,
he
met
Christian,
who
was
the
catering
of
ficer
and
catering
instructor
there.
Christian
helped
John
learn
Swahili
(the
commercial
language
of
East
Africa)
and
get
oriented
to
the
operation,
before
departing
for
the
U.S.
three
months
later.
The
hostel
shares
space
in
a
modern
five-story
structure
with
the
Tanzanian
national
YMCA
headquarters.
It
is
equipped
with
an
outdoor
swimming
pool,
multi-purpose
room
and
modern
kitchen
equipment.
However,
the
rural
location
and
struggling
Tanzanian
economy
offer
unique
challenges
for
a
business
operation.
John
is
proud
of
his
role
in
getting
the
facilities
into
good
operating
condition,
and
in
keeping
the
hotel
dining
room
and
snack
bar
well-
stocked.
Another
of
John’s
projects
is
to
work
toward
gaining
recognition
and
approval
of
the
training
center
as
a
two-
year
college
offering
courses
in
management
and
accoun
ting
in
addition
to
its
certificate
programs
and
short
courses
in
housekeeping,
reception,
cookery
and
service.
Christian
comes
from
Masama,
a
village
outside
Moshe,
on
the
tropical
flanks
of
Mount
Kilimanjaro,
where
his
father
is
an
elementary
school
teacher
and
the
Joe
McCranels,
,54
FAMILY
PORTRAIT
—
Christian’s
relatives
from
Masama
gather
to
greet
a
visitor.
Joe
McCranels
met
the
family
on
a
recent
YMCA
travel
seminar
he
lead.
The
group
was
met
family
owns
a
small
coffee
grove
and
banana
plantation.
He
had
attended
a
Y
conference
in
Kenya,
but
had
never
been
outside
East
Africa
before
leaving
for
the
U.S.
in
June,
1984.
Christian
spent
his
first
summer
at
Silver
Bay,
the
autonomous
YMCA
Conference
Center
on
Lake
George
and
enrolled
in
Paul
Smith’s
hotel
program
last
fall.
Instrumental
in
arranging
the
cross-cultural
exchange
program
were
Joe
McCranels
and
Jacob
Mallya,
the
na
tional
general
secretary
of
the
Tanzanian
YMCA,
who
built
the
hostel/headquarters
where
John
now
works.
Joe
was
a
terminal
hotel
management
student
at
Paul
Smith’s.
After
graduation
he
pursued
a
varied
career
before
ending
up
in
food
service
management.
“
Through
a
client
relationship
with
the
Silver
Bay
Association,
I
went
to
work
there
and
became
a
YMCA
professional,”
Joe
relates.
He
is
now
associate
executive
director
of
the
conference
center
and
international
program
director
for
the
association.
Mallya
and
Joe
met
when
Jacob
visited
Silver
Bay
while
traveling
in
the
U.S.
for
the
YMCA,
and,
in
November,
1983,
Joe
lead
a
fact-finding
tour
to
see
how
the
U.S.
group
could
assist
the
Moshe
vocational
training
center.
As
a
result
of
those
visits,
the
Silver
Bay
Association
and
the
North
Country
Cluster
of
YMCAs
agreed
to
fund
an
exchange
program
which
would
provide
the
training
center
and
hostel
with
a
U.S.-trained
temporary
principal
and
manager,
while
bringing
a
Tanzanian
member
of
the
faculty
to
the
U.S.
to
study
hotel
management.
Joe
was
responsible
for
coordinating
the
exchange
and
selecting
the
candidate.
Joe
has
kept
in
close
touch
with
his
alma
mater,
and
it
was
natural
for
him
to
recommend
Paul
Smith’s
as
an
ex
cellent
hotel/restaurant
mangement
program
convenient
to
the
sponsoring
Y
groups.
But
he
calls
the
selection
of
a
PSC
alumnus
for
the
temporary
job
in
Tanzania
largely
coincidental.
“
A
lot
had
to
do
with
John’s
personality,
his
flexibility,
which
made
him
more
suited
to
the
job”
than
the
other
finalist,
who
was
a
graduate
of
the
University
of
Denver
hotel
school,
Joe
explains.
Christian,
whom
Joe
met
while
on
his
fact-finding
tour,
was
selected
for
participation
by
the
YMCA
officials.
“
He
was
selected
because
he
is
a
highly
motivated,
dedicated
young
man,
and
is
very
loyal
to
the
YMCA,”
says
Joe.
Christian
is
working
hard
at
Paul
Smith’s
to
be
a
credit
to
both
his
country
and
the
YMCA.
In
fact,
Joe’s
only
com-
with
gifts
and
a
feast
meant,
Christian
said,
to
express
his
family's
appreciation
to
the
YMCA
groups
which
gave
him
“such
a
high
opportunity
to
come
to
the
U.S.
and
study.”
plaint
is
that
the
young
African
is,
if
anything,
spending
too
many
hours
in
the
library.
“
For
the
chance
I
was
given,
I
shouldn’t
be
wasteful,”
comments
Christian.
“
I
should
use
my
time
to
be
sure
I
obtain
what
I’m
required
to
obtain.
I
am
really
interested
to
teach
what
I
get
from
the
hotel
program
to
enable
those
who
are
interested
to
offer
better
service
in
the
hotel
in
dustry.”
Christian
is
in
line
to
become
principal
and
manager
of
the
Moshe
hostel
when
he
completes
his
studies.
A
highly
motivated
student,
Christian
has
found
his
coursework
at
Paul
Smith’s
all
“
essential,”
and
has
begun
to
regret
a
decision
he
made
when
first
approached
about
studying
abroad
to
limit
himself
to
two
years.
Asked
if
he
would
like
to
go
for
a
two
or
a
four
year
degree,
he
chose
two,
thinking
of
his
family.
“
After
I
came
to
the
college
I
realized
that
four
years
would
be
bet
ter,”
he
says.
“
I
see
the
relation
(between
my
studies
here
and)
teaching
at
the
school
in
Tanzania.
(More
study)
would
enable
me
to
give
more
ideas.
Christian
is
back
working
at
Silver
Bay
this
summer,
this
time
as
part
of
his
required
“
first
job
experience.”
“
I
would
really
recommend
Silver
Bay
for
a
first
job
ex
perience,”
Christian
says.
“
It
is
a
nice
place
to
work.
For
me
personally,
I
found
there
is
a
lot
to
learn.
The
people
are
so
nice
and
very
friendly,
and
the
staff
is
happy
to
teach
you.
Whatever
you
are
having
a
problem
with,
they
will
asssist
and
try
to
make
sure
you
know
what
to
do.”
Joe
notes
that
although
Silver
Bay
was
just
recently
ap
proved
as
an
official
“
first
job
experience”
for
hotel
pro
gram
students,
he
has
been
hiring
hotel
students
for
front
desk
jobs
at
Silver
Bay
for
many
years.
Three
PSC
students,
in
addition
to
Christian,
are
working
there
this
summer.
(The
“
first
job
experience\
is
part
of
the
recently-revised
hotel
and
restaurant
management
pro
gram
which
also
now
includes
a
full
semester
of
prac
ticum
at
the
Hotel
Saranac.)
Christian
will
return
to
the
campus
this
fall
and
wil;
spend
the
spring
semester
at
the
hotel.
If
this
international
match-making
story
weren’t
already
serendipitous
enough,
there’s
a
romantic
sequel
True
to
Joe’s
first
impression
of
the
young
PSC
graduate,
John
Hutchins
warmed
quickly
to
his
African
surroun
dings
and
soon
felt
very
much
at
home.
In
fact,
he
met
his
wife
at
the
hostel.
He
and
Rajni,
a
Tanzanian
citizen
from
an
ethinic
Indian
family,
were
married
January
5th
this
year.
