Her living room is filled with various different items not often seen in Kansas, including a shield from Swaziland, baskets made of grass on the wall and elephant figurines on top of the television. Upstairs in the room of 17-year-old former Mill Valley student Jameson Colin, drawings of Africa decorate the walls. In just three months, however, Jameson will no longer be merely drawing the continent, she’ll be living in it.
“This one is a drawing I did based off of a picture of my dad,” Jameson said, pointing to a drawing of a her father’s hand holding an African child’s tiny fingers. “The child was dying of HIV AIDS, and my dad was holding her.”
Images such as this are not irregular for Jameson, whose father, Schaun Colin, grew up in South Africa and now runs Oceans of Mercy, a non-profit organization that works with orphans in South Africa as well as other countries. After visiting Africa once or twice a year since she was born, as well as missions trips since she was nine, Jameson decided to take the next step and complete her senior year of high school in South Africa after she moves there in November.
“One Sunday, my mom and dad and I were all sitting in the living room and my mom looked at me and said ‘Jameson, do you want to do your senior year in South Africa?’ So we started researching it and it all just played out,” Jameson said. “I want to get an education there so I can be more educated on the culture and how they deal with things.”
Jameson plans to attend and board at Rhenish Girls’ High School for a year and then move onto Stellenbosch University to get a sports science major and open her own gym in South Africa. The language barrier concerns her slightly because even though South Africa has 11 official languages including English, the primary language at Stellenbosch is Afrikaans.
“I don’t speak it very well,” Jameson said. “I know as much Afrikaans as a second grader knows Spanish. But my pole vault coach [at Stellenbosch] is Afrikaans, so I’m going to have to learn it to speak with him effectively.”
Jameson’s neighbor, 8-year-old Hannah Beashore will miss Jameson, who she’s known since she was three.
“I’ll miss watching Glee and playing soccer with her,” Beashore said. “I like that she’s just Jameson.”
Hannah’s older sister, 17-year-old Olivia Beashore, has visited Africa with the Colin family on missions trips and sees why South Africa would be a good fit for Jameson.
“I went to South Africa last summer and I was kind of shocked a little,” Beashore said. “Jameson was like a different person, a better version of herself in South Africa. It’s definitely where she belongs.”
Schaun agrees that South Africa is a good fit for Jameson’s personality.
“There’s an expression that they have that says ‘Americans have watches, South Africans have time.’ Jameson is more laid back and the environment there is a little more mellow and easy-going,” Schaun said.
Jameson attributes her love of South Africa to her parents.
“As much as I have enjoyed growing up in Kansas, I definitely love South Africa better. I just feel at home there, I feel like I fit there,” Jameson said. “I never feel like I fit in in Kansas just because of the things my parents have raised me with. South Africa is just home to me. I get homesick for it.”
Jameson’s older sister and 2009 graduate Courtney Colin has the same love of South Africa and it’s people.
“They kind of have a collective spirit. The country’s just been through so much that the people have bonded in a way whether they intended to or not,” Courtney said. “The heartbeat in Africa is in all of them, all of us, and that’s what keeps us coming back. They’re very proud of their country, but there are a lot of problems.”
Schaun has seen these problems first-hand after growing up in the country.
“I grew up there during a very difficult era called apartheid and because of the huge regret I have for not making a positive difference, our family is very invested into the people and children of South Africa,” Schaun said. “I think we grow up in a pretty insulated society and we don’t even realize what is going on in the world, and we are extremely fortunate to grow up as the richest people in the world. When you think about half the world living on less than $2 a day in income, and you see that by travelling to places like Africa or India, it just opens your worldview.”
Jameson appreciates her father’s love of the country and how he has implemented that into her daily life.
“He’s never let us forget what we see there,” Jameson said. “It’s not as much about me, as my parents have taught us, it’s about giving and how we live our lives to really help others and I think maybe that’s caused me to be a bit more driven in my dreams.”
Jameson’s mother, Becky Colin, believes that Jameson can attain her goals and that South Africa is the way to do that.
“I think it’s just a great opportunity. It’s going to be amazing; her growth and her experience is just going to mold her into an even more amazing person. So that’s exciting for me for her,” Becky said. “I’m so proud of her. It’s going to be hard because you spend all these years raising your children to be independent, and when they take you up on it, it’s kind of like ‘whoa.’ But I think she’s ready for this and we’re just excited to see her dreams come true.”
