Aparna and Jessie Adventurists

Photo by Janet Casey

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They’re two of just 14 women participating in this summer’s League of Adventurists Rally from London to Cameroon through the Sahara desert in July, a 3-week race benefiting the Send A Cow charity.

Graduate school at Tufts’ Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy looms next fall, but Aparna Polavarapu and Jessie Evans are currently concerned with visas, vaccinations and, oh yeah, finding a vehicle that will carry them through 130 degree days and across sandy international borders.

Social causes are dear to them, yet they acknowledge that friends and family think this race is nuts. "My choice to participate in the Africa Rally comes as a shock to about half the people I know," Aparna says.

Keep track of their progress at www.sandboxsavants.com.