Gonzaga University Psychology Program in Africa

Emily writes: “Hello! So we’re two weeks in…and we got our third school group last night. They are also international students and will be here until Friday morning. We also had a local school group come on Sunday-Monday and we had an amazing time with them. We only have one more week until we leave for Livingstone, but everything is going really well so far! We miss you all back home and will keep in touch!” Emily

Dr. Butterworth shares the following: “We have had a group of local schoolkids here and they were great–they did a series of dances and songs that are the real Zambia. They also recited poems they had composed. Here’s what that’s like–AIDS AIDS AIDS, you are a cruel man, you took my father, you took my mother, AIDS I don’t like you, AIDS go away. All said in a heavy accent. Tragic and charming at the same time. I have tons of writing material. . . The most interesting is the witchdoctor stuff–very prevalent and bizzare. . . I am a bit worried because of what’s happening in South Africa–the same thing as Zimbabwe a decade ago, and refugees are starting to come to Zambia–25,000 of them. Everything is slow here and we westerners are like mosquitos with our busy little hurrying. We had a huge Puff Adder up in one of the chimp enclosures the other day. There was an owl flying around the campfire last night. There’s this Israeli guy in camp who is an amazing cook and he is making us a chocolate cake tonight. Yikes!”

And Mark wrote to me: “Hi Molly, Time for a quick hello. Wow what a great group I have. They really are super. We’ve had two school groups and another arrived last night. I am waiting for the school bus to arrive here at the orphanage any minute. My Zambian teacher friend Costa had a group of local children from his new school here Sun-Mon. Lots of fun. Great singing and dancing. Students are settling into a good routine with chimp observations as well. The early morning time with the chimps is very popular. Genny had a baby a few days ago. Some lobbying going for a name that begin with G____; HMMmm? Students are having a great time at Muchinshi also. The evening reflections and sharing have been very special. We have touched the hearts of many. Fr. Lee’s advice to open one’s heart, to break it open to share and have a new level of love is truly happening.”

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This entry was posted on May 28, 2008 at 8:34 pm and is filed under Uncategorized . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.