Zambian Educational Exchange
Another exciting development in the Zambian project. We've been shooting the documentary about the making of the first dramatic feature film in Zambia. We're preparing diligently for the feature. We've scheduled a three-week shoot beginning the first week in July. We've allowed for a fourth week, if we need it. Ideally, we plan on teaching the fourth week at one of the colleges in Lusaka.
As the education piece of the project started to take shape, it started to evolve and grow. Initially, our plan was to educate artists and filmmakers on how to make films. We had hoped that other films would be made after Jabbes' film and that the Zambian film respository would expand rapidly. When we spoke of the Voice of an African Nation, we hoped that voice would be multi-layered and multi-dimensional. While Jabbes' film would create a loud roar in the world, we wanted the rumble to continue.
So, I came up with the idea of contacting equipment manufacturers to see if we could get new or refurbished equipment that we could leave behind in Zambia. It seemed that it would help the film industry greatly if we could leave the equipment the Zambians were trained on. I thought it would also strengthen the industry, stimulate economic development and allow more people to acquire technical skills.
Other faculty became interested in the Zambia project and asked if there were any way they could participate. At the same time, we were working on the Chinese Educational Exchange CD and I started to think about how great it would be if we could create an exchange with Zambia. What if we could exchange faculty from a variety of disciplines and students? What if we could create an ongoing commitment and long-term link with Zambia? I mentioned this to Jabbes and told him that I had asked the Dean of Instruction to join us. Shortly thereafter, the education representative of the President's cabinet indicated an interest in developing that connection with MCC. How exciting is that?
At MCC, we currently have exchanges with Ireland, England, Australia and China. I'm excited to be helping to facilitate an exchange on a new continent.
