I met Karen Thompsen (Group 20) in her home in Lusaka and as school had just finished I didn’t get a chance to see her project. She is a trained pharmacist teaching at Evelyn Hone College. She felt very much that she hadn’t been given enough English. She had asked to be allowed to participate in the language course but had been refused. She felt that this very much inhibited her work. She thus stressed that people be given as much English as possible, especially teachers. Thus she felt that the Area Studies was very much secondary to this. She felt that her Area Studies teacher (Ray) was worthless to her. Her feeling was that Area Studies should be an individual activity with each person choosing a report subject of their interest and making either a written or an oral report.

Inge and Bjarne Kaulberg are at present attached to the training course on the Area Studies programme. Bjarne had worked as a photographer for the Zambian Information Services and Inge had worked as Secretary to RUCOM (Rural Commercial Corporation) in Lusaka. Though I met with Inge in her office and with both Inge and Bjarne in their home, it might be appropriate to refer the reader to their report, and perhaps to any report they might make of their experience in Tengeru.

I might however briefly summarize the comments made by Inge in the interview I had with her at RUCOM. She stressed the fact that she felt that people were interested in getting out in the field during the main course. The Area Studies should thus make them more involved in what they will be doing. She felt that too full a programme was dangerous. The students should be involved in the planning of the programme as it develops. Three things should be stressed, as much as possible: Films should be used whenever possible. This would aid in what she felt was the most important aspect of the Area Studies Programme, that is “How People Live”. Thirdly, she felt that people going to Zambia should know something about the liberation movements in Southern Africa, since in many ways they have an impact on Zambia.

Ole Dahn, (Group 21) who is a printer, was working at a mission print shop, at the time of my interview with him. He was later transferred and is at the time of this writing working in Kenya. Since he went through the Tengeru course, however, and worked over a half a year in Zambia his views follow. Ole was very disappointed with the programme for Zambians. His views were strong, and harsh. He commented at length about the fact that “nobody (in Tengeru) knew anything about Zambia.” The course was not certain about local language. Some volunteers wanted it some didn’t. They received, he says, very little. Extra English might be more appropriate. He felt the technical English disappointing. Too much stress on classroom teaching (which he was not doing) and too little material. He felt that his Area Studies Instructor talked too much about politics and tribalism and did all of the discussion himself. Instead, he should have had the class participate. Ole was more interested in the Economy of Zambia and Zambians, specifically “the way the average man gets his money”.

In the Area Studies, Ole said, that they did discuss some inequities. He also said that one good part of the course was that a volunteer from Rucom (Inge Kaulberg) was brought up for some days and gave them some practical information. Other than that, Ole concluded, “he got nothing out of the course,” it should be moved to Zambia.

Ole felt that three things had to be stressed in training: 1) the effect of the dry/rainy season on Zambia and its temperature, 2) the difference between the towns and the rural areas, and 3) the effect (culture shock) one feels on first seeing the airport, and the modern city of Lusaka (after three months in Tengeru).