International Spotlight
This article was originally published in the December 2002 - January 2003 issue of CLASnotes.
Former Zambian President Speaks Out About AIDS
The founding president of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda, visited campus in mid-November at the invitation of the Center for African Studies. Faculty and students from accross campus packed the Reitz Union Auditorium to hear Kaunda speak about the children of AIDS-plagued southern Africa. "As adults, we can many times choose to avoid and protect ourselves from HIV/AIDS," he said. "Children do not have that choice. They are born infected by their parents so they are the innocent victims. Unlike the virus that is not seen, these children are visible and human. They are not just numbers and there is no excuse for not doing something to help them. If we work together, we will conquer HIV/AIDS."
Kaunda was the first president of Zambia, serving from its independence in 1964 to 1991, at which time he relinquished power after a multiparty democratic election. He played an important role in the struggle for African independence, particularly in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and Angola. He continues his fight to improve Africa through many initiatives, including the Kenneth Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation which works to help the children of southern Africa survive the AIDS epidemic. This year, Kaunda is serving as the Balfour African President-in-Residence at Boston University, which allows him to travel the US meeting with American business leaders, government officials, students and teachers
Noted French Actress Visits Campus
French actress Jutta Johanna Weiss of the Theater Company of Brittany in Lorient visited campus in November to lead a six-hour workshop, training students to perform a dramatic reading of Summer Rain by Marguerite Duras. French language students, along with theater students, had the opportunity to perform a public reading with Weiss in her performance of An Actor, An Author.
Also on campus for the first time in November were representatives from the French Consulate of Miami—Christophe Bouchard, Consul General, and Victoire Bidegain-Di Rosa, Cultural Attachè. Bouchard and Bidegain-Di Rosa met with faculty and students to discuss the activities of the French Consulate, of which there are nine in the US responsible for projecting the interests of French nationals.
Both visits were hosted by the new France-Florida Research Institute at UF, which serves as an umbrella organization to centralize and promote the numerous existing partnerships between UF and French and Francophone research centers and academic institutions.
Credits
Photos
Jane Dominguez: (Kaunda)
Courtesy France-Florida Research Institute: (Weiss)
