Wednesday, Jan. 13, 1965 University Daily Kansan Page 3 Time, Service Given in Crossroads Africa and ear. ship dis- king the hber ntrol Two KU students helped developing nations of Africa last summer in the Operation Crossroads Africa program which sends students to work and live with African young people for two months. "The program was begun in 1958 by Dr. James Robinson, a Negro Presbyterian minister." Cari Craver, St. Louis senior, said. "His idea was to help the developing nations of Africa by donating time and service." es, 60 pub- mass fish and ence; O. E. in the Miss Craver worked with the program last summer in Senegal, a former French colony which gained its independence in 1960. , 1912. Press. York rates: morno versity Law- JOHN PIPER, Parsons senior, went to Mauritania, the largest country on the western coast of Africa. Before gaining its independence in 1960, Mauritania was part of French West Africa. Crossroads is non-denominational and interracial with participants from both the United States and Canada. Last summer 310 students participated. Groups of 10 or 12 Editors Scene Building Is No Fakery Theater goers may realize that most of the scenery used in stage productions is flimsy fakery imitating the real thing, but there's nothing fake about the work involved in building scenery. According to Glen Bickle, stage manager for the 1965 Rock Chalk Revue, set builders must know more than how to wield a hammer or drive a nail. They have to understand the finer points of set construction. Bickle conducted an informal "set construction school" for groups entering the Revue. He gave pointers on how to budget construction costs, construct and paint sets, and mix and apply glue. "The most important thing to remember is to give yourself plenty of time, especially if you've never built scenery before." Bickle said. were sent to 27 East and West African nations. Bickle has a long background in scenery construction. He was foreman of the University Theatre workshop for seven years and has been working with the Revue for nine years. At present he is a patrolman on the KU police force. "There were 12 in our group—four Negroes, four Canadians, one Jewish boy, and several Catholics," Miss Craver said. SHE CALLED IT a work, travel, and study experience. Work projects were set up for them and a time to travel was provided. The students studied the customs of the people and attended lectures. "You learn about the people and let them learn about you," she said. "Our group was unique because we had two projects." In the first project, Miss Craver's group worked with a rural development team. They made up questionnaires and took them to 12 villages. THROUGH THE questionnaires, they found how many villagers would be willing to construct an all weather road to connect them to the main highway. "It is the government's desire to get the people to help themselves," Miss Craver said. "This was actually much more of a learning experience for us," she said. "We really couldn't help too much because we didn't speak the language." The dialect spoken in this section is Oulof, one of about 30 dialects spoken in Senegal. An interpreter was used to work with the villagers. On the second project, they worked with about 30 Senegalese men and boys to turn a former French officer's rest home into a youth camp. The group's main project was building a fence around the camp. Along with nine other American students and a Lebanese guide, Piper went to the capital, Nouakchott. The group stayed in an all-girls' high school. A group of 18 and 19 year-old Mauritanian high school students selected and sponsored by their government were sent to live with the American students. "We stayed in Nouakchott for a month to do a work project which consisted of building a wall around a soccer field. Actually it was a wall of friendship linking our two cultures." Piper said. THERE ARE NO other athletic facilities such as the soccer field in the African country, Piper said. At the present time the citizen.s of Nouakchott are charging admission to the soccer games to buy new equipment. Jamaica Bound KU Migration Planned For Spring Break April 3 to April 8 - Stay at the Tower Isles Hotel near Playboy Club on Bunnie Bay at Ocho Rios. Two room suites reserved. - Leave Kansas City Municipal Airport 4:00 p.m. April 3 by jet-stream charter. Round Trip Champagne Flight. - Many other facilities provided such as transportation, sailboats, etc. Contact Harold Klee or Buzz Wengler VI3-5529 - All meals provided—free rum party. After completing the project the American students traveled for one month through the country. Mauritania is four times the size of Kansas and the population is one million people. - All for $279.95 Piper said the people are mostly nomadic. The country is in the Sahara Desert and gets about five inches of rain a year. The poor agricultural conditions combined with the nomadic tendencies of the people cause Mauritania to be a poor country, Piper said. PIPER SAID HE had to pay $1,000 to be able to participate in Operation Crossroads Africa. Piper financed his trip by soliciting funds from various organizations in return for speaking engagements describing his trip when he returned. He said he obtained most of his money from churches who were interested in the project. All reservations and deposit of $100 by semester break. "IT IS AN advantage to be a Midwestern because most of the volunteers are Eastern students. A knowledge of the French language is very helpful in being selected to participate in the program since the language is spoken in many African countries." Piper said. Miss Craver became interested in the project when serving as African bloc adviser in the KU-Y Model United Nations last year. "After we finished our first project,we went back to visit one village in particular," Miss Craver said. The group's African co-leader bandaged the hand of an old man with the medicine they had brought for the village. AT THAT TIME they were invited into several homes including the home of the chief. "It was very interesting because we hadn't seen the inside of any of these places before," Miss Craver said. Knowledge of a language is not required for the program, but only those students who can speak French go to the French speaking nations. About 15 people had travelled to the village in a jeep. As they left, people ran toward them from all directions with chickens to present as gifts. During these sessions they were cautioned about health conditions and medicines and briefed on local customs. "We ended up with 16 chickens and 15 of us going over roads that are not roads at all, just ruts," she said. "They are very generous people." wick, N.J., at Douglas University near Rutgers. They attended lectures and studied different aspects of Africa in general. THE PROGRAM provides a ten-day training program in New Bruns- "FROM ALL THE reports I have heard, ours was one of the best and most interesting programs because we had two different projects," Miss Craver said. This gave them quite a bit of free time to spend travelling and meeting the people, she added. Of the seven districts in Senegal they visited six. During their ten travel days, the group visited Gambia, another African nation. While there, they saw a funeral dance. Miss Craver noticed a great difference in the two countries which she attributed to their different former rulers. Gambia was formerly ruled by the British. 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