DGH Announcements
Volunteers Needed in Uganda. Lanny Smith, the DGH President, recently visited Mbarara University of Science and Technology School of Medicine in Uganda, a small country in Eastern Africa surrounded by the much larger nations of Sudan, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). This initial contact raised enthusiastic interest on both sides, which share similar values and goals. In fact, Mbarara University was founded ten years ago with the express purpose of promoting community health. Medical School officials have asked DGH to accompany them in looking for qualified Volunteers. Located in Mbarara, Uganda, the School is in need of physician and basic science teachers. They are in particularly urgent need of a psychiatrist to head the Department of Psychiatry and would welcome teachers in most disciplines (classes are taught in English). Volunteers will need to cover their own transportation and food expenses, and be able to stay a minimum of one month (the University will provide housing). Present international faculty (none yet recruited through DGH) include a former pediatrics professor at Harvard Medical School and an internist from Texas, as well as professionals from Cuba, Canada and England. If you are interested in Volunteering, send your curriculum vitae and a brief letter to the DGH office, attention of the DGH Volunteer Coordinator, Dr. Steve Miller at smiller@hghed.com.
Grupo Morazán to Perform in the US. This group of massacre survivors from El Salvador tell their people’s story through song in the tradition of oppressed peoples throughout the ages. Most group members were between the ages of 3 and 8 when their families fled El Salvador in the 1980’s and settled in refugee camps in Honduras. During this flight, children were forced to be silent—no tears, no laughter, no conversation—so that the military would not see them fleeing through the underbrush. Only through music were they able to start expressing the trauma of their experiences and echo what they were hearing from the adults. They did this instinctively, without knowing how integral a part of their refugee community’s healing it would become.
Texas Presbyterian Churches have provided seed money to allow Grupo Morazán to perform in North Texas in April. Their $500 grant will cover expenses relating to obtaining visas and passports and paying exit fees. Student Groups at Austin College in Texas have already started gathering donations for airline tickets and other groups throughout the United States are raising funds and making plans for concerts throughout the country. The concert tour will end as Grupo Morazán joins a School of the Americas Watch Action in front of the White House on May 1st.
You can purchase a CD or cassette of the group’s music from Cat Garlit Bucher at 903-868-2783 (who also has copies of their last recording). Grupo Morazán is also ready to put out a new album. If you have any resources, expertise or contacts that could help them record a new CD and/or cassette, please contact the person above or Henry H. Bucher, Jr., at 903-813-2460; e-mail: hbucher@austinc.edu.
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