MS01.01.01 - Box 02 - Folder 03 - General Correspondence, 1976 November - December

December 9, 1976

Mrs. Caroline Walton 30 Burton Woods Lane Cincinnati, Ohio 45229

Dear Caroline:

Please do not think we have not enjoyed your correspondence in recent days simply because we did not write. We have been extremely busy, moving on the 16th of December, and you can imagine what we are experiencing after ten years of accumulating all kinds of junk plus what we brought with us. It would be so much simpler to throw everything out, but that is unfortunately no solution.

I haven't had a chance to check with Mr. Buell to see what specific directions have been taken regarding the forthcoming showing of the Amistad exhibition there. I hope that things are going well and that I shall have the pleasure of knowing what their plans are in the near future.

Our new address will be 4206 Decatur Street, Hyattsville, Maryland 20781. We have no phone as yet; when available, I shall send the number to you.

Here's hoping you will have a joyous holiday season and best wishes for the coming year. Thelma joins me in sending warm regards.

Very sincerely yours,

David C. Driskell Director and Chairman

December 22, 1976

Dear Mr. Driskell, You probably don't remember me, but I was one of your students when you guest-taught at Bowdoin College several years ago. I graduated from Bowdoin last spring, and I am now in Zaire, with [crossed out] Peace Corps, teaching! I thought you might be interested to know that my being here, this year, is largely a result of your course in African Art. After having taken your course, (one I consider to be as much of a course in religion and culture as art) my desire to come to Africa became increasingly stronger, until I decided to apply to the Peace Corps to see if I might teach here. I was accepted, and have yet to regret the decision to come. I am very happy here. My post is a Swedish mission in Bas-Zaire, north of the Zaire river, and very near the border of the Congo. (In fact, my mail goes through the Congo) My job is to teach english in the secondary school, but I also teach a course in art history -in french! Had I known that I would be teaching the art course, I would most certainly have brought my class notes on African art, because a good part of the sylabus of the course is devoted to African art - I feel a little out of place, teaching African art to Africans! I find myself feeling very much at home here, in Africa. I'm not sure why, but perhaps the eagerness and the friendliness of my students is a great factor. I find that they are at the same time more sophisticated and more simple than American students: sophisticated, because they are more mature, and are able to deal with their lives here - life is not complicated for them; they live by their Culture, their traditions, and oddly enough, the ancient and the modern world can exist harmoniously for them.

(They will accept a scientific explanation for lightening, for example, but they will just as readily tell you that Ndoki, an evil spirit, sent it).

They are more simple, because they can find amusement in practically nothing. I know that a Zairian child could be left outside, alone, for hours, and would never be bored!

I love watching the older students' football (soccer) games - they seem to put their whole souls into everything that they do (and where else would you find that "time-out" has been called during a football game, due to fetishes?)

I particularly love their writing, for in their compositions, they tell me about their culture, their traditions and their stories - especially when they're asked to create their own fables!

This letter was just a note to tell you my remarks on my life here, and to thank you for the enlightenment. If you have any suggestions or comments, I would enjoy hearing from you!

Sincerely, Farah Richardson PCV - Sundi Lutete