Web site takes visitors to Africa
By Linda Bell
Correspondent
Libby James, a north Fort Collins resident and educator, is going to Africa
to live with her daughter's family in Maputo, Mozambique, for a year. And
she is inviting everyone to go along with her.
James created an interactive web site for use on personal computers and
in schools, www.cometoafricawithme.com,
on which she writes: "Lucky for
me that you will be along. I'm going to check out animals, of course, and
all the plants and trees that are so different from what we have in the
USA. I'm going to learn about African arts and crafts and music and ask
to hear some special stories and legends. I'm going to eat (African) food
and tell you what it tastes like. I'll take pictures of how people dress
and their houses and visit some African schools. I want to find out how
an African kid spends a day, and what they like to do when they have free
time."
James, who is a job and life skills teacher in Wyoming and a former writer
for Fort Collins Magazine and the Triangle Review, needed two credits to
renew her teaching certificate. Partly to fulfill that requirement, and
partly because this will be a fun way for people to track her experiences
in Maputo, she set up a web site with the help of a friend, Bonnie Stahlin,
of the Dandelion Group in Loveland.
The site will be a part of the Center for Social Studies curriculum in
Greeley and the third grade curriculum in Cheyenne, she explained. But
the site will appeal to people of all ages who want to follow James as
she begins to experience Africa through her American eyes and those of
her grandchildren00Abby, 11; Henry, 8; and Mason, 6. Visitors to the web
site will be able to e-mail James with questions for her or any member
of her family.
She says the first thing she'll have to do after she arrives is learn some
Portuguese, the colonial national language of Mozambique, so she can ask
questions. She points out on the web site that Africa is not a country,
but a continent with 31 different countries. Mozambique, located along
the east coast in southern Africa is bounded by the Indian Ocean, South
Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Tanzania.
James said the site will be updated monthly.
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