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K-State Today

November 12, 2012

Film depicts Kaff's work with special needs children in Tanzania

Submitted by Patrice Scott

poster for documentary

The College of Education will sponsor the premiere of "Humanity Looks Good on Everyone," a half-hour documentary about Marilyn Kaff’s work with special needs children in Tanzania.

The premiere is free to the public and will be shown at 1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, in the K-State Student Union's Little Theatre. A question and answer session will follow with Kaff and her team. To see a teaser of the film, please visit www.humanitylooksgood.com.

For the past five years, Kaff, an associate professor in the college, has led special education service learning teams to all areas of Tanzania – from the most populated to the most remote. Her mission is to help train local teachers and caregivers how to work more effectively with special needs children.

The film captures the stunning landscape and documents powerful stories. Rusty Earl, College of Education videographer, traveled with Kaff’s team this summer to document their trip.

“It was remarkable to be there and to film the stories of service and love given and received in Tanzania,” Earl said. “I was deeply affected by what I saw and learned there. This film will touch your heart and make you want to get involved with Dr. Kaff’s work.”

Kaff encourages students considering a study abroad opportunity to attend this premiere.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to see firsthand what study abroad is all about,” she said. “Following the film, audience members will have a chance to pose questions to members of the service learning team to learn more about their experiences in Tanzania.”

Kaff’s service learning teams are composed of K-State students predominately from the College and volunteers. Combining their knowledge and experience in teaching, the teams conducted workshops at one of the Tanzania’s only special education universities. While there, they also started a number of outreach programs and launched a literacy project.

“We are so excited about our Books-in-a-Bag project,” Kaff said. “Tanzania has such a rich oral tradition that we decided to transform the Tanzania stories into books. It was one way to promote literacy while supporting the amazing Tanzanian culture. To bring this project to fruition, we need people with many different skill sets — writers, graphic artists and printers. If this project speaks to you, please get in touch with me.”

For more information, please contact Kaff at mkaff@k-state.edu.