Patrick and Anne Murphy share their experience of leaving behind all they knew in Northern Ireland to go out and work as teachers in Zambia during the 1970s, shortly after their marriage. They are joined by their daughter, Eileen (who was born while they were out there), and their footage shows them working at the rural African school as well as showing off a wealth of wildlife and their ultimate return to Northern Ireland. This clip appeared in Series 2, Programme 3 of Super 8 Stories.

In the 1970s Patrick Murphy had only recently qualified as a primary school teacher and had just got married when he decided to take up a three year teaching contract in Zambia before returning home to settle down. He took up Super 8 film making with his Canon Super 8 auto zoom S18, “to enable me to keep a record of my experiences during my time abroad for my own benefit and to share with family and friends upon my return home”. The films were obviously watched by many people Patrick knew upon his return, eager to share in his experience and he can also recall, “being asked to show them to several other young people who were intending to spend time in Zambia”. Patrick continued with his Super 8 hobby when he settled back down to life in Northern Ireland: “I used Super 8 for about 15 years and have been using various types of video cameras since. I transferred all my old Super 8 material to video for ease of access. I still watch them maybe two or three times a year – and I still have a working projector, screen etc.” Patrick is in no doubt about what his films mean to him today. “I feel that they are treasures. I have records of my family growing up in the 1970s and 80s (recorded meticulously at Xmas and birthdays). Holidays in the UK and Europe. School life in the 1970s. Weddings and special occasions – if the house went on fire they’d be the first items I’d seek to rescue”.

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