|
In
this issue:
• Lubuto Library
opens
• Opening
Celebration
• Only the
beginning
• President
Kaunda’s Address at the Opening
• Jane Kinney
Meyers’ Opening Remarks
• You can help
Lubuto
Printable
version
(313
KB)
|
We
need your help!
Please send check donations
to:
5505
Connecticut
Ave., NW,
#368
Washington
, DC
20015-2601
www.Lubuto.org
Combined
Federal Campaign #12370
|
LUBUTO
LIBRARY OPENS!
>>
The
opening of the first Lubuto Library was greeted with glee by the children
at the Fountain of Hope
street kids shelter in Lusaka, Zambia.
Since the doors opened to them, children have been coming in droves and
the smiles on their faces pretty much tell the whole story. Reading and
listening to stories in groups and alone, sitting in the warm and
welcoming space provided by their library, it is a pleasure to see them
sharing pictures, practicing their reading skills, and delighting in the
knowledge that this place is especially for them.
The library’s 4,000 book collection ranges from
picture books and early readers to fiction, science and reference books.
Fountain of Hope staff are being trained to help the children
learn abut the collection and how to use the library. The initial
collection is being supplemented by books in Zambian languages, and new
books, based on traditional Zambian stories, will be created a new Zambia
Board on Books for Young People that is being established jointly by the
Lubuto Project and the Zambia Library
Association.
OPENING
CELEBRATION
 The opening
celebration for the first Lubuto Library was held on September 21, 2007 at
the Fountain of Hope in
Lusaka
. Invited guests included His
Excellency the First President of the
Republic of Zambia
, Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda,
members of the diplomatic corps, government officials and friends of the
Lubuto Library Project. The guests and the more than 200 street kids in
attendance enjoyed a reading of the book Caps for
Sale
by President Kaunda, which was simultaneously performed by the
street kids Barefeet Theatre.
Following the
ceremony, which also included a performance by storyteller Leonard Mpundu and speeches by President Kaunda and Lubuto Library Project President Jane Meyers, and letters of congratulations from
U.S.
First
Lady Laura Bush
andthe UN Special
Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Elizabeth Mataka, the street
kids were treated to a buffet meal, courtesy of the Holiday Inn,
Lusaka.
The
highlight of the celebration was the library’s opening. A number of guests
were more than pleasantly surprised to see what a library for orphans and
vulnerable children could be. “This place is magic,” said one. Of course,
the opinions that count the most were voiced by the children
themselves. |
|
JANE
KINNEY MEYERS' REMARKS AT THE OPENING
This inauguration is a momentous occasion. The library that we are
celebrating today is unique, and it is the first of at least 100 we plan
to build. Its architecture, which is based on indigenous styles, was
conceived to create a profound, safe and welcoming space for the children
it was built to serve, and to reconnect them with society. It is a
concrete and enduring recognition that they are important and cared-for
members of the Zambian and international communities and a reminder that
if we make the effort to help them to thrive it will enrich all of our
lives.
This library is beautiful and special, but it is much more than
a building filled with stacks of books. For the young people assembled
with us today and for many others who will find their way here, it is a
refuge from life on the streets, a place where they can just be children,
and where books will allow them to dream and envision a better future. It
is not an extravagance but, rather, simultaneously, an obligation and a
reward.
Lubuto Libraries feature storytelling,
poetry and story
reading, singing, drama, art, and related activities to enhance the lives
of the children and promote self-expression and literacy acquisition. In
this library, some children will learn to read, and others will improve
their reading skills.
Based on past experience, we have reason to expect
that it will help more than a few children to reach the standard required
for entrance into secondary education and a path to stable and productive
careers. At the same time, we assign no less importance to those children
who will come only to hear stories read, or to soar beyond the limits of
the street through picture books that span the range from the vistas of
outer space to the bed of the ocean floor.
YOU
CAN HELP LUBUTO
There are lots
of ways for you to get involved with the Lubuto Library Project. Help with
fundraising, communications, volunteering, or research. Learn more on
Lubuto’s website: www.Lubuto.org
|
PRESIDENT
KAUNDA'S ADDRESS AT THE OPENING CEREMONY (abridged)
>>
I am deeply honoured to be
invited to open the Lubuto Library at this historic Fountain of Hope
Street Kids Drop-in Center. When I received the invitation, I was struck
by a number of things. Principally, the hosting organization - ‘Fountain
of Hope,’ a place of refuge for street kids and orphans, whose parents had
died of AIDS. Second, the name of the project-- Lubuto Library Project is
indeed a source of enlightenment. This great service to the orphans and
other vulnerable children will go a long way in answering to the needs of
many in our country still living in darkness overwhelmed by ignorance,
disease and exploitation by the greedy and powerful. The project has also
potential to meet the needs of the young and the old yearning for light,
for knowledge to access to the best that Zambia and
the world offer in the 21st Century.
The Lubuto Library Project has
great significance to the twelve million people in
Zambia
. We
have tremendous challenges in meeting the Millennium Development Goals to
which Government is committed. But the catchment area for children who
should be in school is so huge. School places are inadequate. The result
is that thousands of children are squeezed out of the school system at a
tender age, thrown into the cold and cruel world without hope in their
futures. Worse still, many young girls fall prey to idleness and become
victims of early pregnancies and early marriages. Even some in school
fallout and join the victims of fate. Their future is destroyed. In a
crime-ridden world which offers them no hope, many young children also
fall prey to antisocial behaviour such as alcohol and drug abuse and even
stealing.
Yet many of these kids are brilliant with qualities to excel in
their performance in and outside class, and have the potential to make
tremendous contribution to the development of their communities and the
country. Instead of advancing their leadership potential, enhancing and
utilizing their inherent skills to exploit the vast rich natural resources
in their communities and nation, they wallow in poverty and
degradation.
The Lubuto Library Project provides an opportunity to
children, starting in
Lusaka
and
Kitwe
, to access
knowledge and valuable information for personal development and
self-fulfillment. Libraries as vast reservoirs of productive information
provide opportunities for education. For as you know, there are books that
entertain, books that inform and pass knowledge and books that change
people’s lives. Libraries are the home of such powerful instruments for
development. Think of the Bible, the Koran and many other books on faith
in which moral values are deeply rooted and form the basis of a stable and
humane society.
|
