I run into lots of people in Zambia who ask me what I'm doing here. It's a fair question, and so I tell them: I'm a librarian-in-training, conducting collection evaluation research in children’s libraries. And more than once now the person I'm talking to has looked at me with bemusement and a little bit of pity and said, "A librarian? But here we don't have a reading culture."
Read MoreWhen I worked in Lubuto's D.C. office, I spent a fair amount of time captioning photos that other people had taken in the libraries. Looking through those pictures was always fun-- seeing the big smiles, the crowds of children watching or participating in drama performances, and the teen artists bent over their masterpieces.
Read MoreIn the last few weeks we've had some very important meetings at the Lubuto Library Project in Zambia. First I was invited to the work planning meeting, where the management team scheduled all the work that Lubuto will be doing on all of its projects and programs over the next year.
Read MoreAs reported previously in our newsletter, Lubuto has received a grant from the All Children Reading partnership to develop our LubutoLiteracy program. This could not come at a better time for Zambian children, since the government has recently announced that all teaching in schools up to Grade 4 should be done in local languages.
Read MoreLast week saw our fourth LubutoDrama performance. As is now usual, the groups from both libraries came together to perform and celebrate their achievements. I didn't think that things could get any better than our third performance, a month or so ago, but I was wrong!
Read MoreI would like to share some of the highlights of the past month: - The Lubuto Outreach team is gaining the trust of the girls at Vision of Hope and our visits there are becoming increasingly vibrant.
Read MoreLast Thursday was World Book Day. To commemorate this I showed the boys at Fountain of Hope Lubuto Library how to make their own mini books from a sheet of A4 paper and we spent a happy morning creating our own masterpieces.
Read MoreAs part of our outreach program we have begun to work with Vision of Hope, a residential centre for girls who live and work on the street in John Howard Compound, Southern Lusaka.
Read MoreFrom 18th - 27th February, Mike Lee ran a workshop at Ngwerere Lubuto Library on programming using Etoys with the OLPC laptops.
Read MoreOn Saturday 23rd February, both of the LubutoDrama groups met for the first time at Ngwerere Lubuto Library (NLL), and each performed a play for the assembled audience. I was at Fountain of Hope Lubuto Library (FOHLL) in the morning, helping the group to get ready.
Read MoreI arrived back in Lusaka a few weeks ago, and since then have been caught up in a whirlwind of Lubuto activity! It is a very busy but very exciting time. My role with Lubuto has been developed, so I will now be spending time in both of the libraries in Lusaka.
Read MoreI am currently on my Christmas/New Year break but just wanted to write an update of a couple of the things that have been happening in the Fountain of Hope Lubuto Library over the last month or so.
Read MoreA couple of weekends ago we celebrated the finale of the LubutoMentoring programme. All of the 120+ kids who have been involved were invited to an event where they gave us some evaluative feedback on the programme, and received awards and certificates to help them celebrate their success.
Read MoreA little while ago my counterpart Kasela and I were invited to attend a 3-day workshop on Helping Grieving Children at Fountain of Hope. It was a really interesting course and we learnt a lot about the different kinds of grief that the kids we encounter...
Read MoreOctober 24th was Independence Day in Zambia. It was a Bank Holiday, but some of the boys at Fountain of Hope asked me if I would still come to see them – and how could I refuse? I would have missed them too much if I had sat at home all day on my own anyway!
Read MoreOn 24th September, Fountain of Hope was privileged to receive a visit from Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, the Princess Royal. As part of the visit, she came into the Library (I was told in advance that I would have 4 minutes to give her a tour...
Read MoreLast week it was Zambia Literacy Week and we at the Lubuto Library Project were very busy doing things to celebrate! First, we took LubutoStorytime out on the streets with the outreach team to share reading with the most vulnerable youth.
Read MoreThe LubutoMentoring sessions are now in full swing, and the whole experience continues to be an education for me (and not only in terms of learning the differences between the way that Zambians and Brits organise such events!).
Read MoreWe've been very busy at the Lubuto Library Project recently. We are re-launching the LubutoMentoring programme, and have held introductory meetings for all of the 120+ kids who want to be involved
Read MoreI'd like to tell you about Blessing.* Blessing arrived at Fountain of Hope a couple of months ago. He said that he was 15 years old but he doesn't look more than 12 or 13, and we think he may not know how old he is.
Read More