Girls in the limelight as Rosa Parks
Wonderful performances in this year's LubutoDrama program continue to thrill us, as well as the participants. It is striking how much the young people involved learn from the experience of adapting a story to a drama, creating and practicing parts, making costumes and props, and performing before a very appreciative audience. And they gain such confidence from the opportunity to perform. The children in the audience also greatly enjoy the chance to watch the plays. Theater in Zambia is highly participative and a real party atmosphere ensues. For many of the children it is their first time to experience any form of drama, and there is no mistaking how much they value and enjoy it. It was especially nice to see a great group of girls step up to the limelight in a recent performance presenting the story of Rosa Parks.
Boston University joins our preservation efforts
Jane Meyers recently received a warm welcome from colleagues at the African Studies collection of Boston University's Mugar Library. The purpose of her trip there was to identify additions to the digital archive of Zambian stories on the www.LubutoCollections.org website which we wrote about in our last newsletter. We found dozens of titles in their rich collection, and staff members have very generously offered to begin scanning the books. They were very happy to know the importance to contemporary Zambia of their having preserved these materials and how much it is appreciated that we are bringing them back for the next and future generations in Zambia. More details of the visit are on their library blog: http://digilib.bu.edu/blogs/mugarlib/2013/02/04/jane-meyers-and-the-lubuto-library-project/
Elevate Destinations Lubuto trip to Zambia, June 2014
Elevate Destinations is working with us to plan a trip to Zambia for our supporters and to introduce new people to our work. The trip will take place in the second week of June, 2014, and will last 10 days (including optional add-on tour with game viewing and luxury accommodations in beautiful, untouched locales that rival the best that Africa has to offer). We have an experience to offer through our libraries that is especially well-suited to children and teens as well as adults. By June 2014 we will either be finishing up or have already finished our third library, which will be in the Southern Province village of Nabukuyu, offering a genuine experience of a traditional African community and lifestyle, in contrast to the urban setting of our first two libraries (which will also be on the itinerary). Additionally, the southern region has a very strong and rich cultural, artistic and literary tradition and we are very excited about our response to that environment in terms of architecture and design of the new library, discovering and preserving Tonga literature and adapting our programs and collections to reflect Tonga culture. This level of immersion/understanding of an African culture is usually not at all accessible to visitors, and because it fascinates us so much we feel you would also be fascinated.
If you think you might be interested in going on this trip, please let us know at lubuto@verizon.net and we will be sure to keep you informed as the plans materialize. We need to know a general number of participants before costs and other details can be determined.
Meet the Lubuto community: Florence
Florence, 15, lives with her mother (her father is dead). She is in Grade 7 at Fountain of Hope Community School and her teacher introduced her to the library. She comes almost every day to read and participate in the programs. She says "I love the availability of books. For example, there is a book about Nelson Mandela. I love that book." She also enjoys having a space to be with her friends, and says that the LubutoMentoring program has taught her how to choose 'good friends'. Her reading has improved greatly since she first started coming to the library, and she even helps others with their reading: "There about six friends that I have taught how to read by using some story books - I read then they repeat and I explain what the sentence means. So I have seen some improvement. I am so happy with this development."
Please join us as a Sustaining Supporter
As a Sustaining Supporter, you will receive an email with each donation to keep you informed of Lubuto's latest developments, of which you are a key supporter. And as you know, this support gives thousands of children, who may otherwise never see the pages of a book, the opportunity to learn, communicate and grow in beautiful, safe and welcoming libraries, making a real and lasting difference in their lives. A modest donation charged to your credit card each month or quarter helps Lubuto tremendously.
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