7,025 Visits!!! I don’t think that there is an adequate word to describe just how busy the library has been since opening its doors to Garden’s children. The first day saw almost 600 visitors!
Read MoreBeing far away from home for the holidays is never easy. As someone from the Midwest where we’re used to cold and snowy Christmases, it was especially strange to be in a warm and humid climate (even more bizarre was seeing stores decorated...
Read MoreSomething unique and very special is happening at the Fountain of Hope Lubuto library. At the beginning of the year, we received a grant from eIFL.net, a sub-grant through the Gates Foundation, to use...
Read MoreOn Sunday, October 31, Lubuto Library Project’s Kenny Hau and his wife Esnart had their first child, Alfready Chimwemwe Hau.
Read MoreIn the three months that I’ve been coming to the Fountain of Hope Lubuto library, I have been fortunate enough to get to know almost all of the kids who live at the center, help out in the library, and who are regular library users.
Read MoreAn Interview with Volunteer Julie Allen From July 14-30, Lubuto Library Project was fortunate to have Washington, DC school librarian Julie Allen come to Lusaka and undertake the daunting task of doing a complete inventory of the Fountain of Hope Lubuto library collection.
Read MoreHarrison The first time I met Harrison, our head “librarian,” I was convinced he didn’t like me. He was shy and didn’t speak much English, which made communicating with him challenging.
Read MoreHere is Jennifer enjoying her first taste of nshima, a cornmeal dish that is the staple food in Zambia.
Read MoreOn Saturday, June 13, students who had participated in Lubuto Library’s and YOFOSO’s Motivational Mentoring program gathered for their final meeting. The program, which began earlier this year, ran for twelve sessions.
Read MoreI was born in 1981. Although being born the fourth and last in the family of two girls and two boys I never saw my biological parents (both) my mother and my father, except only on pictures.
Read MoreHey, guys, it's Henry. Today was our last day working with the Fountain of Hope and the XO Laptops, and, quite honestly, we're inspired by what we've seen.
Read MoreHi everyone, it's Ellie, here to present some of the workings of the kids on their laptops. At one point, Benson, Vasco, and Moses all joined a chat together (remember, these are mesh networks between the laptops, no internet required), and decided to test the communication boundaries.
Read MoreHey everyone, it's Ellie. Today was a fairly productive day at Fountain of Hope. We started the morning off with a tranquil session, helped by Stephen and Joe Tembo. All of the kids today were non-english speakers, which coincided well with our newly translated notecards, courtesy of Kenny Hau.
Read MoreHey everybody, it’s Henry.
When we arrived today, there was a tense atmosphere at Fountain of Hope among the adults. Before we’d arrived, there had been an unfortunate incident that Vasco and Kenny were now, preoccupied with, and, save for one brief encounter; we did not see them for the rest of the day.
Read MoreHey, it's Ellie here. Today was productive day at the library. After opening up the XO's to 10 or so kids throughout the morning, we started to compose a set of rules derived from the various obstacles we've been facing:
Read MoreHi, it's Ellie and Henry. Just like we promised, we've uploaded some of the pictures from the XOs that the kids took themselves. These were all taken using the "Record" program, and the built-in camera and microphone:
Read MoreHey everyone, Henry here.
Today was another good day at Fountain of Hope. We got a flat tire on the way, which was a minor setback, but we arrived in due time. We got a quick start, with the regular kids from the previous two days familiar with the procedure and ready to help out and get started. These kids, I will not hesitate to say, are now proficient with these XO laptops. They know how to get in and out of applications, how to save and name their projects, and how to utilize the machines to the point at which they are most useful for them.
Read MoreHi! This is Ellie, and I must first ask you to excuse any typos, I'm on an XO laptop! This laptop, as wonderful as it is, has a very small and very tough keyboard. Today, I worked through the morning at the Lubuto library by myself. Henry was indisposed for the first part of the day, and I went without him.
Read MoreAfter an arduous journey from Washington to Lusaka (with Rome, Addis Ababa, and Lilongwe somewhere in-between) we arrived dazed and bleary with fatigue.
Read MoreHenry Meyers and Ellie Tomlinson will be introducing the One Laptop Per Child XO laptops at the Fountain of Hope Lubuto Library next month. Henry and Ellie are juniors at Washington DC's Field School and this project is their winter internship during the first two weeks of February.
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