Hannah

24-year-old Hannah lives in Lusaka with her two children and her parents. Hannah first found out about the Mthunzi Library during an outreach session conducted by the library staff, and out of curiosity, decided to go and visit the library.

Since that first visit, Hannah has become a regular at the library and treasures her time there so much that she walks a distance of 3 km nearly every day to access the library services.

Hannah, who dropped out of school in 2011 after becoming pregnant, applied and was accepted into the DREAMS scholarship program, which will fully fund her tuition through graduation.

“I am so happy to go back to school after being out of school for 6 years! I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the library,” Hannah said.

Stories like Hannah’s—of girls who have little to no opportunity to access potentially life-changing education—abound in the area. In spite of state legislation that allows young mothers to re-enroll in secondary school, the cost of school fees, uniforms and supplies creates an especially high barrier for young mothers. However, accessing Lubuto’s library services has provided a way for youth who would otherwise be excluded from the mainstream education system to be connected to educational opportunities, and in doing so, the Mthunzi Library is directly changing the lives of marginalized youth in the area.