Books, books, everywhere books...

“It’s absolutely beautiful –bright colours, lots of great artwork and full of fantastic books. ”

That’s how one student summed up her feelings as she stepped foot in latest Book Bus community library.  Located in Livingstone, Zambia, Maanu Mwambi Community library flung its doors open this month to more than 500 school children and the local community.

A beautiful new Book Bus library for the children of Maanu Mwambi school

The story on our latest library build began in February 2015, when Hampshire based Secondary School, Cams Hill, approached The Book Bus looking to fund a project as part of their ‘Freedom To Dream’ programme.

We identified Maanu Mwambi School in Livingstone as the perfect partner. We had strong links with the community with our reading mentor programme and the children had already developed a real enthusiasm for reading. In June we agreed that a new library would be a real positive boost for the schools literacy programme and also help the community develop a reading culture.  Ideally we wanted the library build, finished and opened before the rainy season began in November. 

The walls are built from local bricks

From the very start of the project, the whole community became involved and local suppliers were used in every aspect of the build. Foundations were dug and handmade bricks were made from the soil of termite mounds and baked in a nearby kiln to form the library walls.

A local painter was tasked with making the library as colourful as possible. Of course, Book Bus yellow was the favourite colour. Vibrant bunting was made from locally-produced fabrics and hung across the ceilings under the watchful eye of Book Bus co-ordinator Kelly Geoghegan. Multi-coloured furniture and shelves all added to the friendly and welcoming feel. The aim was to make the library as inviting and fun as possible so that the children would want to spend their time there discovering the wonderful world of books.  

The children helped stock their library 

The books are sorted

In September thousands of books began to arrive, kindly delivered by our own Book Bus – George. The Grade 7 students from Maanu Mwambi offered to unload the books and our Book Bus librarians, Claudia, Jackline and James took charge cataloguing and sorting everything. The Book Bus recruits people from the local community to help in the library as volunteers and to train them as reading mentors. Some of the older children were also given the opportunity to receive training on how to organise and run the library themselves.

In October, the dream had become a reality and the library was officially opened. Hundreds of students and their parents turned out to see the cutting of the tape. As a special prize, 10 children from each class were chosen to be the first to experience the new library. The children couldn’t contain their excitement when they walked in and took no time in diving straight in to read their new books.

Celebrations on the opening day 

Livingstone's new bookworms..

Building libraries in schools and communities such as Maanu Mwambi provides real opportunities for children to read and improve their literacy skills. Books are powerful  and being able to read helps unlock the potential  of children.

This will open their eyes to the world around them and empower them to pursue their own dreams.

But we need your help too.

Join us as a reading mentor volunteer on our project in Zambia

Give a donation to keep the doors of Maanu Mwambi library stay open

Learning is fun with the Book Bus

What's it like to be on a Book Bus project in Livingstone? 

Book Bus volunteer and primary school teacher, Becky Mannering shares her experience with us. 

My adventures in Livingstone on the Book Bus were the most rewarding, amazing and heart-warming experiences of my life. 

The Book Bus brings a smile to hundreds of children’s faces and is the highlight of their day. On arriving at the schools, you are greeted by very enthusiastic children, eager to learn, with the biggest smiles. I will never forget the smiles of the children running alongside the bus. The Book Bus brings books to life for the children and enables them to learn in a fun, interactive way and allows the children to be creative. Seeing 100 pairs of eyes peering out at you through a lion mask or 100 children wearing elephant headbands joining in with the actions to delightful stories is quite an unforgettable sight.

I had the most amazing time when I was in Livingstone. It has opened my eyes to a whole new part of the world; I can’t wait to spend more time in Africa. I would recommend the Book Bus to everybody.

Join the Book Bus team in 2015 

Climb abroad the Book Bus in Zambia

Book Bus Volunteer Adrian Thompson shares his experiences in South Luwanga 

Over the summer of 2014, I was lucky enough to be involved in a charity project in the wonderful Luangwa Valley, in the East of Zambia.

"A welcome for Book Bus George" 

The Book Bus, the charity I went with, was founded by publisher Tom Maschler in 2007. Having seen the problems caused in Zambia by a lack of literacy resources (from the age of seven, children in Zambian primary schools begin to learn English and, from then, most of their lessons and exams are in English – so they speak one language at home and in the playground, and another in the classroom), Tom’s solution was to buy an old Leyland Tiger bus, ask Quentin Blake to decorate it, fill it with books, and take it out to Zambia. Since then, the charity has grown until there are now six projects – three in Zambia, two in Ecuador and one in Malawi. 

Beautiful sunsets after a hard day at school

Flying into Mfuwe in Zambia, the smallest international airport I’ve ever been to (international only because of one flight a week from Malawi), reveals a dry, dusty, and parched landscape. This was July. It hadn’t rained since March, and would begin raining again in October. Once ensconced in camp, the first thing to do was to prepare dinner. Chopping vegetables on the edge of an African National Park, while keeping an eye out for the opportunistic monkey thieves, got slightly surreal as a soft grey trunk, complete with the rest of the elephant, snaked under the thatched roof, and began to hoover up the food. After a while it wander away. Welcome to Africa!

Sharing stories

The next day was the first in school. We spent four hours working with different groups of children, reading with them, sharing stories – both written and oral. “Why the sky is so far from the Earth”, a West African story, went down well, as did traditional Zambian stories – for example, Why Zebra has no horns, The Rhino and the Turtle, and the Bell and the Lion. 

Through the time I was there, we traded stories with children and teachers – as well as other members of the community. Teachers enjoyed the oral storytelling, as well as the written stories. Written stories obviously develop reading, and comprehension, which are vitally important, but speaking in English to native speakers, and listening to stories along with general chat, is as important in many ways.

"Visiting Zambia with Book Bus makes you a valued member of the local community".

Over two weeks, we visited six different schools, and worked with more than six hundred children, aged from 3 to 16, sharing stories and books including ‘Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain’, ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ (and Lion Hunt – this worked well, as the children only had a vague idea of what a bear was, but knew exactly what a lion was!), the Very Hungry Caterpillar, and more.

All part of the daily commute

Visiting Zambia with Book Bus makes you a valued member of the local community – you get locals chatting to you as you shop in the market, you get invited to local organisations, and you get to see things which ‘normal’ tourists don’t. The Luangwa, and its closeness to the South Luangwa National Park (It’s the second largest national park in Zambia, and just across the river from the site we were staying at) opens up intriguing possibilities for Safari drives, and walking safari, at very reasonable prices. 

Mfuwe market- a great place to shop

Overall, it was a life-changing experience. If you’re interested in sharing stories of all kinds with enthusiastic, engaged, children, I can’t recommend it highly enough!

Become a Volunteer on the Book Bus. Find out more



This article first appeared in http://www.petecastle.co.uk/fandf/

Getting kids to read

Teachers have their say...

The Book Bus brings an important resource to our school both for the learners and for the teachers. We had very few books so children never had the opportunity to hold and read a book. When the Book Bus arrives there is great excitement from the children. It’s wonderful to see them reading books and producing colourful creative drawings and models. 

The Book Bus volunteers do a brilliant job helping the children read and engaging them in books. They bring the stories alive and the children love it. The children learn so much and have fun as well.

The Book Bus has donated many books to the school and we have now started to stock our library. 

So many of the Book Bus volunteers are ready to share their skills with us and this means that we can carry on the great work once the volunteers have left us."

Watson Tanga, Head, Masuku Primary School 

Bringing books to life

Volunteer Jake joined the Book Bus for 2 weeks in Malawi during 2013.

"I chose to join the Book Bus after researching lots of projects. The Book Bus really stood out because it was very much part of the community and worked to make a real positive change to the lives of the children it worked with.

Bringing books to life and laughter to the classroom felt incredibly rewarding. I knew that the lessons we planned were making a real difference with the children. 

They were unbelievably excited when the Book Bus drove in to the school playground knowing they would be reading stories, playing games and getting creative!

I felt at home in Malawi and enjoyed getting the chance to spend time with other volunteers and visiting various projects in the area as well as getting to explore the area in my free time, it was an unforgettable experience"  Jake Kubala 

To find out more visit http://www.thebookbus.org/help_as_a_volunteer.htm

An insatiable desire to learn to read

Volunteer Lucy joined the Book Bus for 3 weeks in 2014.

"Being a volunteer with The Book Bus in Mfuwe opened my eyes to the children’s insatiable desire to learn and the warmth and hospitality of the Zambian people. 

I was astonished at the help The Book Bus was able to provide in supporting these children.

 We visited 5 schools regularly during my trip, and one of these schools was a completely new partner school: the difference between the confidence of the children from The Book Bus’ regular partner schools and this new school was remarkable. Nevertheless, after just a few visits there was a sense of palpable enthusiasm in the classroom. I hope that with The Book Bus’ support all of these children will continue to gain confidence in their abilities as individuals as well as in their reading skills, and I hope that the girls in particular will have a greater desire to continue their education for as long as possible. 

It was a great experience and one I'd recommend to anyone".  Lucy Curzon

To find out more visit http://www.thebookbus.org/help_as_a_volunteer_in_south_luangwa_zambia.htm