Dear Mal,
In December, the Peace Corps volunteers in Luapula Province are going to put on a girls empowerment camp called Camp GLOW. Girls from all over the province come in order to learn about empowering topics including HIV/AIDS awareness, other health related issues, and to discuss their futures as young women. Last April we put on this camp and A to Z Literacy Movement sent boxes of books to distribute to the girls attending the camp. The girls received many things including notebooks, hair ties, etc… but of all the things they were the most excited about were the books. The girls in my village then returned and I see them reading with other girls in the village. We’re grateful for the books A to Z shipped and we’d like to know if you could send us some more. Thank you!

Are you a book stacker? Do you have piles of books in certain areas of your home? Do you utilize hard covers and paperbacks as part of your home decorating? Part of your style? I’m a fan of stacks. Books bring me real joy and to see them in different parts of my home makes me smile. With purpose, I have created little vignettes of books, stacking Maya Angelou with Harper Lee or grouping Spinelli with Creech and Clearly. These books have transported me to different places. These books have shifted my thinking. Put them back on a shelf? No, I need to see them. I need to be reminded of how a novel or piece of nonfiction can impact my life.

By Pat Kelly

America is a land of plenty and a land of opportunity. I am quite sure any American would agree.
A to Z has had a great wealth of books bestowed upon us since our inception three years ago. The majority of these donated books “work” in Zambia. That is to say, the subject matter will be understood by Zambian children. A small fraction of the books that we receive are not what we can use and we look to recycle those books to local communities in keeping with our mission.
During 2012, A to Z has partnered with our friends at Project Pembroke. We have sent 19 boxes of books to the children of Hopkins Park & Pembroke Township, IL as part of our local outreach. With the books go our usual wishes of encouragement and success. This quest we are on has no geographic boundaries- no one is unworthy of our help. So you see, we try to utilize each book that comes our way, to make sure the book cover is cracked open and the story begins…

By Ann Yanchura

On Monday, we had the pleasure of meeting Margaret, who is an administrator in Every Orphan’s Hope/Zambia main office. What an inspiring lady she is; having raised a family of her own, she has become the unofficial matriarch of this hardworking and committed group of missionaries. After we finished cataloging over 600 books donated by A to Z, she came in to bask in the excitement we share in getting these books into readers’ hands. After hearing her profuse appreciation, we thanked her for all the hard work SHE does day in and out. And here is what she said: I would not be able to keep going without your help and support.
This is what we would like to say to you. Thank you for your love, your prayers, your donations, keeping the home fires burning, your work to make this trip possible, and your general, overall support. We miss you and feel honored to be here representing your commitment and caring. It’s been a wild ride – and we are looking forward to being home soon – but we all return home changed and will always miss Zambia.
2012 A to Z Literacy Team: Mal, Kalan, Stasia, Mariann and Ann

By Kalan Gott

Today was our last day at Shine Zambia Reading Academy. It is hard to put into words the feelings I have gone through in a year. If you looked at my journal from last year I never thought I would be able to make this trip again. It was hard to encounter such poverty and so many children in need of so much. As the year went on I found myself longing to return. I wanted to be a part of The A to Z Literacy Movement and help make whatever difference I could. Now when you look in my journal all you will see is notes on how any moments I have with the Zambian people are moments I treasure. Yes, there are a lot of challenges facing the people of Zambia. However, I do not see those challenges on the faces of the educators we work with. Instead I see in these teachers a passion and dedication that I felt when I graduated from Illinois State with my teaching degree. It is pure passion. Not over thinking or analyzing what goes in to education, not worrying and focusing endlessly on scores and numbers, meetings and protocols. It is passion for children, growth, life long learning, and collaboration. This is the passion I thirst to remember and work to recapture thanks to the teachers of Zambia. The teachers here have fewer resources and less formal training and yet they demonstrate all of the qualities I seek to poses. Teaching love, persistence, creativity. Teaching-a life long pursuit. I don’t know what my next few hours, days, weeks, months, and years will bring, but I hope and pray they bring me closer to being the teacher I see when I visit these schools.

By Mariann Zimmerman

Several of the lessons I taught at Shine involved modeling a read aloud and then
having the students write about it. For a couple lessons in the Library I used
the Mercer Mayer book All By Myself. This lesson was very difficult to present
and to get the students to participate due to the fact that they rarely give
their own thoughts about something. They are usually repeating, copying, or
retelling. With the help of the Shine teachers translating, my anchor charts,
and my own completed example, the students were able to successfully complete
their own page telling about what they can do all by themselves. I turned their
work into class books which I presented to Naomi on our last day at Shine. She
was amazed that their students were able to complete such beautiful work. I
learned that most of the students are beautiful artists. Because they don’t
watch TV, they spend a great deal of time drawing. Naomi learned that this was
a great activity to do with the students during Library time and it would help
link the reading and writing. She is also going to keep the books in the
Library for the students to read each day. Hopefully, when we return next year,
we will see a new section in the Library dedicated to student made books.

By Anastasia Gruper

Last week as Kalan and I were waiting for Mal to pick us up in the blue Toyota Fun Cargo, a cab driver pulled up and asked if we needed a ride. I replied, “No, thank you.” He retorted, “Are you in the white or the blue car?” This was our first hint that the people of Zambia knew we were here.
On our second day at Shine the Muvi TV crew arrived to film the A to Z team in action. Prior to our arrival, they had been filming Shine and the new library. While walking through the mall later in the week, someone asked Mal if she was the lady on TV. Who would have thought we’d be televised so quickly in Africa?
On Thursday, Mal and I sat at the Internet Café as the rest of the team went to Shop Rite to pick up a few grocery items. The checker missed Kalan’s Fanta. The man between Kalan and Mariann in line said, “It’s alright just pass it to her partner.” Shockingly, Mariann asked, “How did you know we were partners?” Then man replied, “I have been working in Chumbe Valley. I hear you have been teaching and doing a great job. How was teaching today?”