Dear A to Z Literacy Movement Team & Supporters,

I’m doing well and staying focused as I move through another semester at the University of Lusaka. It has been a challenging but rewarding journey and I’m excited to be so close to the finish line.

Right now, my course load keeps me very busy. Pathology and Behavioral Sciences (Psychology) are my favorite courses. I find them really engaging and it’s easy for me to understand. However, I’m also dedicating a lot of extra time to keeping up with Physiology, Pharmacology, and Biochemistry, as these have proven to be some of the most challenging courses for me. 

Each semester comes with its own set of challenges, and it’s easy to lose focus, especially when it feels like my efforts aren’t enough. However, looking back, I’ve come to realize the importance of celebrating and appreciating even the small victories. Consistency is key, building day by day, brick by brick. I’ve also learned to understand that life isn’t something that happens to me, it’s something that comes from within me. By embracing this mindset, I can stay grounded, motivated, and happy about just making it through the day, knowing that each step forward, no matter how small, is part of a larger journey.

I’m gearing up for clinical rotations next semester, and I’m really looking forward to putting all this hard work into practice in a real-world setting.

Once again thank YOU for your support through every step of my journey. May God bless you abundantly and exceedingly in all that you do in this life.

With love,

Jonathan Mwale

A to Z Literacy Movement volunteers have been busy this summer promoting the love of reading with free book fairs for kids around town. Having children’s books readily available in the home is of utmost importance for several reasons. Firstly, they serve as a gateway to the world of imagination and creativity, nurturing a child’s cognitive development from an early age. Books introduce young minds to diverse cultures, ideas, and perspectives, fostering empathy and understanding. Moreover, reading together promotes bonding between parents and children, creating cherished memories that last a lifetime. Beyond emotional and intellectual benefits, having a variety of books at home encourages a love for reading, which is fundamental to academic success and lifelong learning. In essence, children’s books in the home are not just stories on shelves; they are keys to unlocking a child’s potential and shaping a brighter future.

We now need to replenish our supply of new children’s books for upcoming holiday and winter outreach. Please consider making a small donation to help us make a difference in the literacy lives of children in McHenry County and beyond. Head to atozliteracy.org and click donate. Thanks so much for your support!

By Betty Trummel

While at Logan Airport in Boston this morning, I stopped to check out a fabulous display featuring famous authors who lived (or still live) in Massachusetts. Did you you know that these beloved children’s book characters came to life in Massachusetts? From a cat in a hat, a big red dog, a pigeon who wants to drive a bus, a very hungry caterpillar and more…these books are treasures!

Theodor Seuss Geisel, known as Dr. Seuss, was an author, illustrator and poet. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Geisel created 45 books for children that have been translated into 43 languages and sold in 111 countries. What’s your favorite Dr. Seuss book?

Make Way for Ducklings is a classic that I loved as a child. It’s the official children’s book of our state and a series of bronze statues of the ducklings can be found in the Boston Public Gardens.

Eric Carle was the author/illustrator of more than 70 wildly popular books for children, including this perennial favorite. He is the founder of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Mo Willems has created over 50 picture books, including those in the very popular “Pigeon” series. He still lives in Massachusetts with his family.

H.A. and Margret Rey’s character “Curious George” was created in Paris, written in New York and published in Boston, MA. The Reys lived in Cambridge, MA. Over 75 million books and 25 languages later, Curious George is still a favorite character for so many children (and adults).

Who remembers the antics of Clifford, the Big Red Dog? 132 million copies have been sold, in 13 languages! Author/illustrator Norman Bridwell lived on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

What famous authors and/or illustrators come from your state? Here are a couple more from mine.

By Betty Trummel

A to Z Literacy Movement and schools like Shine Zambia Reading Academy give children a window to the world. Good literacy instruction is essential to promote learning in every subject area.

I’ve seen the struggle to achieve a balance between reading, writing, listening, and speaking…four pillars of literacy. I have watched as teachers at Shine deliver lesson after lesson with limited materials and a simple chalkboard in each classroom. 

I think back to my own classrooms during my 35-year teaching career. Those rooms were full of books, posters, learning aids, artifacts and a seemingly unlimited amount of paper, construction paper, colored pencils, and other craft materials. I could provide a colorful and vibrant learning environment. 

Despite the lack of those types of materials here at Shine, teachers work day in and day out to provide a positive learning environment for their pupils. They are working to create a place where the focus on early literacy instruction gives vulnerable children a good start and a chance at furthering their education. It’s opening windows to the world of learning for the children here at Shine.

Reading opens doors (and windows)! I will always keep reading and learning. I’ll never stop looking for ways to bring literacy to vulnerable children and adults. Thanks for taking part in this journey to Zambia with me. Thanks to the teachers at Shine who have always welcomed me with open arms. It’s been great to see my former Shine students, now young men and women. Meeting new partners and friends has also been very rewarding. Our connection is stronger than ever after this two week visit. I’ll surely miss everyone so much. 

by Betty Trummel

Monomoy High School & Shine Zambia Reading Academy Students Connect After a Three+ Year Delay!

During the 2019-2020 school year, just before the pandemic made us hit the pause button on so many aspects of our lives, I had talked with my local high school’s National Honor Society about A to Z Literacy Movement and what these students might do to contribute. NHS students at Monomoy High School, in Harwich, Massachusetts, decided to have pairs of students purchase picture books with a stuffed animal/toy to accompany them. Students read the books and made recordings, to model smooth reading fluency and expression.

I packed up this project and was ready to head to Zambia to present this to Shine in the summer of 2020. Then…Covid took over our lives and my trip was cancelled, eventually postponed until this year.

Today, after three and a half years of being stored at my house, I finally got to distribute these books/stuffed toys to pupils and teachers at Shine!

Imagine a classroom of happy children, browsing through books and clutching the soft toys that could make these stories come alive! This really brought a lot of smiles to everyone, but most of all to me!

Thanks to those Monomoy NHS students who put effort into this project. Mission accomplished at long last!

by Betty Trummel

Many of us are lucky to live a life surrounded by books. I admit, I’m a bibliophile…a person who collects or has a great love of books. I have what I consider to be my garden of books scattered throughout my house. As a matter of fact, you can find books or other reading materials in every room. Whether it’s cookbooks in the kitchen, my polar book collection filling shelves in the living room, stacks of must read books in the bedroom, or coffee table books of all sizes in the family room… it’s all evidence of lifelong learning and enjoyment of reading.

A few months ago I found a list of recommended books, all of which take place in Africa and many written by African authors. An idea started to hatch! What if I started a little lending library for the teachers at Shine Zambia Reading Academy to encourage personal reading for enjoyment at home?

Once again, some friends back home proved to be amazing supporters of literacy and donated funds which I added to what I’d already saved on my own. My idea grew wings to fly!

I purchased ten novels to start the Shine teachers off on this journey. Yesterday I did what’s called a “book talk,” briefly describing each book to whet their appetite and promote excitement. Since I’ve read half of these novels myself, it was easy to talk about them.

Hoping that the next time I visit (or we could do this over Zoom or with a WhatsApp video call) we can have a book club meeting. I think of all the ways I share books and the love of reading with friends, and it would be awesome to share with the teachers at Shine!

I hope there can be additions to this garden of small beginnings. Time to get reading!

by Betty Trummel

Friday (yesterday) was “field trip day” for the year 2 classes at Shine! This field trip was made possible because of generous donations from a couple of friends of mine back home. Thanks to their support, I was able to provide buses, pay our admission fees, and buy snacks for the students and teachers. This was a rare opportunity to be celebrated! We were off to visit Munda Wanga, a wildlife sanctuary not far outside of Lusaka. 

Excited children arrived at school much earlier than usual and hung out on the playground, eagerly awaiting the arrival of two buses. They screamed with joy when the buses pulled into the Shine car park!

Anticipation was building throughout the hour-long ride from Shine to Munda Wanga, and the children spent every minute (and I do mean every minute!) singing and chanting to wonderful African music. Their voices were beautiful but deafening!

Once at Munda Wanga our tour guide, Henry, did an excellent job of teaching the children about the rehabilitation of the animals here, and giving them some great foundations in science. His tour lasted over two hours!

Students saw animals they’ve only heard about or possibly seen pictures of in books, and I loved watching their curiosity and enthusiasm as Henry led us around the grounds of the sanctuary providing details about each creature.

We had time to picnic and play after our tour, and that was a much needed break time.

The grand finale of the trip was watching the lions get fed. A bit of panic overtook some of the kids when the lion roared and rushed the fence…children screaming and running away in fear of this ferocious creature (who was safely secured behind a double fence). 

I’ll use this field trip to build writing skills with level 2 Shine students next week. As a seasoned educator, I know that even students who routinely have exciting experiences will sometimes struggle to get started with writing about them. Students will have lots to write about after such a fantastic day, and I’ll help guide them through the process. I can’t wait!

by Betty Trummel

I love days like today when the air is supercharged with excitement and joy! We were out in the rural district of Rufunsa, visiting the tiny village school now connected to Shine Zambia Reading Academy and using its phonics program. We also visited the Shine pig farm, which provides revenue for Shine school back in Lusaka. What a day! 

An interesting drive on the Great East Road out of Lusaka, was an opportunity to see the bustling city fade away, the vegetation changing to bush land, and plenty of opportunities to observe rural life here in Zambia. In time we left the paved road (full of potholes) and turned off on dirt roads which were rutted, full of rocks of all sizes, had craters that our driver expertly maneuvered around and the dust flying was incredible. Despite all that…this “country road” led to a real gem.

Our two-hour drive to Rufunsa was followed by an amazing welcome at the tiny village school called Bamcaf.

Teachers Febie and Mary are teaching 50 students in one large room/ building, and other students from a local government school also come for phonics lessons. Teacher Febie had started this school in her home, and was able to move it to its current location in a former community center that was no longer in use. It’s a great space. But, like so many schools, they’re lacking books for the children and need picture books to capture the children’s interest in reading. This is a way A to Z Literacy helps…by sending shipments of books to help create small libraries and reading opportunities for vulnerable learners. 

After the children sang and danced for me, and several children read books aloud, I had the chance to read a picture book to the class. So much fun! And, while I read, the book was also translated into Nyanja (the local language) by both Isaac and Teacher Febie. Very cool.

The teachers asked me to teach a Shine Zambia Reading Academy phonics lesson so off I went to a tiny classroom inside the “office” in an adjacent building. This was a lesson for a small group of readers, who were attentive, and many were eager to participate although they had just met me today! I think they were ready to show me what they’ve learned! It was just awesome to be teaching them!

Our afternoon was spent at the nearby pig farm and was a lesson in all things related to that operation. I certainly learned more about the feeding and raising of pigs. Having grown up on a small farm I was quite interested in this production.

Suffice to say, this was a stellar day and is going to be one for the books! I hope you have enjoyed this taste of a rural school in Zambia! 

Remember, your donations can help A to Z Literacy ship books to schools like Bamcaf School in Rufunsa. 

by Betty Trummel

Just wrapped up a fantastic weekend with some very special guys…all but one of them are Shine Zambia Reading Academy alums! I’ve known most of these young men since 2010 when I first came to Zambia. The challenges they’ve faced and the resolve to keep going is inspirational to me. I had fun gathering their stories in their words; remarkable oral histories which I hope to put together in a book. 

Over the weekend I spent time in the compounds of Mutendere and Kalikiliki, where these young men grew up and still live. Meeting their families and being invited into their homes was really special.

Jonathan, (below) our A to Z Literacy Movement scholarship recipient, is in college now and studying medicine; working so very hard to follow his dream to become a doctor.

A to Z Literacy provides financial and mentoring support for Jonathan and his family. It’s been wonderful to watch him grow up and supporting his education is an important goal of our organization.

(From left to right above): Gift, Isaac, Paul and Jimmy. Three of these young men benefitted from Shine Zambia Reading Academy (Paul attended another school) and credit their good start in education to Shine and help from A to Z Literacy as well. Our continued connections over a 13-year span have affected them, but have also had an enormous impact on me…and my family. 

These connections happened because of my involvement with A to Z Literacy. My life would be so different if I hadn’t met this group of boys…now terrific young men. They all conveyed to me that they look back at their life and how far they’ve come, and that motivates them to look forward to what they want to accomplish in the future. I love their positive energy and I am constantly reminded of the determination and resilience of so many people I’ve met here.

by Betty Trummel

Do you ever sense that something is calling you to explore? I often get that feeling when I’m reading…whether it’s a nonfiction selection about a topic or place, or a historical fiction novel that draws me into a certain time in history. 

Then there are places you visit that pull you in further…inviting you in to take a closer look.

Yesterday, as we drove through the countryside of an area in England called the Cotswolds, charming little villages called my name. BUT, it was on a narrow country road where I found the best treasure of the day…a little free library!

Not just any little library though, rather one of the most clever and adorable adaptations to create a book space that I’ve ever seen. A “retired” iconic red British phone booth, perched on the side of the road, had become a tiny library…welcoming all who drive by to stop, take a look, grab a book or leave one for others. 

A fabulous selection of books awaited, and as I browsed I found a couple of books that caught my eye…I usually do! Now I can grab a cuppa (a cup of tea) and enjoy a *new* book. 

How about you? Found any great literacy treasures recently? Remember to promote literacy whenever and however you can!