The Shine Zambia Reading Academy Food Program by Betty Trummel

Often people ask me, “How can we help?”  A to Z Literacy knows that literacy development requires more than books.  A to Z and its partners in Zambia provide a variety of resources necessary for effective literacy promotion, including book delivery, school meals, and high-quality teacher instruction.  ALL of these components are part of our time here in Zambia.

We know that students can better focus on learning when they aren’t hungry.  Shine Zambia Reading Academy is currently providing a meal for students every day they are at school.  Three days a week this is a bowl of porridge served to about 200 students per day.

(Above:  The porridge, waiting for its final stir!)

(Above: I jumped in to try this job, but quickly gave it over to Esther, one of the cooks at Shine, pictured below.)

They supplement with foods such as beans, vegetables, nshima (corn meal dish similar to grits but more solid), and soy chunks two times per week.

I’d love to see if we can help Shine boost these “extras” to 3 or 4 times per week.  Please visit the A to Z Literacy website (www.atozliteracy.org) to see how you can help.  THANKS!

The A to Z Literacy Team Has Landed in Zambia!  By Betty Trummel

Hello from Lusaka, Zambia.  The moment we arrived in here, we hit the ground running and took off in several directions! We were picking up our NINE pieces of luggage, exchanging US dollars for Zambian Kwacha, activating our Zambian cell phones, airport pickup from Ben (from the Village/School of Hope), getting a few groceries, and finally (me) taking a taxi to my lodging here in Lusaka….Serenity Lodge.

Mal and Alia continued on to the Village/School of Hope in a rural area north of the city.  All of us settled into our respective “homes” for the next two weeks, and immediately got into more planning and preparations for the busy days ahead.

Any butterflies (a normal feeling) I might have felt when we embarked on this journey Friday night have turned to utter excitement and I am happy to be back here with A to Z Literacy, doing what we do so well…spreading the gift of literacy around the world and using our talents as teachers to help others.

Follow our blogs…and come along on this journey with us.  Thanks to all of our loyal supporters who help with fundraising efforts throughout the year. You’re helping us to fulfill our mission and enabling us to send shipments of books, sponsor school lunches, engage in local Illinois outreach, do our work here in Zambia, and so much more.  We couldn’t do this without you!

A to Z recently received a financial gift from the Robinson/Stough Family in honor of their Aunt Joanne’s 90th birthday.

The note on the back of the donation form read:

Aunt Jo’s life has inspired us all with the message that reading books are the answer to a lot of the world’s problems and we know this is part of the A to Z’s important mission. Thank you for the work you are doing to help some wonderful children start to reach their potential.  ~The Robinson/Stough Family

We are so grateful to this family for their generous gift and feel truly honored to be included in Aunt Jo’s birthday celebration as she is a kind, thoughtful, and loving teacher who still believes books can save the world. Here’s to you, Aunt Jo!

As the A to Z team continues to prep for our upcoming event, Libations For Literacy, we wanted to share a few of the amazing auction items that will be available to bid on February 3rd from 7:00-10:00 at the Park Place in Crystal Lake.

As always, we have great tickets for local sporting events like the Chicago Bulls, Chicago Wolves, Schaumburg Boomers, and the Windy City Bulls. This year’s Cubs tickets offer incredible seats behind home plate on the lower level.

For those guests who enjoy getting out and about, we have Raue Center and Paramount Theatre tickets to bid on as well as a family four pack to the Chicago Field Museum.

Along with tickets to events, our team has creatively put together a variety of gift baskets that offer something for everyone. Golf? We’ve got it. Coffee and tea? Ready. Photography and local artwork? You bet! Fun things for your home? Check.

And of course, while you are bidding on different auction items, you will be sampling different beers provided by Crystal Lake Brewing and Wild Onion Brewery or tasting delicious wines provided by Scott and Garfield’s Beverage Warehouse.

Head to the A to Z website to purchase your tickets or feel free to purchase at the door. We can’t wait to see you!

Hello, my name is Christine. I am a friend of Sydney and a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia. My school has started to build a small library and starting to slowly gather some books, but I would love a more variety of books for my students to learn and engage themselves to their fullest abilities. I heard that you may be able to help me in starting to enlarge this library with donating books? This would really mean so much to me. Having the students stay after school and read can really improve their confidence in learning English. Thank you so much. Christine K.

Emails like this one from Christine arrive in my A to Z inbox often. Receiving requests for children’s books from Peace Corps volunteers in Zambia, librarians in Swaziland, and teachers in Ghana always makes me smile. It brings me hope. These hard-working individuals believe in the power of literacy. Along with our partners across oceans, parent groups in McHenry County, church volunteers in Lake County, and community center volunteers also email to request book donations for their programs. And again, I am filled with joy as I read and know people all over the local area care about literacy. They, like me, believe reading opens doors.

To ship Christine the six boxes of children’s books we usually send, it will cost A to Z about $1,200. Our nonprofit organization is hoping to send at least five separate shipments in 2018 with Christine being our first one in this “sending season”. Please consider attending our annual fundraiser, Libations For Literacy, on Saturday, Feb. 3rd from 7:00-10:00 at Park Place in Crystal Lake, IL. You can purchase tickets on the A to Z website or buy them at the door. With your generous support, we can get Christine her books and help this Peace Corps volunteer promote the love of reading in Zambia.

Happy New Year everyone! We hope you had a wonderful holiday season with your family and friends. Moving into 2018, the A to Z team is excited to announce our upcoming FUNdraiser, Libations For Literacy, on Saturday, February 3rd from 7:00 – 10:00 at Park Place in Crystal Lake. Please come out and join us in tasting a few wines, sampling a few beers, and bidding on a few great silent auction items.

As you know, this annual event is critical for us to meet our organization’s 2018 goals.  Currently, sending one shipment of books (six boxes) costs us $1,200 and we want to send at least five shipments this year. The nonprofit also strives to help fund professional learning opportunities for impoverished schools and teachers and provide tuition support for secondary students in Zambia. Of course, the proposed 2018 goals all line up with A to Z Literacy Movement’s mission to increase literacy levels and promote the love of reading locally and globally.

Head to the A to Z website to purchase your tickets for the event and thank you so much for continuing to support our work.  (www.atozliteracy.org)