Young Zambians Dreaming Big And Making A Difference

Writer: Julie Bates Photography: Shutter Speed Pictures

In August, 2019 I went to visit the PaBoChu Tuition Centre and Book Buddies Library Club in Mfuwe. It is off the main road, right in Kefa village and Patrick Chulu (aged 26) and Janet Mwanza (aged 23) who come from this village were getting ready to start the August holiday programme. I had been mentoring Janet and Patrick for 18 months or so and Janet had just returned from a life-changing 18 months’ work experience placement with The Book Bus in Kitwe in the Copperbelt.

Secondary school students were turning up at the centre for their extra year 12 GCE tuition with Patrick. They attend throughout the year and keep coming in the holidays, hoping to turbo charge their important GCE results. Final exams are not far away! Many of these students have their tuition sponsored by NGOs, a few have parents who are able to afford Patrick’s very minimal fees. The students filein,keentograspthedifficultconceptsofhighschoolmaths, science etc. There are also some school leavers who use PaBoChu for mentoring, research and interview practice and university students receive their tuition by remote learning.

Patrickisveryproudtobecreatingthefirsttuitioncentrefor Mfuwe. He also teaches local language Chinyanja classes to English-speaking expats and even the occasional tourist.

He is a responsible role model to his students and I get the impression he really loves these students and wants them to succeed in life as well as in their exams. He is a big advocate of learning by understanding. I heard him say, ‘I want you to become mathematical thinkers, not calculators’ and he wants them to be able to apply what they learn to real life.

AbigdifficultyfacingPatrickisthatmostofthestudentslack the basic ground knowledge in the subjects, so he assesses every

'She believed she could, so she did.'

'Do it again and again. Consistency makes the rain drops create holes in the rock.'

Israelmore Ayivor, The Great Hand Book of Quotes

student in each subject and tries to help them understand their missing building blocks before taking them forward on this year’s curriculum. Hehasalottofitintoayear’stuition!

Patrick tells me, ‘What I like most is the teaching profession keeps me on my toes and keeps me young at heart. It allows me to use my brain and continue learning each day and I am learning new strategies, ideas and skills. I am learning a lot about myself, not only as a teacher but as a person. I am learning how much or how little I can handle each day. I am learning more about my craft and how to best communicate it with my students. It’s a profession that allows me to be creative, and work with a variety of different people. Each school day brings with it a new beginning.Therearedifficultiesbuttherewardsarewitnessing the learning process and also my personal relationship with students and parents. I am able to see the results of my hard work every single day.’

Meanwhile, next door in the brand new Book Buddies Library, youngerchildrenfromfive-15yearsofagewerearriving.The noise and energy level had to be heard to be believed. Janet had all her reading co-ordinator and library skills ready for action. She calmly sorted the children into different age groups and arranged for the groups to start coming at different times going forward. The holiday programme settled down to sessions of story-time, quiet reading, phonics, word games, drawing and of course, wonderful Zambian dancing and singing. The Book Buddies Club is free and these sessions now continue before and after school. The children enjoy using the library space and it is Janet’s immediate goal to get more children reading and enjoying stories and books. Her longer-term goal is to see some of these children doing better in all their subjects at school because their literacy level is higher.

Janet’s favourite story is Matilda, by Roald Dahl. ‘I love this story because it inspires and encourages me a lot. It is about a small girl who taught herself to love books. She was two years old when she knew how to read and she was intelligent. Her parents never wanted her to learn so she used to sneak from her parents’ house and went to the nearest library to read. This book can also inspire and encourage our kids here, to always push themselves up at school.Nomatterwhatdifficultcircumstanceswhichmayarise and distract them, they should keep going to reach their better destination. ‘Book Buddies is conducting sessions for the Beginners (those who can’t read a single word or letter), Intermediates (those who can identify words and read short stories) and the Advanced (those who can read a long paragraph and comprehend it.) There is also some dancing and singing, games and all sorts of fun to make our sessions more interesting. The aim of the library is to improve literacy and make sure more children have access to books, have fun reading and get a better education, with the prospect of a brighter future.

‘My work ethic is strong and I gained valuable skills and experience working at The Book Bus. I have a big job now being in charge of everything. But I know that I have to look after my community and feed my country with knowledge. One of my greatest rewards so far is when I had a Grade 4 who could not read anything or identify words but she is now able to read a long paragraph and comprehend it. That is really a fantastic reward for me!’

The two quotations at the beginning of this article surely illustrate the determination and enthusiasm of Patrick Chulu and Janet Mwanza to make a difference…not only to themselves but to those they inspire.

How can you help?

We are building up a bank of laptops for students to share in the PaBoChu Tuition Centre as well as in the Book Buddies Library so if you have any good-condition laptops that you are able to donate, please let me know! And to keep the library’s offering fresh and the students challenged, our need for appropriate books will be never-ending!

Julie Bates shutterspeedtravel@mac.com www.shutterspeedpictures.co.uk Cell: +260963668845/ +260979773715 Email: pabochupabo@gmail.com