The Book Bus
In August 2019 I was privileged to be able to spend 3 weeks in Zambia working
with the British charity ‘The Book Bus’. This charity seeks to promote literacy
and works alongside schools in the teaching of reading and writing. As many
of the schools in Zambia, especially those not in the towns, have very few
resources and even fewer books, this is achieved by means of a mobile library
which takes books to the rural villages, often travelling in difficult terrains
to get there. The Book Bus currently works in Malawi and Ecuador as well
as in Zambia, where the work has the approval of the Ministry of Education.
Volunteers are sent to work with local staff and volunteers. Once a child can
read and write in English, their chances of being able to provide for their
families as adults increases dramatically; despite this, still only about 50 per
cent of children finish primary school. The Book Bus mottoes are Supporting
Reading Changing Lives and
Improving children’s lives one
book at a time.
My application to work
with The Book Bus project
based in Livingstone was accepted,
which was particularly
exciting not only because I
am passionate about reading
and books, but also because
having read an article in La
Beidana* and having visited a
recent exhibition at the Centro
Culturale Valdese in Torre
Pellice, I realised I would be
following in the footsteps of
many Waldensian missionaries, Luigi and Adolfo Jalla in particular, who
worked in and around Livingstone from the late nineteenth century onwards
as part of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society. They set up schools,
churches and a school for evangelists. Adolfo translated books, including
Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, into the local language (Zambia has over
70 indigenous languages). Later on, in 1926, his daughter Graziella Jalla set
up a Girls’ School – the first one in the country and she later also ran women’s
groups in Livingstone.
Livingstone is one of the only towns in Africa to retain its colonial name.
David Livingstone, the Scottish doctor, explorer and missionary, is still held
in high regard by the Zambian people – the local museum has a section dedicated
to him (which includes his overcoat that must have been surplus to
requirements in Zambia). There are also several schools named after him and
many statues and monuments. This affection is probably because, unlike most
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