edwardndlovulibrary

To be in a long queue is a skill! I am not sure our Swedish kids always are as patient as these children in the Library in Gwanda! And I also wish people were visiting the Swedish libraries in such a great number as you can see here!  But it must be tiring for the librarian to have such a lot of people to handle all the time! And what a lot of cleaning in the end of the day! And organizing all books that you found anywhere in the library!  I get tired only of the thought!

But on the other hand where do you find such a lot of nice and kind people? I will say nowhere! A Library is a wonderful place for satisfying people!

Most of the time they come in to the library for very different reasons. Someone wants a book, and when you can give him/her the book they are so happy, or if you can order it from another library, they are even happier, because then they are special and important, when I take my time and fix the book for them.

Somebody comes into the library and wants to know something, for example a word in a crossword or for their exams in school or university, or to solve a discussion among friends or at their work place.

Somebody comes to tell about their personal problems or joy! For example a divorce or a new found love!

Somebody died or was born.

One elder lady came in to the library and asked me to tell everybody that she had some fresh eggs to sell! And of course I did!

Everything is discoursed at a library and I found it most important that there is a place in a society where it is possible to do that. But I am not sure our politicians think they would support the library to be a social meeting point in that way. So don’t tell them!
I am sure this is the case all over the world and to keep a library in a village, makes it to a place for information. Perhaps you have to be very careful not to make it into a political arena. You have to balance between hand over information the customers want and what is allowed to hand over in the society.  That is really a big deal in most countries!

Love from Kersti in a dark, rainy, a bit cold and dull Hässleholm in the south of Sweden, about 10000 km north of Zimbabwe

You can also follow my private blogg at http://www.kersti.webblogg.se

I have been looking for a picture in my box with photos from 1994. I wish I was an organized person with all photos in a well organized archive, but I am not. I think I have to live with that, at least I have most photos in my mind anyhow.

So I had to go to the world wide known web, and of course I found a nice photo of a monkey driven library. The web address was : http://www.ru.ac.za. I “googled” on pictures on Google.

You can see the nice photo above the text.

I also “googled” on “Obadiha Moyo” and found some articles, but not one relevant for this blog. But I will ask Mr. Jackson Ndlovu to arrange a meeting once I come to Bulawayo, so you can learn more about this brilliant Librarian.

For the moment all thoughts are focused on Thursday “the official opening day”. I don’t have more information for the moment. What Mr. Ndlovu and I have decided together is to have a “writing competition”, amongst children. They have to write a short story, around 2 sheets A4. Three classes: 
                    
                     A: write a short story and that’s all.

                      B: write as above and illustrate the short story

                      C: write a poem with or without an illustration.

When I come to Gwanda, we can have a second, (or third maybe, official opening) because I can’t attend the opening on Thursday, due to my bad knee and to money. On that day we will invite the winners and give them  a prize. I have got some real good stuff and are looking for more as prizes. As I am an old school librarian by now, I know children love competitions and lots of nice things to win.

I also think of, if we can connect the competition in Gwanda District with our pupils somehow, maybe give the same competition in Älmhult at Linnéskolan, where I work and then they could read each others texts and make comments, not on small things like spelling or grammar, but on text contents. What do you think out their about this form of cooperation between schools? The problem is to get the texts from Zimbabwe to Sweden. My ambition is to publish the text on this blog so you all can read them and even see the drawings. This time I will take them with me to Zimbabwe and then the winning texts and some more back to Sweden.

 Love to you all from Kersti

Also follow my private blog: http://www.kersti.webblogg.se Written both in English and Swedish.

Bodils blog: http://pieceofclementine.blogspot.com/ Bodil is my daughter and this is her blog from all over the world.

On Thursday the 19th of November 2009 the Edward Ndlovu Memorial Library will be officially inaugurated by the ambassador of Canada and England!

After years of dreams, negotiations, work, delays, surprises, discussions, clay, bricks and hard work  it is there peacefully erected in the centre of Gwanda, close to the communal facilities and also close to shops, schools and the big road to which pass through Gwanda on its way between Bulawayo in south west Zimbabwe and Beitbridge, the border to South Africa.

I do wish I was there, but I can’t make the journey until spring 2010, but then we can have an other party, more informal but still as joyful as the one on Thursday.

My thoughts will be with you on Thursday and we will go on working towards new goals.

Pictures, names and what happened on the Inauguration will follow as soon as I get the story from the Library in Gwanda.

Love from Kersti

http://edwardndlovulibrary.webblogg.se/  the address of this blog

http://kersti.webblogg.se/ my blog in Swedish and English, most about Nyamandlovu and about my knitting adventures.

 http://pieceofclementine.blogspot.com Bodils blog about life in Hungary, written in English 

A true happiness in these eyes!

When I look at this picture I see that the happiness over a good story or performance is the same all over the world! When you have heard somebody tell a story you feel happiness for several days afterwards! I have seen this so many times over the years. When I worked as a public librarian in Färlöv (in the south of Sweden, a small village outside Kristianstad), we worked together in the community to give the young children up to 12 years old. To work together means that the library, the church, the school and private people in Färlöv, put money together to buy a performance for the children. The individual can not afford so much, but if you put small amounts together you get so much more. Another perspective is that you start to work together you learn more about your different activities and I learnt to know so many nice people. When they heard that I got a sum from the library the school said we give you the same sum and so the church gave us a sum also. Sometimes we used the church room, sometimes the library room. This was a perfect opportunity to talk to each other and have a very nice time together.

1994 I came to Murewa in the north of Zimbabwe, it was several drama groups connected with the Culture house there. School classes came in to take part of the performance and I saw and heard lots of nice and very good poetry.

In Älmhult, at Linneskolan (Linné School) we had a girl in one of the highest classes, who had been to school in Zimbabwe (outside Harare). She did such a good performance in poetry. Our Swedish pupils are not as skilled as the Zimbabwean school children, they have much to learn! (Of course our pupils has other skills)

A couple of years ago I got a video from Jackson, from a school outside Bulawayo, who were exellent in their dance performance. I am still impressed!  This must be something to develop and what an exellent culture exchange between Swedish teachers and Zimbabwean teachers to learn how to love and preforme poetry!

Love from Sweden, from Kersti with her heart in Zimbabwe!

Blogs you can read: http://www.kersti.webblogg.se this blog is my private written both in English and Swedish. You are all invited. http://pieceofclementine.blogspot.com This is Bodils blog, my youngest daughter. She writes in English from her life in Budapest.