Mulenga Kapwepwe Keeps On Going

There was a time when I had an abiding love affair with books.  I loved to buy them and collect them, and read them if only in part.  I had them set in particular ways and places in my basement office, and on many occasions, I'd just walk along the aisles I created, look up 10 feet to the top of the makeshift shelving, then run my fingers along the spines of books. 

Over the past 10 years, though, I've migrated onto online reading.  I read more than ever, but my consumption is virtually all online.  I hardly buy books now, and what I have are mostly in boxes in the basement and somewhere in Dubai.  On occasion I find PDFs of books I want, so I simply download them.  But in general I extract the lessons I want to learn from what I search on Google and what I find on my Timelines.

Mulenga Kapwepwe and children in their African hut

That said, I still love the idea and the haven of a library.  I am enthralled at the sort that Mulenga Kapwepwe created in Zambia:  More of an active and engaging community center, where books may be at the heart of it all, but it's curiosity and imagination that make it like an African hut:  where children can paint and dramatize, play and learn, along with getting chances for conversation, interaction and mentoring.

Mulenga Kapwepwe and children on the fútbolpitch

Kapwepwe has written plays, built libraries, started a record label, founded a youth orchestra, and run a fútbol team.  She is indeed an inspiration and a role model for me, as I want to do what she has done and is doing - the range of things, the diversity of things, the service to the community, youth and nation.

I love, too, her wisdom and advice on getting things done:  She has learned that you don't have to wait until everything is perfect.  Instead, you keep moving forward, and things get better over time.  You do your best with what you have and with what you can do, then with a decent dose of interest and willingness.  You may have scale down your dream, or even reshape them, but Kapwepwe encourages you to keep going.