Book Club
Every other Sunday afternoon finds me at my alltime favorite in-uganda activity: book club! For those of you just joining us, the idea of book club was born during a fit of insomnia last fall-it seemed like a great idea at 3:00AM--make friends, read, do something social occasionally..when i woke up, however, I realized that the idea was fraught with problems. First and foremost--I had no friends!! And no more than one copy of any one book.
The dream became real, though, over tea with a coworker (Phoebe) and her friend John. We confessed to each other our love for reading and miraculously--they also wanted to start a book club! Our plans were slowed a bit when John was hit by a drunk driver in November and suffered severe trauma to the head and a really bad broken leg (among other injuries). Happily, and thanks be to God, he is doing really well now and even walking, and working, and looking forward to the surgery that will replace all the teeth that got knocked out.
So we started meeting in December, with a few high-spirited members, a lot of ideas, and absolutely no clue how to get books. There is one high-priced bookstore here in kampala, many street vendors selling used books (of varying genres and quality)--as approximately 42% of our club was either unemployed or volunteering, buying full-priced books was not an option. We have opted for the sharing model, which works well to some extent but requires that we spend about 2 months on each book, and more depending on how long it is. Currently we are reading "We were the Mulvaneys" by Joyce Carol Oates for the simple reason that there were four copies on sale for 7000/= each (about $3.50) and I knew there was a copy in the MCC library. Five copies among 12 members is difficult but we are managing.
We meet without fail every two weeks--there is a garden in the center of town owned by the Sheraton hotel that is open to the public. So we gather, drag together a bunch of benches, break out the biscuits (cookies) and water (refreshments are a key part of our strategy for winning new members)..and start our book-related activity.
We have tried photocopying short stories to read, reading aloud short stories, discussing books (when we actually have them), and most recently, creative writing. Yesterday was our first attempt at a "writing workshop," we each brought a poem or prose in which we used a metaphor. There was a lot of laughter, as most of the members have not experimented with creative writing before, and many interruptions and editorial comments, and no end to the questions for each budding author.
Highlights included one creative member using the metaphor of winter (though she had never experienced one)for hardness and coldness of heart; a poem called "the traffic jam" or "taxi to the maxi" or "matatus suck" (the title was still under debate) using the metaphor of gridlock to talk about situations we get ourselves into but can't seem to make the decision to get out and walk; and a great poem about money by our member who is a banker.
For me, this book club is a great source of joy. Even though we spend the majority of most meetings just eating and talking, it has provided good friends who encourage and bless me with their exuberance for life and passion to see their country change for the better. They dream of taking long field-trips with the club up to IDP camps in the north, to share books and read with kids in the camps. It seems a long shot (our combined "fees" for the last four months have hit a grand total of 35,000/= or $16 US) but it could be possible.
I am so thankful for those of you who have sent books--we will soon be reading the chronicles of narnia (my relatives combined their collections and sent me quite a few copies from that series!) and To Kill a mockingbird (not, as it was first thought-HOW to kill a mockingbird)--thanks to JKB/H and CMH : ) !!
Many blessings as you read this week!
The dream became real, though, over tea with a coworker (Phoebe) and her friend John. We confessed to each other our love for reading and miraculously--they also wanted to start a book club! Our plans were slowed a bit when John was hit by a drunk driver in November and suffered severe trauma to the head and a really bad broken leg (among other injuries). Happily, and thanks be to God, he is doing really well now and even walking, and working, and looking forward to the surgery that will replace all the teeth that got knocked out.
So we started meeting in December, with a few high-spirited members, a lot of ideas, and absolutely no clue how to get books. There is one high-priced bookstore here in kampala, many street vendors selling used books (of varying genres and quality)--as approximately 42% of our club was either unemployed or volunteering, buying full-priced books was not an option. We have opted for the sharing model, which works well to some extent but requires that we spend about 2 months on each book, and more depending on how long it is. Currently we are reading "We were the Mulvaneys" by Joyce Carol Oates for the simple reason that there were four copies on sale for 7000/= each (about $3.50) and I knew there was a copy in the MCC library. Five copies among 12 members is difficult but we are managing.
We meet without fail every two weeks--there is a garden in the center of town owned by the Sheraton hotel that is open to the public. So we gather, drag together a bunch of benches, break out the biscuits (cookies) and water (refreshments are a key part of our strategy for winning new members)..and start our book-related activity.
We have tried photocopying short stories to read, reading aloud short stories, discussing books (when we actually have them), and most recently, creative writing. Yesterday was our first attempt at a "writing workshop," we each brought a poem or prose in which we used a metaphor. There was a lot of laughter, as most of the members have not experimented with creative writing before, and many interruptions and editorial comments, and no end to the questions for each budding author.
Highlights included one creative member using the metaphor of winter (though she had never experienced one)for hardness and coldness of heart; a poem called "the traffic jam" or "taxi to the maxi" or "matatus suck" (the title was still under debate) using the metaphor of gridlock to talk about situations we get ourselves into but can't seem to make the decision to get out and walk; and a great poem about money by our member who is a banker.
For me, this book club is a great source of joy. Even though we spend the majority of most meetings just eating and talking, it has provided good friends who encourage and bless me with their exuberance for life and passion to see their country change for the better. They dream of taking long field-trips with the club up to IDP camps in the north, to share books and read with kids in the camps. It seems a long shot (our combined "fees" for the last four months have hit a grand total of 35,000/= or $16 US) but it could be possible.
I am so thankful for those of you who have sent books--we will soon be reading the chronicles of narnia (my relatives combined their collections and sent me quite a few copies from that series!) and To Kill a mockingbird (not, as it was first thought-HOW to kill a mockingbird)--thanks to JKB/H and CMH : ) !!
Many blessings as you read this week!
posted by Christi-Lynn at 5:16 PM
1 Comments:
Good post.
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