A Bridgewater College professor who helped his native Zambian village build, stock and staff its first library has been awarded a grant to publish a book about Zambian culture.
Sociology professor Dr. Mwizenge Tembo has been awarded a $2,000 grant from the Mednick Fellowship Committee of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges (VFIC) to publish a book titled Satisfying Zambian Hunger for Culture and to conduct a workshop to enhance the culture of reading in villages surrounding the newly built Nkhanga Village Library in rural Zambia.
The grant will cover Tembo’s travel costs to Zambia to execute the two projects, which he will accomplish while on sabbatical from Bridgewater from September through December.
“This is a prayer come true,” Tembo said. “Once the college had approved my sabbatical leave, I didn’t know how I was going to travel to Zambia to publish the book and hold the workshops for the new Village Library volunteers. I am very thankful and happy that I got the grant.”
Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to approximately 1,700 undergraduate students.