Rachelle : We have a special guest today, an educator with a mission. Please welcome Dr. Molly Nyatanga to Rachelle's Window.
Molly : Thank
you, Rachelle. It’s my pleasure to be here.
Rachelle: You have so many attributes in life. How
would you describe yourself to your audience?
Molly: I am a writer, a researcher, a teacher, a wife and a mother. Have I answered the question?
Rachelle: You have listed five roles, and they are important
in your life. Which one takes precedence over the rest?
Molly: That’s a difficult question to answer. My heart is
into all of the five aspects, but I have always put my family first. As a
diplomat’s wife I have lived a nomadic life, following my husband everywhere
for the past 22 years, making it difficult for me to hold one permanent post. Where
I couldn’t find work, I went to school. This is how I have kept myself busy for
the past two decades. I am not complaining, but kind of overwhelmed by what I
have been through. Each event has contributed positively in a way to my whole
being. Given the chance to discard any of my experiences, I wouldn’t, even for
a fortune.
Rachelle: Of course, all this life experience is a rich vein from which to draw your stories. In addition to life, how has research contributed to your writing?
Molly: I acquired a number of skills from research
projects. Research means a lot of reading other people’s work and communicating
directly and indirectly with respondents. This helped me sharpen my
communication skills. I also developed analytic skills, and not just accepting
things from face value. I also learnt how important it is to appreciate and
value other people’s work. Research work made me realize some of the
shortcomings in our education systems, especially in developing countries, and has
given me the impetus to write children’s books to instill values and enrich and
boost children’s literature domain.
Rachelle: I admire your drive to boost children's reading skills and instill values. You are also a mother, which is a full time job. How did all these demands contribute to your writing career?
Molly: My children were privileged to go to international
schools, where the libraries hold lots of good books. Unlike my primary school
years in some rural school in Zimbabwe .
We didn’t have a school or a community library. The only books we had were the
prescribed textbooks. The first library I saw and used was at a boarding school.
I couldn’t be seen borrowing preschool or junior school books. That stage of my
life had been eroded. So when I started reading preschool books to my children,
the stories were new to me and we enjoyed them together. It was like that
neglected part of me had been found and brought back to life. Besides library books, I also bought my
children books for bedtime stories. I looked forward to bedtime stories too,
just like them. Though I was the adult, the stories were exciting, resurrecting
the little kid trapped inside me. All those little things created a deep desire
in me to write books. My children preferred to hear me read them stories better
than their father. He wasn’t a book person. I read every sentence with passion.
Many years later I visited the same school I attended my primary education and
found that there was still no library. The school children were missing out part
of their childhood as I did. I wondered if their grandparents told them fables
and folktales as my grandmother used to. I related to their loss. I vowed that
one day I would write books to furnish all the remote schools in my country.
Rachelle: What a vision and a great story! Being a
diplomat’s wife has it’s own advantages and disadvantages. What do you have to
say to that?
Molly: The great picture is you get to see the world and
learn about other cultures. You really experience that kind of life rather than
see it on television or in books. You visit historical sites and leisure places
and you get first hand experiences of everything. This also boosted my
creativity and awakened my lively imaginations in the mystery genre of
literature. Landing on a job and keeping
it in a foreign land is a problem. If you get one, when you start enjoying it,
it’s time to pack your bags and go. At the back of your mind you always think,
we are in a temporary shelter, very soon we migrate. In 2007, I started
writing, though I did other things in between. With time, I became fully aware
that writing is a full time job. I had so many stories I built up over the
years and it was time for me to write them down. Diplomatic life has also positively
contributed to my writing career. I move with my work in my laptop wherever I
go. Whenever things don’t work out the way you planned, always switch on to
something else rather than mourn over your fate. Turn the misfortune to
fortune.
Rachelle: What an inspiration! I noticed on your Facebook page that you don’t you like books with vampires, swearing or cursing. What a fresh change from the usual popular fare, especially in these days of Twilight and Fifty Shades.
Rachelle: I heartily agree. Good for you! What made you write a series?
Molly: I enjoyed reading series to my children. When they
were in middle school I would buy them series too. I also followed short stories
in magazines. Every month I would look forward to buying the next copy to
continue with the story. I really got hooked to such episodes. In short, I can
say magazines and the book series I read to my children inspired me to write a
series too.
Rachelle: What made you write Echoes of the Mystery Box series?
Rachelle: I love the values you are instilling in your stories. Are these street kids orphans?
Molly: Orphans, in quotes. Some are real orphans, others
are run away kids and others have irresponsible parents. One ingredient is
missing that brings these children out, on the streets; a conducive home
environment. My books are trying to bring to light what makes children stay at
home, it’s not money, but a caring and loving heart. Due to economic hardships,
many have left their children under the care of neighbours, relatives or house
maids and are in diaspora. You can see that there are different types of orphans,
who have nobody to look up to.
Rachelle: That’s sad. What is your vision as author of Unilock
Books?
Molly: My
mission is to create a positive reading culture in people, through writing and
publishing character building reading books, which are affordable to all
people. I have a desire that every rural primary school has a school library, filled with all
sorts of positive reading material to create a conducive learning environment
for all children from diverse backgrounds.
Rachelle: Molly, you are an inspiration. I pray your efforts will be well rewarded in the changed lives of those children who are influenced by your books. Good luck on the literacy projects. We need more people with big hearts that care for others beyond their immediate circle.
Rachelle: Molly, you are an inspiration. I pray your efforts will be well rewarded in the changed lives of those children who are influenced by your books. Good luck on the literacy projects. We need more people with big hearts that care for others beyond their immediate circle.
AUTHOR BIO:
Dr. Molly Ngazana Nyatanga is a middle school teacher by profession. She taught in various schools in and outside Zimbabwe . Teaching is her passion. She holds a Ph. D in Educational Sciences. Her desire to give a better education and a better future to children was the driving force behind her studies and still is. In her post graduate studies, she focused on education for development. One heart-rending issue she came across in the schools in developing countries is shortage of reading material.
As a researcher, she wanted to see solutions birthed and implemented in the recommended fields. She found her place in children’s literature domain. Her first published book, The Mystery Box, is vivid and unique. She is the author of Unilock Books. Dr. Molly Ngazana Nyatanga lived in the Middle East, Europe, North Africa and Southern Africa and benefited from the richness of the diverse cultures to boost her lively imaginations. Many elements have interplayed to help her focus on the mystery genre of literature. She has just published The Mystery Box and Settle for Nothing Less. Many more children’s books will be out soon. The two books are part of a series, “Echoes of the Mystery Box.”
You can find Dr. Nyatanga at Unilock Books or follow her on Twitter at @mudiwanyatanga