Saturday, June 30, 2012

Author Interview: Dr. Molly Nyatanga


Rachelle :  We have a special guest today, an educator with a mission. Please welcome Dr. Molly Nyatanga to Rachelle's Window.

MollyThank 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.

Molly. Thanks for the complement. I never liked to watch vampire or ghost movies, and I still don’t watch them. When my children where still young they used to have nightmares after watching such movies. For instance if they visited friends and watch such stuff they would have problems sleeping that night, and so I vowed not to write books that scare children. Why should I expose other people to things that give me goose bumps and sleepless nights? I am writing to people like me. Some entrepreneurs are concentrating on products that rake in more revenue at the expense of nurturing society. Such things range from fast foods to polluted literature attacking and destroying both body and soul. As responsible parents and educationists, we have a responsibility to save our nations. Unilock Books is taking a positive stand in providing relevant material for development. Healthy food as well as sound and positive reading material can set your child on the right path.

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?

Molly: There are too many street kids roaming towns right now, especially in developing countries. This is a cause of concern. I wonder what is happening to the social fabrics of society. People used to care for one another. I wanted to show people that the immediate family can take in a relative and offer a hospitable environment to nurture that child to adulthood. I believe in bringing up children in a positive environment, where the self is valued and the significant others are given their due respect. People are a product of what they see, hear and eat. Hence I advocate that protection is better than cure. It is far better to invest in people’s lives at a tender age,  than to later on pump billions of dollars into correctional institutions, to rectify problems that could have been avoided in the first place.  Responsibility, accountability and respect are emphasised throughout the series, bringing an awareness to children at young age that whatever one does has a reward at the end. Every behaviour has a direct or indirect effect on the person next to you, and so one’s edges should be smoothened at all times.   

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.

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

22 comments:

  1. The interview is fabulous, very detailed. We tend to take some things for granted until they are put down on paper. Those humble beginnings are important to us. We might move on with our lives, but the memories will still linger within.They can only be laid to rest after being appeased.

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  2. Thanks Molly, for being on my blog. Your projects resonate with my heart. A ripple starts from a small stone but can spread wide. And as a former child, I know how much a single book can touch me.

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  3. Inspiring interview! Enjoyed reading it! Always enjoyed having mom read the bed time stories!

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    1. Thank you son. I still remember what scared you most, but you have out grown all that stuff! We enjoyed the bed time stories together!

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  4. I enjoyed this interview tremendously, Rachelle. It was lovely to meet Dr. Nyatanga and learn about the work she's doing to promote education and instill values in disadvantaged children through her books. Although I haven't had the opportunity yet, I've always wanted to visit Zimbabwe, so I found this interview very interesting.

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    1. I am Dr. Nyatanga. Nice to meet you JP on Rachelle's Window. I have a passion for education of the disadvantaged African child. Zimbabwe is still a beautiful country, endowed with so many natural resources. Hopefully, you will see it one day.

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  5. Great interview with an amazing woman! So, Tinashe used to have nightmares after watching scary movies? I think I have some leg pulling to do...

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    1. Yes, especially Freddy Krueger and Robocop.

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  6. Excellent interview, Claire. Dr Nyatanga's work puts many of our own 'troubles' and concerns into perspective

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    1. Thank you Rachelle for the platform. I appreciate your comment historywithatwist.

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  7. I very much enjoyed Dr. Molly Nyatanga interview. It’s great to know that even though she came to children’s books as an adult, she is still able to appreciate them, and they have provided such rich entertainment that she was encouraged to write her own. I particularly like her ethos of attempting to help the least advantaged children in developing nations through her books by instilling values and enriching their literary experiences through her books. Much success to you Dr. Nyatanga.

    George Hamilton

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    1. Thank you George Hamilton for your positive comment. I receive the complement. I will continue to write, with the disadvantaged African child at heart.

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    2. George has written a fantastic book about the "lost generation" of indigenous Australian children and their plight through forced cultural assimilation. Check out Secrets From the Dust and my review.

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  8. I loved the insightful interview with Dr. Molly Nyatanga - thank you so much for posting it. Much success and blessings to you, Dr. Nyatanga

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    1. Thank you Hedgeland for the positive comment. The road is long, but we will get there.

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  9. Great interview! I love the mission Dr. Molly Nyatanga have in mind for her books, especially in improving the reading skills for the kids. As someone who grew up struggling to learn how to read in English, I can relate to the bed time stories and constantly getting my hands on a book to read. I believe it is crucial to contribute to teaching kids how to read, and I think Dr. Nyantanga has it set in her goals.

    I am glad to have the pleasure of working with her on designing her book covers and logos!

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  10. Thanks Melody. I appreciate your work too.

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  11. Mama you are an inspiration to us all, we are proud of you!

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  12. Thanks Sharon, you give me the courage to continue. I appreciate your comment greatly.

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  13. Although I did grow up on children's literature, I still do appreciate a good story as an adult. Dr. Nyatanga, thank you for your great work and I look forward to reading more installments from you.

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    1. Thank you Andrew for the appreciation. More stories on the way.

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  14. Wow, this is beautiful! I have read this just now and am really inspired and touched by this. Great interview which i thoroughly enjoyed reading

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