@S_StoryFest in October, but Writing A Chapter Early with @Hoops4HopeZim (Thanks to @kwamealexander Books)

Last night I hosted a dinner for Fairfield University students and graduates of Ubuntu Academy. The good news is Rebound by Kwame Alexander will be in Zimbabwe in a little over a week (as well as his other brilliant contributions to poetry and basketball) and the bad news is the kids from Ubuntu Academy were like, "Wait. The kids in Zimbabwe get copies before we do? That's not fair!"

Crickets.

I'm ordering a class set for summer to distribute to Ubuntu Academy. This trip to Zimbabwe was a bit more pressing.

I bought every copy I could find in southern Connecticut and they are currently being packed to travel with Aidas and Vilia, underclassmen at Fairfield University, who are heading to work with my cousin's organization Hoops4Hope this summer. Their special trip is being sponsored by the Kazickas Family Foundation. Aidas, too, is an upcoming junior on Sydney Johnson's Men's Basketball team at Fairfield (extra credit for any and all who can say and spell his last name). Aidas, from Lithuania, brings with him tremendous support. By coincidence, Vilia, with Lithuanian ancestry, is also a Stag and has a passion for kids, new experiences, global outreach, and smiles. With the Ubuntu kids, too, is Maggie, who did a mini-film project this semester on my work with Literacy4Life with the Connecticut Writing Project. I'm so proud of everyone in this picture.

Aidas and Vilia will spend several weeks working with Hoops4Hope Africa supporting basketball clinics, literacy, team sports, and the Skills4Life curriculum. Behind them, however, is the philosophy of Ubuntu and the power of togetherness (who would have thought that the work of my cousin Mark would meet the work I do with the National Writing Project?).

Boom. It's happening.

I have to say, however, that it was 2013 when Kwame Alexander, my cousin, and coach Sydney Johnson met during my first Writing Our Lives conference on our campus (thanks Dr. Marcelle Haddix for sharing the vision). Two years later, Kwame Alexander returned to Connecticut to help me deliver professional development in a K-8 school in New Haven. A little book he wrote, The Crossover, happened to come out that week and the first 100 copies were sent to the school. He came to discuss Acoustic Rooster, but the middle school was fanatical about The Crossover. 

Note folks: I love Rebound as much as The Crossover (snap! My mom's going to text me to say she wants a copy, too - and then there are all the KY people).

Get the book! It's great. The rebound, as a metaphor, is also superb. The Rooster didn't need a rebound, but he has another slam dunk.

As for Vilia and Aidas, I want them to make the connections with the Zimbabwe community about the ways writer Alexander masters his craft to tell a story. Kids all over the globe can learn from his talents and become better writers and thinkers as a result.

And the evening cost me a lot of barbecue time. They wanted steak and grilled vegetables. I even made mashed potatoes! Not much left over. They devoured the Magnum bars.

Oh, and Storyfest! Ha! Let's just say that CWP-Fairfield and Hoops4Hope are proud to collaborate with the Saugatuck Story Festival coming in October, 2018. Hoops Africa: Ubuntu Matters, an evening of sports stories and togetherness will be a great kick-off before their events begin.

YA novels! Stories! Writing! Democracy! That is what Ubuntu is all about. What a great way to spend a Wednesday night.