The Bridge: Dreams Can Come True

by

Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D.

Author of  “The Bridge: Romance-Adventure Novel”.

Professor of Sociology

I opened my e-mail in my office. As usual there were hundreds of messages from work, friends, and organizations, companies, including the useless and annoying spam that I quickly delete. As I scrolled down, the subject said: “Congratulations!” and it was from someone I knew from Zambia. I quickly clicked it open: “It is with great delight that I extend my heartiest congratulations to you for your book, The Bridge, being accepted by the CDC in Zambia as a supplementary reader for grades 10 – 12 in the Zambian Secondary School Literature syllabus”.

I was stunned. My emotions were frozen for a few moments. My mouth was open in disbelief. I was alone in my office. I heard myself say: “Oh My God!! Dreams can come true.” I had been learning, struggling, reading, writing, and fighting for this moment for the last 50 years since I was 11 years old in Grade 6 in Zambia in 1965. I wanted to scream with joy. But I didn’t want my American workmates to think I was a Chainama case. I paced up and down my office with pent up excitement and stood by the window and stared at the American Spring sunny blue sky day. I sent an email to my wife and children to tell them of the great news. I thought about my parents in the village and all the sacrifices they had made to give me an education; my father is 91 years old and my mother is 89 years old.

Curriculum Development Centre

I would like to thank the Zambian people for having paid for my education from Chizongwe Secondary School all the way to finishing my Ph.D. This novel is my thank you for all you have done for me in my life. This is my gift to you and a thank you. I hope this novel  will help many young Zambians and non-Zambians today and in the future. The Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education Curriculum Development Centre of the Republic of Zambia has just approved my novel “The Bridge”. The novel will be used for teaching English and English Literature in all Secondary Schools for Grades 10 -12 students.  Teachers should be very excited.

I would like to thank Mr. Elisa Phiri, who was the Headmaster, who taught me English in Grade Seven at Tamanda Upper Primary School in 1966. I would like to thank Mr. Lyson Chikunduzi Mtonga who was my English teacher when I was in Grade 6 at Tamanda Upper Primary School in 1965. Mr. Benson, who was British,  was my English Literature teacher at Chizongwe Secondary School from Form 3 to 5 from 1969 to 1971. My late cousin, Smart Nyoni, told me so many traditional folktales when I was growing up as a child in the village that I was enchanted, inspired, and fascinated by the power of telling a good story. The writing of “ The Bridge” benefited from all these people.

What is “The Bridge”?

It is a powerful romantic story between two characters: Kamthibi the Zambian man and Trish the Irish woman. The saying that the proof of the pudding is in the eating is true in this case because just describing the novel may not be enough to appreciate its power. When I was in Grade 6 in rural Zambia, we read an English textbook which had photos of a red double decker in London in England. The Nkhwazi Nyanja textbooks had our traditional Zambian village culture in it. Of course later, I read Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, Dominic Mulaisho’s “Tingue of the Dumb” and Gideon Phiri’s “Ticklish Sensation”. I have also read dozens of other books. But I was never satisfied. I have always wanted to write books in which anyone can read but I have wanted Zambians to be right in the thick of the book. There were other reasons. But when I was writing this novel, I always had Zambians and the Zambian reader at heart.

Dispelling Myths

There are some common myths that should be dispelled right away. Everyone will enjoy this novel. Don’t categorize it as “Zambian or African novel; then I shouldn’t read it because I am not Zambian or African”. People who have read it from different walks of life have had only praise and sometimes anger because they could not get enough of it. This novel has been around for 10 years. It has been circulating underground. Let me give you just a few of numerous examples why it is a good novel.

Jenny

In October 2012 I was visiting Mpika.  The host was a Bemba woman I will call “Jenny”. She loves novels. One day after work, she locked herself in her bedroom at 16:00 hours to read “The Bridge”. She burst out of her bedroom at 2100 hour insulting me the author just after she had just finished reading the novel. “Iwe Tembo! Nala kuuma (I will beat you up). This novel is so gudu iwe but how can you end it like this!! I am not satisfied. I kudinti stop reading it!!” I almost run out of the house because I thought she was going to beat me up.

White American Student

When I wrote the novel 11 years ago, I asked a 19 year old white American college student to read and edit the novel. After handing the thick manuscript to me in my office, I asked her what she thought about the novel. Tears dropped from her eyes. I was surprised and worried because I thought something terribly wrong had happened to her. When I asked her why she was tearing up, she said: “I didn’t know what was going to happen to the characters.” Although this was very early, I knew I had something good.

The Zambian students will not be the first ones to use “The Bridge” in the classroom.  Over 200 of my American college students have read “The Bridge” in my classes and they have all enjoyed it over the last 9 years.

Others

James Mwape and Mbumwae Suba-Smith are two of the many Zambians who read “The Bridge” in the United States. They both thought it was so good that it could be made into a great movie. A lecturer at the University of Zambia who has a Ph. D. in Mathematics said after reading “The Bridge” in 2006: “Tembo, reading your novel is like watching a video”. This is some of the best complements I could get as a writer as it meant the descriptions in the novel are very vivid so that you feel like you are right in the middle of the action. Lengani Kabinda read “The Bridge” and wrote a review in which he expressed glowing comments.

In December 2014, a Zambian woman in Lusaka who is also a writer read “The Bridge” between her work and family responsibilities at home. She said she could not put it down and called “The Bridge”  “a page turner”. She complained that as a result some of her domestic responsibilities were somewhat neglected that week.

Recommendations

I would like to thank the Curriculum Development Board for approving the novel. Both men and women adults, secondary, college, and University students from all walks of life will enjoy “The Bridge”. Teachers will enjoy their teaching and their students will enjoy learning just as my students have the last 9 years.