Do You Know What A “Solutionary” Is?

“Amani the Boda-Boda Rider”, a book which follows a brave, determined young girl named Amani, has been read by at least one million children since it was first printed in 2016.

Each time a STEPi book is redistributed, we ask ourselves, “How can we improve the book?” The latest improvement for “Amani the Boda-Boda Rider” was the addition of an updated glossary:

Articulate: To be able to clearly, with confidence and enthusiasm, speak so others can understand you well as you speak each word with precision.

Character: Special qualities that we all have make up our personality, especially how responsible, happy, or kind we are to others.

Character Strengths: Positive, loving parts of who we are that affect how we feel, think, act, talk, and behave so we can have a happy, successful life. There are many character strengths, including curiosity, love of learning, courage, honesty, leadership, self-discipline, kindness, teamwork, loving communication, happiness, responsibility, etc.

Communication: Giving someone information by talking, writing, showing, singing, whistling, or drawing. It takes two or more to communicate, so the communicator must make sure the other person or people are connected through sight, touch, or sound for communication to happen.

Courage: Choosing to do the right thing even if you are afraid or it might be unpopular.

Explain: To tell how to do something or how something is.

Happiness: Feeling peace and connection in each moment as we breathe and feel the goodness of life and living. Acting with optimism about the future, being ok with the past, and taking each moment as it is without judging it as good, bad, or neutral.

Honesty: Not lying, not saying things that mislead or are corrupt, keeping commitments, being truthful and sincere, and acting with integrity so people trust you, which helps you be successful and happy.

Leadership: The ability of an individual or group to organize and influence themselves and others to work towards a goal. Good leaders tend to communicate well, be optimistic, trustworthy, good at supporting others, solution-oriented, friendly, and able to try and try again even when things are hard.

Optimist: A person who is hopeful, confident, and works to be successful, believing that the world is good, and that love wins over evil.

Problem solver: Someone who identifies, analyzes, and finds solutions to problems. Another name for problem solver is solutionary.

Religion: A way of believing, behaving, and worshiping that guides us in our everyday lives. Some popular religions are Baha'i, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, Shinto, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism. All religions believe in treating people and the world with love, respect, compassion and in following the golden rule.

Responsible: Describes someone who does a good job of taking care of the things they are supposed to do, and that people can rely on to keep their commitments. Responsibility is more a personal choice. When we see something wrong, do we choose to respond to our ability to help, like a solutionary would, thinking, “I am here. I should help! as best I can.”

Rollex: Ugandan street food made out of Chapati [a flat bread], eggs, and vegetables.

Solution: A means of solving a problem or dealing with a difficult situation. Problem+solution=success

Solution: A liquid that has something mixed with it.

Solutionary: Someone who chooses to act when they see unkind, unjust, or bad things happening and then develops solutions that do the most good and least harm for people, animals, and the environment

Virtues: Beliefs and ways of acting that help us be successful by guiding us to form good habits, like acceptance, gratitude, courage, honesty, friendliness, self-control, love, and persistence.

Did you learn any new words? Glossaries like the above, help readers - parents, children, teachers and students - to be able to expand their vocabularies, opening up a whole new world of reading and learning possibilities.