African Library Project

Diversity_Hands

My mother was a great reader and firmly believed in the power of the written word. As a result, I grew up reading voraciously. Each time any new crisis or event came into my life, I turned to books to make sense of it all. Whether it was a medical diagnosis, a new career, or friends from a new culture, I read to prepare, to make sense, to learn and to have something to contribute to the conversation.

When I became a mother myself, I read my way through my pregnancy - everything I could get my hands on about gestation, child development, heartburn - you name it. Later, as I nursed my babies, I always had the baby in one arm and a book in the other. As my children grew, they too discovered the joys and necessity of reading to make sense of the world and to have fun.

As a mother, an educator, and a citizen of the world, it hurts my heart to think of all the countless children throughout the world who will not know the joys and power of reading, who will never have free, unfettered, access to books, much less have any of their own. Literacy and education are the tools to rise out of poverty. Clearly, those of us who have so much have a responsibility to do something. That's why I love African Library Project .

The sad fact is that Africa has the highest percentage of illiterarcy in the world. Many teachers is Africa teach reading, writing, math and English without a single book, while here in the States, the poorest among us has access to free public libraries and countless sources of inexpensive used books. In fact, here in the States, many books even end up in landfills.

The African Library Project is made up of donors and volunteers working together. People in the States collect gently used books and send them to Africa. There they are distributed by Peace Corps volunteers, educators, and NGO's  who will distribute the books and set up community libraries. Since the UN has decreed 2003-2012 the United Nations Literacy Decade, the African Library Project is a wonderful way to not only increase literacy but vastly enrich children's lives in Africa. 

My children and I were fortunate enough to be able to send some of our books in a recent shipment and I don't know who was more excited, me, that we were able to help children we'd never likely meet, or my children who were so happy to give their books to children who "don't even have a LIBRARY!". My prayer is that our books in some small way, contribute to the education and happiness of children and that their lives are enriched by ours and other's donations.