Photos of the Library We Helped to Build!

I can't believe it! After three years we have finally received photos of the library we helped to build at Aquaid Primary School in Malawi! Here's the email from The African Library Project that accompanied the photos:

Dear Colleen and Homeschoolers for Africa,

I have good news.  We visited your library during our recent African Partners Summit in Malawi!  And we took lots of photos!  I am really excited to provide you with some direct feedback on the results of your efforts.  

So, here's my report:

We spent two days visiting libraries in Malawi with our entire international delegation of 38 people.  I know all of the Americans were taken with just how poor Malawi is.  Most of the schools have no desks, the kids just sit on concrete floors.  150 students: 1 teacher is the average class size.  One of the teacher-librarians told me he has 400 kids in his class of six year olds.  

As you might imagine, these schools and their communities are incredibly excited to get a library.  It's a very big deal to them.  Everyone turns out when we visit - the kids, the teachers, the parents, the village headman or woman, and the chiefs.  They prepare speeches, poems, songs, skits about the library and a tour.  We ask questions, sing and dance with the kids and talk to the kids, teachers, librarian and everybody else in an effort to get a sense of how the books are impacting their lives.  

Aquaid is a school that serves local village children, but also serves more than 150 orphans who live at the school. It is supported by a charity in the UK and the buildings are in much better condition than most of the schools we visited.  We were met by a group of students singing a welcome song and holding signs of welcome and appreciation. The students walked us to the library.  You would be so proud of this library.  The school certainly is and should be.  Your books improved their small collection and they really have a first rate library now, the best we saw of all of our library visits in Malawi.  

Aquaid's librarian is passionate about the library.  Trained by our partners in simple library management skills, he is a warm and friendly presence for the students in the library.  The library is furnished with tables and chairs and is an organized and pleasant place to sit and read.  It is extremely well used, a popular spot for students to pass their extra time.

One lasting impression for me at Aquaid was how eager the children are for love and attention.  They climbed into our arms with little invitation.  Because of their connection with the UK charity, the orphans are used to outsiders and were not shy about expressing themselves or approaching us.  We had to tear ourselves away from Aquaid.

Chris Bradshaw
Founder/President
African Library Project

These are the students welcoming the representatives of The African Library Project to the library.

 This is the librarian.

 

Look! You can see the encyclopedias in this picture! I was so happy to score those. :) 

 See that copy of Inkheart? If you look at the slideshow to the right (the one where you can see the collection growing as books were donated), you can see the very same copy on my own bookshelf. But now it's in Malawi! Inspiring a whole new set of readers!

  Look at that! It's a certificate of appreciation hanging in a library in Malawi and it says "Appreciation: 1079 books for Aquaid Primary School were collected by Colleen Paeff in cooperation with Homeschoolers for Africa organization. Books were delivered by African Library Project partner DAPP." Then it has my name address and email address.

 

Here's a closer view. :)

These are some of the younger kids who use the library.

 And these are some of the older kids.

And that's it! I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed at the moment--in the best possible way. 

Thanks to everyone who donated books and money to help make this library a reality. As you can see, we really made a difference.