The Gift of Books

We cannot believe it is already December. Watching the transformation of the library from a half-finished pile of cinderblocks to a bright space full of kids and books has been a remarkable adventure. This is not even to mention the adventures of trying to get running water (still not resolved), riding sotramas, and battling giant bugs and Nigerian scam artists. Tis officially the season for holiday giving, and I want to make a pitch that you consider us in your giving/gifting this holiday season.

Before...

After!

I know that many of you who read our blog(s) are not exactly the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (though if Bill and/or Melinda happens to be reading this I hope you will get in touch), but a very small contribution can make a huge difference here at the library. We are not yet an official non-profit, but if you were considering giving us a personal Christmas or Hanukkah gift, please consider putting that money towards a gift that will give far more joy for five dollars than anything else I can think of.

There are a gazillion great organizations out there (seriously, if you aren't donating to us look up Heifer, Camfed, Oxfam, or MSF), so why should you give to us? Apart from the fact you (hopefully) like us, I believe this project stands on its own merits.

We are clearly filling a need. At 8:05am the last two Saturday mornings, the library was completely full and we had kids waiting outside the door. We open at 8:00am. During every available free hour of the day, kids come in to read comic books, study their French textbooks, and stare curiously at our world map. I think they also come to learn in a space where no one calls them “imbécile,” and where they are encouraged to ask questions and explore.

If you've been reading our project blog you've seen the dismaying statistics. Mali has the worst recorded adult literacy rate in the world, as well as the worst literacy rate amongst women. Less than 1 in 5 Malian women can read and write. A child's educational future is determined by tests given in a language which is not their own and which 9 years of teaching in overcrowded, under-resourced classes has not taught them. We are trying to change this horizon for our students, and I believe we will.

The best reasons to give, of course, are human ones. We have (at least) 450 really good reasons to give walking in and out of our library every week. This is about the 9th grade boy who spent 40 minutes with Harry Potter and the Dictionary to get through the first two paragraphs but keeps coming back for more. About the adorable kindergarteners who come up during their recess to turn pages in the picture books we read them during story time. About Moussa who comes to read painstakingly through the same picture book and has finally learned to read “va bientôt” by sounding it out. About Ousmane who wants to be a journalist, Aïchata who wants to be a doctor, and Balla who wants to be a soccer player and/or in the government. Not to get overdramatic, but this is about the future of this country and of our world. This is about undoing some small part of the massive injustice that prevents these kids from having the education that most of us enjoyed.

Ousmane

The ever-adorable kindergarteners

Moussa and his friend

We need more books and more art supplies and we need to be able to pay our staff a salary that will allow them to commit to the project as fully as they want to. We want more stories for the kindergarteners and hopefully the rest of the Harry Potter series once the student I mentioned gets through the first one. You can help us achieve these goals and add a little more learning and reading and fun and thinking to our students' lives. It really doesn't get any better than that. If you are interested in giving, check out the donations page on our website.