librariesfortheworld

Return to Uganda

Our volunteers returned to build on the work started in Uganda in 2022 – adding more books to the collection and conducting library programs for students in Abwanget Village. It was a joy to reconnect with familiar faces and experience the peace of the beautiful countryside. Volunteers read picture books, sang songs, and guided students in extension activities based on the books we had read. Our group also trained staff on the importance of reading to young children, and older students participated in reading activities over the weekend, while they were out of school.

Students helped us process some of the books that we had taken with us. Most of the books that we added to the collection had already been processed by volunteers in the U.S. and shipped before we arrived. Thanks to generous donors, we were able to purchase a new desktop computer for the library! The computer will be used to not only provide internet access but to teach villagers and students how to use a computer. While there, we also visited with several of the primary school students whose education we sponsor.

Volunteers ended the trip to Uganda by going on safari at Murchison Falls National Park, in the northwest part of the country. Our organization plans on visiting Abwanget Village every couple of years, to follow up on training and to deliver library programs to children.

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Follow up work in San Antonio Aguascalientes

Our volunteers opened this library in 2022. We were back in San Antonio Aguascalientes with our partner Creating Opportunities for Guatemalans to add more books to the collection and to conduct library programs for the students. Volunteers read picture books and guided the students through activities connected to the stories they had read. Older students learned how to make origami cranes after learning about Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr. Younger students painted with watercolors after reading This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen. And middle grade students created earthquake-proof structures with connecting straws after reading Mi Ciudad Sings by Cynthia Harmony.

Students COULDN’T WAIT to get their hands on the new books! They especially love the Dog Man books by Dav Pilkey. The librarian Jessica has created a fun environment around reading and learning, and the students obviously love books. One of the older students took home a copy of the Sadako book after the origami activity and read it in one night!

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New secondary school library in Tanzania

Luganga Secondary School in Mafinga, Tanzania asked for a school library, and we delivered! After traveling for a couple of days, our group of volunteers arrived in Dar es Salaam and then visited bookstores to purchase as many local books as possible. The group then traveled by bus to the central, interior part of the country to set up books and train library staff.

Our shipment of books had been held up in Singapore for a couple of months and did not arrive in time for our trip, but students, staff, and a librarian from Iringa finished the work of setting up the books. Our volunteers had taken a couple hundred books with them for the library, so we were able to train staff on processing new books, library organization, and principles of librarianship.

One of the volunteers, Gina, belongs to a chess organization and brought many donated chess sets. Our group taught teachers and students how to play chess, in the hopes that the library will be seen as a hub of the school, a place where students can gather to pursue many interests, including becoming experts at chess. While there, we met and were driven around by Albert, one of the teachers at the school, who also runs a preschool and primary school. Our organization will return to Tanzania to continue working with the secondary school and to open a school library for Albert’s school in 2026.

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Library Days at Asturias!

Our group of volunteers arrived in Guatemala for a service trip in Quetzaltenango (Xela) at the Colegio Miguel Angel Asturias. One of the goals of the trip is to conduct library programs for the students, not just to make the library fun but also to model for the teachers how to create fun extension activities related to books.

Students were treated to fun library programs conducted by our programming team – Irania, Norma, Karen, and Jessica. Irania brought her cuatro (Venezuelan instrument) for sing-alongs and riddles, which warmed up the students and made them feel welcome. The focus was on emotional well-being, with children writing encouraging messages for themselves and engaging in various activities.

One of the books read to the students was “Yo soy Paz” (I am Peace) by Susan Verde, a book that focuses on mindfulness and strategies to keep oneself calm. Students talked about things that make them feel peace and created origami related to images from the book.

For these special Library Days, every class in the school visits the library for a 50-minute program. During regular weeks, classes visit the library at least once per week, and some students hang out in the library during breaks, such as recess. The library is the only carpeted room in the school, so staff and students take their shoes off and sometimes wear slippers so that they can keep the carpet clean. The school is still requiring masks since Covid is still circulating.

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Uganda – Abwanget Grand Opening

Grand opening day finally arrived! Children from the village attended, as well as students from a nearby school, the village chairperson, and government officials. We learned that nothing happens in a village without the village chairperson’s blessing, and he was there to give his blessing. Dignitaries spoke to express their appreciation for our work and to encourage people to use the library. Students performed a song and dance, and after a ribbon-cutting, students and adults took turns to go through the library. The phrase we heard most often was, “We have never seen anything like this in all of eastern Uganda!”

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Uganda – Day 5

Our final day before the grand opening was full of activity. We swept the floor before laying down vinyl flooring. We also cranked up the music so that the children could have a dance party! Many of the children were going to be in school the next day, so we gave them the opportunity to celebrate the library opening before the rest of the community. We also discovered a local food vendor who made delicious chapati and rolexes. Chapati is an Indian flatbread, and when rolled up with an egg omelette, it becomes a rolex!

We visited two of the students whose education we sponsor. And we took a walk along a river that borders Kenya, just down the road from the village. There was a point along the river where people had thrown a wooden pole across the river, allowing people to balance like on a tightrope to cross the river. At another point, people crossed with a raft, pulling themselves along with a rope that had been strung from one side to the other. Both crossings were illegal, but people use them regularly to bring items such as flour more cheaply into the country.

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Uganda – Day 4

We finally finished organizing all the books after buying even more bookcases! The local carpenter must have been sad to see us finish our work. 🙂 One of the local volunteers helped process the last of the books that had gone astray. And we planned and purchased items in Tororo for the grand opening on Monday.

Our organization sponsors children’s education, and the parent of a student stopped by to express her gratitude for our efforts. While education in Uganda is supposed to be free, families are responsible for purchasing textbooks and uniforms as well as paying fees that help with operating expenses. Many families are forced to choose which of their children they can afford to send to school.

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Uganda – Day 3

The library was starting to come together by the third day! More bookshelves, tables, and a desk were ordered, and the crew continued organizing picture books, children’s fiction, teen fiction, and adult books. Children dropped by and started browsing for books. Local villagers also began dropping by to check out the progress happening in the library.

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Uganda – Day 2 of work

Work continued on the second day with the finishing of the children’s nonfiction and starting on the picture books. More bookshelves needed to be ordered to accommodate all the books. We also purchased bins to house the nonfiction books by topic. The volunteers were amazing and caught on to the work quickly.

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At long last – Uganda

Our volunteers arrived in Uganda! After several years of planning online, we finally worked together in person. On Day 1 of work, we unpacked boxes of books and sorted through them so that we could finish processing them. Local volunteers helped us sort through the nonfiction books and label them accordingly.

We shipped over 40 boxes of books several months before we arrived. The books traveled by boat to Kenya and then by truck to Uganda. The children’s nonfiction books needed to be arranged by topic, making it easier for children to browse for materials. After sorting the books by topic, volunteers labeled the front of the books, making it easier for the librarian to put the books away.