Last Thursday,
I woke up at 7:30 am and my phone displayed -10°C. There is no need to tell you
that I automatically heard this smooth voice saying “It is okay if you cancel
everything and go back to sleep.” My bed was so comfortable and deliciously
warm that I didn’t want to leave it and go out. Fortunately I thought about
everything I planned for the day, the people who were counting on my presence
and I finally said “Goodbye bed, see you soon.” THANKS GOD I had victory over
my laziness. My day was so great that I would definitely do it again if I was
asked to.
I had the
immense pleasure to volunteer with Books for Africa and discover what people
are doing there. So here is the short story. “Books for Africa was founded in
1988 as a non-profit organization by Tom Warth, whose dream was to ship donated
books to the children of Africa. Tom’s visit to a Ugandan library, where books
were almost nonexistent, inspired him to create a system for collecting discarded books from American schools, libraries, and publishers to send to
Africa.”
I was very
excited to be in this cold warehouse full of wonders… We sorted out books
according to the subject (math, leisure, art, science…) and to the audience
(elementary, middle, high schools, university). I don’t know how to explain
what I was exactly feeling. I wanted to read most of the books I had on hands
but despite the fact that I couldn't, I felt happy to know that someone else would be able
to do so. Many people including myself, take for granted this chance that they
have to learn, to travel by turning a page. According to the United States
Agency for International Development, forty-six million African children have
never set foot in a classroom. Moreover, 10 to 20 of those kids having the
chance to go to school may have to share one textbook.
Books for
Africa is the world’s largest shipper of donated books to Africa. In 2013 alone,
they shipped 1.5 million books, 775 computers and 3 law libraries valued at
over $22 million to 21 countries. They also shipped French-language books from
Paris to Cameroon in July and to Guinea in October 2014. The books are
collected at the Books For Africa warehouses in St. Paul, Minnesota and Atlanta,
Georgia from individuals, book companies, publishers, schools and libraries. As
Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use
to change the world”. This is the reason why BFA is working to end the book
famine in Africa and give the chance to millions of children to improve their
lives and help realize a better future for Mama Africa.
As you can
see on the next picture, there are many ways to get involved in this wonderful
journey of empowering the African youth.
I talked
about the organization with one of my friends and he asked “Why are we the ones
always receiving?” Of course he was wrong because other parts of the world also receive some helps in many domains. But still, it is true and sad to
see that African countries depend so much of the others’ charities. Although I
am grateful for this opportunity given to millions of kids, I wish that one day
we won’t have to rely on exterior aid to solve our own issues. It is great to
discover other places, cultures through the books but as Chimamanda NgoziAdichie said, we should not have a single story of what books are. I hope that in
addition of books from other parts of the world, there will also be more
African books (both leisure and academic ones) written by and about Africans
that will be spread around the continent. Books are powerful so let’s use them
to tell and learn our own story.
After two
hours in this wonder-room, I left to bridge the gap between surplus and need of medical supplies with Medshare. I told you…I had a great day J
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