Village
newsletter
June 05, 2023
Issue 008
ACHIASE LIBRARY LAUNCHED
By Gerida Kalipinde
It Takes a Village has launched a new library at Sefwi Achiase in Ghana on 27th April, 2023. The library was launched following pleas from the village in September 2022 for the learners at the school to have proper tools such as books for education.
In attendance at the grand event was the chief of the Sefwi Achiase community (Nana Adu) and The Bia District Education Director Mr. Robert Brigas who also pledged support for the library. He being a lover of books himself promised that he will support the library with books contributed from the Government. Achiase library is the first community library and therefore its use will expand to a wider community and help hundreds of students in the surrounding communities and also adults.
During the opening, 1000 books were supplied by the African Library Project as well as 10 computers and headsets by It Takes a Village. The newly launched library is now the fourth library project in Ghana by It Takes a Village. Other projects include Adeiso, VIMA, and Sakubanese.
The elders of the community expressed their excitement for the library project. And Village’s Africa Director, Chris Sitolo, thanked the headmaster of Achiase DA Primary school for the excellent way the project was executed. He supervised its construction and made sure everyone involved was up to task. “It is one of the most beautiful libraries constructed by It Takes a Village,” stated Mr. Sitolo. During the ceremony, he encouraged the students of Achiase to never give up but be hopeful that the future is as bright as their dreams.
MARAGOLI IN DIRE NEED OF A LIBRARY
By Gerida Kalipinde
There is in great need for a library at our Maragoli prorgram in Kenya.
In Maragoli, Kenya and its environs, there is no library, and if one wants to visit a library, they have to travel to the neighboring counties of Kisumu and Kakamega. This is a great hardship as patrons must walk a great distance and then pay for access through library entrance fees. Community members and students in Maragoli do not have the luxury or the resources to regularly makes such a trip. This makes the Maragoli library imperative. Without books and other library resources, there is no access to learning.
Our staff member in Maragoli, Felix, reports, “Currently, we are using a temporary iron-sheet wall room as the school office. This doubles as the ‘library’ for Village’s mentorship sessions and the speaker series program. The temporary walls are a major challenge when it comes to noise obstruction. Noise from outside interferes with the programs inside the room. We also experience regular power outages, and even more so when rain falls and during strong winds. This could be remedied by solar power systems to provide power in case of power outages.
The security of electronics is also not guaranteed, considering the temporary wall structures. This therefore leaves us with no option but to carry these devices to and from the library for fear of their safety if left at the library. Constant transport of materials will eventually lead to wearing out of some devices, as well.”
Help bring a library to Maragoli; email Tyler Clark at Tyler@villagebookbuilders.org or Julie Arko at julie.arko@villagebookbuilders.org
