Update: As of November 22nd book purchasing has begun! I took a trip to Diani and purchased near 500 books today to be added to the library. It was an extremely rewarding day and really exciting to see the project take off here in Kenya. There will be many more trips to purchase books and library supplies in the next few weeks so keep updated! The website will remain live for a few more weeks so donations are still greatly apprecaited! Check out a picture at: http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=1473607651447&set=a.1115076648396.2015873.1571340318&type=1&theater
The Story:
As most of you know I have been volunteering and working in Kenya for over two months, and I will be here for another two and a half months. While I knew I would learn a lot on this trip, I had no idea as to how enlightening it would truly be. I have been living within the remote villages of Shimoni and Mkwiro and have seen first-hand the day to day struggles the locals experience.
While nearly every aspect of these communities needs attention, I have been working primarily with the schools in each village. The children attend primary school for 9 years, and then just a few students will go on to attend secondary school. However, when the students graduate from primary school they have the education equivalent to a third or fourth grader in the United States. This is largely a result of the lack of educated teachers in these remote villages and so GVI, the company I work with, works to improve the schools and to provide well-educated teachers. Since GVI has been working with these schools in 2006, the students’ scores on the KCPE (Kenya Certificate of Primary Education) have dramatically increased.
Within the past two years GVI staff and volunteers have raised funds to build school libraries in Shimoni and Mkwiro. The Shimoni Library has been an incredible success and it is now supplied with desks, comfortable chairs, and near 2,000 books for the students to read. In the States, the school library was often a dreaded place. However, in Shimoni it is revered by the students. This past week I took one of my most disruptive classes to the library. I was in shock when I found each student eagerly grabbing a book, and sitting down quietly to read it. Since these students have essentially no school supplies, the books have become vital in allowing the students to expand their knowledge.
The Mkwiro Library was built in 2010 in the hopes that it would be as successful as the Shimoni Library. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. The library building and furniture is sufficient but currently there are only about 100 books in the library. As a result, the library has not been taken advantage of and it is often ignored.
After seeing the positive effects the Shimoni Library had on the students, I have made it my personal project to improve and expand the Mkwiro Primary School Library. I will be working with school administration to suggest different ways in which the library could benefit the students’ education. This coordination of efforts will ensure that the library not only reaches its potential now, but that it will be established as a valued resource and used productively after I have left.
So, this is where fundraising comes in! I am going to be working in Mkwiro directly with the schools and I am hoping to gain as much support from all of you at home in order to successfully complete my project!
The money donated to this website, is put into the GVI Charitable Trust which monitors all of GVI's fundraising. 5% of the money raised goes to JustGiving in order to maintain their site and the rest of the money will then be given to me and other staff so that we can purchase the necessary supplies to improve the library. Most of the money will go towards purchasing books. I intend to buy educational books, self-help books and novels at varying levels. I also will be purchasing more shelving units as there are not currently enough for a well-stocked library. Any extra money will go towards improving the furniture currently in the room.
I hope from reading this message and looking through the pictures you can see how important this project is to me. Let me know if I can answer any other questions you may have. All donations towards this project, no matter how big or small, are extremely appreciated by me, the GVI Staff, and the lovely children who will be using these books for years to come!
