The difference a Mobile Library could make

My Story

My name is Shukri, and I was born in Mogadishu- as the locals call it 'Xamar' in Somalia. But I was raised in the UK after my mother became a refugee and fled the country to seek a better life for her family. There has been a long and brutal war in my home country since 1993, and now we see hope for a better future finally as there is the hope of a new government. This has meant that many Somali diasporas, like myself, are trying to take advantage of this new found hope to contribute towards rebuilding Somalia. I have found happiness and a new home here in the UK, but that doesn't mean I can't have two identities that are in harmony. I am a British-Somali, and I want a better future for my fellow Somalis, so I ask your support in giving children and young adults who have suffered over two decades of war, famine and limited access to education. Support our team of volunteers make our vision of the people of Somalia having free access to library services again.

In the winter of 2014 I came across a social media feed about 'Rebuilding the Somali National Library', it caught my interested and I started to read about the circulating hype. Two years later, the promised rebuilding of the 'SNL' was nowhere to be seen. I decided then that I would try to help too, so I started looking for others who could help me on my 'fundraising for libraries in Somalia project', but I didn't have the skills, nor the time to actually get others to help me out. Finally, this year, after having done some research and got my friends and family to join me I have been able to start this project.

I came across this amazing story of two women who where volunteering in refugee camps in Greece, Laura Samira Naude and Esther ten Zijthoff. They started a mobile library project- ECHO-Greece, after realising that the people they met needed more than food and shelter: they wanted to study again, to work for their future again and to find a sense of purpose again. I have been inspired by their story and that is one of the reasons I have chosen mobile libraries as the method to get the children and young adults accessing free books and information once again in Somalia.

What will we do with the donations?

We will purchase a used minibus in Somalia and that we will convert into a mobile library.

How will we help the community in Mogadishu ?

We will provide free mobile library services in Hodan District, Mogadishu for everyone.Our team of volunteers will create a place where children and young adults can come to enjoy reading books. We want to run an education programme that encourages the youths to take up books rather than crime by providing them with a safe environment to chase their dreams. Also, we want to have a mentoring system to help the youth be productive to benefit their communities and achieve their potentials.

We hope that this will be the start that gives the Somali community hope again in chasing their dreams and achieving higher in life.

Watch this video to see how our project could help the Somali community. (The project in the video is not ours)

A team of young Somalis got together and build a library from scratch. There work is amazing, but it is limited by their fixed location. If get the funding to launch our mobile libraries then we can travel around around the city visiting all the towns in each district. We can visit areas where the children have no access to books at all because there are no bookshops, no libraries or schools. This would all be possible with your donations big or small because