Bring a Book to the Sullivan Summit!

Posted by David on 05.22.2008 at 10:06 am

Hello everyone.  Take a look at the attached .pdf from Books for Africa.

Sullivan Summit.pdf (911.48 KB)

This flyer was sent to all 500+ delegates attending the “Sullivan Summit” in Arusha, Tanzania.  Note that Better World Books, through the Better World Books Fund within Books For Africa, is sponsoring the shipment and that the books will be distributed by the Poverty Eradication Network (PEN) in Tanzania. Natasha Harris, Niko Tomlinson, Mary Murphy, Jaime Knabet, Dustin Holland and myself visited the PEN folks in the summer of 2006 and have continued to stay in touch with them (Mungwe and Andrea).  They do fantastic work (based in Dodoma, the national capital of Tanzania) throughout the country.

To find out more about the Sullivan Summit VIII, go to www.thesullivanfoundation.org/summit/.

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University of Oran update!

Posted by admin on 01.15.2008 at 3:41 pm

Another great update from Martha Schouten at the University of Oran in Algeria, recent recipient of a Better World Books-funded Books for Africa shipment. Check out previous posts here:
-University of Oran Receives BFA Books!,
-Better World Books Funds Shipment to the University of Oran in Algeria,
-University of Oran gets ready for books!,
-University of Oran update)


Dear Pat and Sarah Lynne,

Life goes by slowly here in Algeria and so do our books’ preparations. The students worked all Christmas-El Kebir vacation then I went to Spain for a week to see my son and the Algerian librarian went to Paris for a week and now we are finally back to class. Most of 300 boxes have been listed for the rector and are about ready to circulate in the large library in the language department. The rector is determined to protect the books and to keep a diligent watch on them. Students will only be able to consult the titles of the books in order to check out from the large library. For the moment there is not enough security and the students and teachers are little accustomed to any other method.

My English club members are now working on our smaller walk-through library. If this goes well then the larger library will allow walk through too.  We have to make cards for each book we have selected and also put them into the computer. Our collection comes almost last then we will make a donation to the University of Mostaganam about 30 miles East from here along the coast. The teachers have come to see me and are overwhelmed at the variety of the generous gift you have made us. The medical literature has gone to the medical school already to my knowledge and the children’s books to another children’s library near the main campus of translation and law.

I am sending a few pictures of the library permanent crew and my students. We had a barbecue of merguez (grilled mutton sausage) and all the trimmings the first day we were back in class. We are on campus not too far from the library. I hope you both enjoy them.

Martha Schouten and English students
ELF Es-Senia
Oran Algeria

4 Comments » | Tagged Impact, Our Partners, algeria, better world books fund, books for africa, Impact, Our Partners, university of oran

University of Oran Receives BFA Books!

Posted by admin on 12.13.2007 at 8:37 am

Just received this great email from Martha Schouten at University of Oran in Algeria:

Dear Pat and Sarah Lynne and all the people from Books for Africa and Better World Books,

I speak for all of my students at Es-Senia University Department of English when I say we are thrilled and thankful to have received in our storehouse the 688 boxes of books from you today. More than 50 of us helped to unload the truck, take pictures, and otherwise celebrate the long awaited arrival of your generous donation. After finding a safe storage room to temporarily put the books before dispatching them to the different university libraries the English club members helped me give a reception for the university workers and all the students who helped in the day’s work.

Algerians and especially the youth want so much to open up to the world, to learn languages, to visit and share ideas and to have visitors from other countries come also to visit this beautiful country so varied in culture and landscape.  Thank you again for trusting us with this wonderful gift of support in learning the English language and enlarging our knowledge of American culture. We will continue to send pictures, newspaper articles and e-mails to keep you up to date with our future activities.

Best regards,
Martha Schouten and English students
ELF Es-Senia
Oran Algeria

This is Books for Africa’s first shipment to Algeria , and the shipping was completely funded by the newly-established Better World Books Fund for Books for Africa . We’ve been following the story of this shipment since September – here are the previous blog postings:

Better World Books Funds Shipment to the University of Oran in Algeria
University of Oran gets ready for books!
University of Oran update

Here are some more pictures from the arrival!

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University of Oran Update

Posted by admin on 11.19.2007 at 7:27 am

Here’s some additional photos from Martha Schouten at University of Oran in Algeria. The shipment of books from Books for Africa should be getting there soon – we’ll have more pictures then!

Martha in a mansouria (Moroccan party dress).

2 Comments » | Tagged Impact, Our Partners, africa, algeria, better world books fund, books for africa, Our Partners, university of oran

University of Oran Gets Ready for Books!

Posted by admin on 11.02.2007 at 1:14 pm

Martha Schouten, from the University of Oran in Algeria (previously blogged here) sent me this picture of her just-renovated office, featuring one of the school’s teachers and some of the English Club members. The university has enlarged the room so they can fill it with some of the books that will be coming in a Books for Africa container any day now! We’ll have more updates when the container gets there – stay tuned.

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Books for Africa and Better World Books

Posted by admin on 10.29.2007 at 10:26 am

Using the Better World Books Fund and the help of two families, Books for Africa was able to send two 40′ containers to Uganda, containing about 70,000 books.  Books for Africa.  8 computers were also included in the shipment.

Add that all up and it’s a pretty simple equation:

+ + YOU    =

Changing people’s lives.

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Update: Better World Books Fund

Posted by admin on 10.02.2007 at 2:38 pm

Here’s a letter from Pat Plonski, the Executive Director of Books for Africa, with an email message from a recent recipient of a container of 35,000 books, which left the Books for Africa warehouse in July:


Hey guys!  Just got this message from Guinea where a Better World Books Fund-sponsored container just landed.  As you see, they are very happy!   This e-mail speaks for itself.   The Better World Books Fund paid the full cost of this container ($9,000), so all of the credit is yours!  Thanks.

–Pat

THANK YOU!

Hhhhhhuuuuuuurrrrrraaaaayyyyyyy! shouted the teachers as the container reaches Sabu campus. Yesterday was a sigh of relief with great excitement to see the accomplishment of this historic project.  You must feel very proud that your goal has been achieved. We thank you for creating such an environment that will touch the growth of many lives.

You will receive letters and pictures from all the schools that will benefit from this resources.

We thank you for being a family we can always count on. We have been and will continue to works towards our commitment of educating the children.

Thank you all.

Samuel Thoronka
Sabu International School
Conakry, Guinea

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Better World Books Funds Shipment to University of Oran in Algeria

Posted by admin on 09.12.2007 at 4:50 am

Martha Schouten, an English Language Fellow teacher at the University of Oran in Algeria , contacted Books For Africa (BFA), to see if BFA could help replenish their library with English language books after many years of neglect. Currently, the University’s books in English are dated in the 1980’s or before.

During the 1990’s Algeria experienced civil war and domestic terror. Since 1999 little has changed – militant splinter groups continue their campaign against the government, and the army continues its own campaign against the rebels, amid accusations of corruption and brutality. This has undeniably created an atmosphere of insecurity in the general population.

As over half of Algeria’s population are young people, there are many issues for Algerian students. These concern future job opportunities, information available (or unavailable) to them, and the extreme feeling of uncertainty in almost all domains of their lives. In spite of this, Martha’s students are so very eager to know as much as possible about the outside world, and to travel and study in foreign countries.

To aid the beneficiaries of BFA donations, Better World Books has created a special Fund for Books For Africa. This Fund is designed to pay for the shipping costs of these containers of books. The Fund paid $9,000 in shipping costs for this one container.

The 40-foot container of books will be heading out today to the University. It is the first shipment that Books For Africa has sent to Algeria! The demand for university books in Africa remains enormous.

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Shipment to Edna Adan Ismail Medical Library via Better World Books Fund

Posted by admin on 09.11.2007 at 12:06 pm

The health of the people of Somaliland is among the worst in Africa . This statement is supported by the fact that even before the civil war and the separation of the two Somali states, Somalia had one of the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the world. While recent valid data is not available, the mortality rates after the destruction that has taken place in country is frightening to consider.

-One out of 8 babies dies before the age of 12 months
-Every year nearly 4,000 Somali women die in childbirth
-One out of 5 children dies before the age of five
-Life expectancy is only 48 years

In the Somaliland region of Somalia, an extraordinary woman named Edna Adan Ismail runs her own obstetric hospital and trains midwives, underscoring how women’s lives can be saved even in the most difficult environments. The hospital site, once used as a mass killing field during the civil war for independence (1988-1990) under Siad Barre’s reign, is now a haven for bringing new life into the world.

Xavier Helgesen, co-founder of BWB, learned about this hospital in a New York Times article, and contacted the hospital after the announcement of the Better World Books Fund for Books For Africa, and a container of books was received in late July.

The Better World Books Fund is designed to pay for the shipping costs of containers of books, donated through Books For Africa. The Fund is important, because the shipping costs for this one container alone were over $5,000.

The donated books will be used for the hospital’s medical library for the Edna Adan Teaching Hospital. While the library could not currently contain a whole container of books, any extra books with will be distributed to Universities in Somalia and governmental nursing facilities.

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Exciting update from Books for Africa!

Posted by Jack on 08.17.2007 at 2:09 pm

Check out the following letter from Pat Plonski, Executive Director of Books for Africa!

Hello everyone–It is my honor to inform you that Books For Africa has just signed a memorandum of understanding with Visions in Action to ship 25 40-foot seacontainers of textbooks to Liberia.  This agreement will provide for the shipping of between 875,000 – 1,000,000 textbooks (550 tons) valued at approximately $4 million over the course of the next 12 months.  Books For Africa history.  This agreement with Visions In Action stems from a meeting I held in Monrovia with Visions in Action in January of this year where this concept was established.  USAID is also playing a role in the financing of this project.  I will be traveling to Liberia in October or November of this year as part of a Books For Africa / Better World Books delegation to meet with Visions In Action, and Liberian government officials, and other key players to formally initiate this project. Thank you everyone for your great support of Books For Africa.  This is exciting news.  The need for books of all types is very great in Liberia and this is an opportunity to help rebuild this country and give hope to the people there.

–Pat

Patrick Plonski

Executive Director

Books For Africa

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