November 3, 2008
Deborah Ahenkorah '10
As a child, Deborah Ahenkorah ’10 was a voracious reader; she practically wore out her library card. But despite the fact that she was born and educated through secondary school in the West African nation of Ghana, she had little opportunity to read the work of African authors until she took a course in African literature here at Bryn Mawr.
Young readers’ lack of access to African literature is a problem, Ahenkorah explains: “Without access to books by and about Africans, young people grow up not knowing much about the diverse cultures of their vast continent. And especially when all they read is Western literature, they have very little reason to feel proud of their national identities and continental heritage.”
A site devoted to thoughts about books, reading, and libraries relevant to Africa mostly by Michael Kevane, co-Director of Friends of African Village Libraries, a small 501(c)(3) non-profit devoted to helping village and small community libraries in Africa. I am also an economist at Santa Clara University. Other frequent contributors are Kate Parry, FAVL-East Africa director, and Anne-Reed Angino, FAVL networker extraordinaire! For more information see the FAVL website, http://www.favl.org
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