Friends of African Village Libraries

FAVL Blog has Moved!

2009-08-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

We're moving! The FAVL blog is moving to a new blog that is more integrated with our new website, which offers a cleaner presentation of basic information about FAVL. To RSS/Atom the new blog, or update your Reader, please enter the following address http://www.favl.org/blog/atom.xml, or click the on the Blue Feed Subscription in the browsers address bar.

Does your president pay his taxes?

2009-08-18T00:26:00.000-07:00

Wonderful 'direct talk" from writer Alain Mabanckou...

Avril 2009 : tous les américains ont pu lire la feuille de déclaration des revenus de la famille Obama. Le président américain et son épouse ont déclaré des revenus annuels d’un peu plus de 2. 650.000 dollars. Le couple a ainsi payé plus de 850,000 dollars à l’Etat fédéral et près de 78,000 dollars à l’Etat de l’Illinois… (cf. lien en fin de cette chronique)
Obama millionnaire ? Ce sont les droits d’auteur des deux livres publiés par le président qui ont « gonflé » les revenus du foyer. On ne devient pas président dans le dessein de s’enrichir ! En regardant de près cette déclaration des revenus, j’ai songé aux présidents africains. Quel africain en effet a déjà « vu de ses propres yeux » la déclaration d’impôts de son président ? Mystère… Payent-ils vraiment les impôts, nos présidents des tropiques ? Si oui - parce qu’il faut en tout temps accorder le bénéfice de la bonne foi - comment alors se calculerait leur assiette d’imposition si leur fortune personnelle correspond au centime près à la richesse entière de leur pays ?

Payer les impôts signifie déclarer ce qu’on a. Or depuis « les soleils des indépendances » le dirigeant politique africain pratique l’opacité absolue des revenus. Les taxes et autres contributions payées par les populations viennent gonfler une « caisse noire » dans laquelle les ministres et le président puisent sans vergogne.

Let's digress... Economics and modeling

2009-08-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

Lee over at RovingBandit had some discussion of the value of economists making assumptions that people are rational and self-interested (as opposed to ordinary humans who are far more complex). I wrote a longish comment. Today I just happened to be reading an abstract of a new paper (see below) and the thought occurred to me: regardless of whether you think their results are simply an interesting math problem or some serious deep insight, the simple likelihood is that only the rational and self-interested assumption lets you do this kind of modeling. Anything else is simply too complex at this time! And the math results that come from this modeling form the stepping stones for more complex modeling that will happen when some math-oriented breakthrough economist comes up with clever algorithms or theorems (there's one in economics that was revolutionary, called the "revelation principle") so that we can model people who are bounded in their rationality, emotional, and often weird.

So both camps can be right at the same time- most models of rational self-interested actors are just sometimes fun sometimes boring math problems, but solving thousands of those math problems generates tools that will be useful down the road, and is the only way to generate the tools, and they are probably better in the meantime than just repeating "in my opinion based on what I had for lunch today" stories back and forth.

Foreign Influence and Welfare
Pol Antràs
Harvard University and NBER
Gerard Padró i Miquel
London School of Economics and NBER
February 4, 2009
Abstract
How do foreign interests influence the policy determination process? How is trade policy affected? What are the welfare implications of such foreign influence? In this paper we develop a model of foreign influence and apply it to the study of optimal tariffs. We develop a two-country voting model of electoral competition, where we allow the incumbent party in each country to take costly actions that probabilistically affect the electoral outcome in the other country. We show that policies end up maximizing a weighted sum of domestic and foreign welfare, and we study the determinants of this weight. We show that foreign influence may be welfare-enhancing from the point of view of aggregate world welfare because it helps alleviate externalities arising from crossborder effects of policies. Foreign influence can however prove harmful in the presence of large imbalances in influence power across countries. We apply our model of foreign influence to the study of optimal trade policy. We derive a modified formula for the optimal import tariff and show that a country’s import tariff is more distorted whenever the influenced country is small relative to the influencing country and whenever natural trade barriers between the two countries are small. We also show that the viability of free trade agreements can be hampered by large imbalances in power across countries.

African crime literature... calling Ro Harris!

2009-08-16T23:55:00.000-07:00

Rosemary Harris, a major force behind Chalula community library in Tanzania, is also a mystery novel writer... she would have enjoyed this conference I'm sure... but it was back in 2008. Still, really interesting suggestions for books...

African crime fiction represents a comparatively new literary genre and an even newer topic in the critical study of African literatures. On the surface, crime fiction is concerned with the detection of crimes (petty as well as large scale), with corruption or political conspiracies. Its capacity for bloodcurdling mystery accounts for part of its popularity. Just as much, however, African crime fiction is concerned with a whole lot of other aspects, such as questions of authority and power within a postcolonial context against potential projections of a (neo-)imperial West; with working up the past of African nations and grappling with order and disorder in postcolonial societies; and with the renegotiation of gender and race relationships. Many authors have thus broadened the theme of investigation to address issues of community, beliefs and identity constructions across geographic and national boundaries. Others have broadened the genre by inventing recognisable sub-categories which relate to the social, political and historical formations of their specific African postcolonies. Dealing with such “serious” issues in a complex manner has long been regarded as the prerogative of African literary works aimed at elite readerships. Today, however, crime fiction has become one of the most active and ambitious sites of literary investigation. Contemporary African authors deliberately employ the immense popularity of the genre to reach readers from all walks of life. To borrow from an essay on multicultural detective narratives, African crime fiction ingeniously represents “murder with a message” (Gosselin 1999).

White Teeth, by Okot p'Bitek

2009-08-16T00:12:00.000-07:00

This short novel from 1953 is very poignant, and translated in 1988 from Acoli it reads well. The story is a commonplace- the young man wants to marry, but his father has died, so he must leave for Kampala to earn money. The descriptions of the village boy heading out into the world, woefully unprepared, ironically makes the case for reading itself, even though "the city" is responsible for the boy's woes. The thought experiment: if every village boy in Africa read White Teeth, would Africa be a better place? Clearly, to me, the answer is yes. But better enough to justify the 50 cents per child to get a copy "readable" to each child... now we are talking about something interesting.

Promoting a reading culture in Kenya

2009-08-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

Nice blog posting by Konrad Glogowski:

...While I agree that it is challenging to encourage students to use English outside of school where they seem perfectly happy communicating in their mother tongue or Kiswahili, it is imperative that the use of English in school change from purely formal and transactional to more expressive, interactive, and socially meaningful. One of the main barriers that has traditionally made this shift impossible is that teaching in Kenya is very teacher-centred. In addition, instruction in an English classroom is often limited to cloze tests, reading comprehension exercises, and short answer questions. Students are generally not given opportunities to express their opinions or engage in class discussions or debates. Chalk and talk dominates classroom interactions.

But, how do we encourage teachers in Kenya to adopt a more student-centred approach? How can we support them in this shift to a more participatory environment?

I think that the small, gradual steps - the approach we used this past summer - are necessary to help teachers move out of their current comfort zone and test themselves using a different teaching methodology. According to Commeyras and Inyega (2007), two research-based Kenyan documents (MOEST, 2001; Willis, 1988) suggest that teachers can promote greater interest in reading by reading aloud to their students. Furthermore, talking with students about the texts as preparation for independent reading can also be very effective (Willis, 1988). Of course, the challenge here is that this approach requires that the teachers themselves be committed and enthusiastic readers willing to share their personal stories and reactions with their students. I believe that the students need to see in their teachers a high level of authentic engagement with a text in order to be encouraged by this approach. Teachers need to learn how to communicate their passion for reading and they need support in learning how to initiate and sustain meaningful conversations about texts in their classrooms. This is not an easy task for a teacher who is used to lecturing and who every day walks into a classroom where the students have been conditioned to sit quietly and listen

Read the full post here.

Sticker supply boost thanks to Debbie Tanzer's book, Do One Nice Thing

2009-08-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

FAVL has received many lovely stickers for our child readers upon a recommendation contained in Debbie Tanzer's book, Do One Nice Thing. She included a wonderful 2-pg write-up of our work and how individuals could help incentivize our reading program by sending cute stickers. We've received 5 packets, the most recent a delightful sticker and bookmark collection prepared by a grandmother and her grandkids as a summer project. The accompanying notes are heartwarming, too.

Overachieving kids are the same the world over, even in Darfur refugee camps!

2009-08-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

He sure could use a library, but unfortunately at this time FAVL has no plans to expand to Darfur refugee camps, though we would certainly love to if a major donor wanted to fund that (but we're talking major here!)

Rahma Profile from iActivism on Vimeo.

Ding dong the 990's done...

2009-08-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

Every small non-profit dreads the day of the IRS form 990... and last May we dreaded so much we just applied for automatic extension. yesterday FAVL Treasurer sat down for five hours and completed all the forms. Yaay! Big THANK YOU to Deb... without dedicated people like her, willing to spend five hours on a gorgeous Saturday morning here in San Jose, FAVL would not be able to implement the libraries and reading programs that our generous donors help fund.

FORGE library for refugees in Zambia

2009-08-08T02:43:00.000-07:00

A long time ago... FAVL made a financial contribution to help this library get established...

"learn earn return" or "concern learn return" or "earn learn return"

2009-08-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

As a college professor, students are always engaging me in discussions about what the better strategy is. Especially the ones going to law school. There are all kinds of maxims out there, and the only wisdom I feel I ever impart is for students to not be over-optimistic about their ability to retain their former self present in their future mind. And sometimes that former self might even be subject to insult by the future mind... "What were you thinking.. you were a total idiot!" I do tell the story of Andrew Carnegie, who as he saw that he was going to be capable of becoming very wealthy, wrote himself a letter to remind himself to give his fortune away and help the less fortunate. And that is what he did... though he postponed until he was well into older age. he sold out to J.P. Morgan and gave his fortune (though critics accuse of self-serving giving).

FAVLers and others passionate about helping kids read... a mystery in terms of how it fits into a coherent life philosophy.

Why read when you can twitter?

2009-08-05T13:31:00.002-07:00

A hilarious (to me) posting from ugandan insomniac on "what if" Museveni were twittering...

Had a rough nite. Mbwenu journalists are giving me grief 4 ordering the arrest of errant policemen in Nateete. They say it’s an attempt @ cheap popularity. As if!

Who Controls African Literature?

2009-08-05T13:31:00.001-07:00

FAVL friend Chelby Daigle send us this editorial by Tolu Ogunlesi:

LAGOS: The literary world is once again shining a spotlight on Africa. There are new prizes: the South Africa-based PEN Studzinski Literary Award for short stories, and the Penguin Prize for African Writing, a pan-African prize covering both fiction and non-fiction genres. There’s a new book series, the “Penguin African Writers Series,” which will include not only new books from emerging writers, but also classics taken over from the defunct Heinemann African Writers Series. And next year South Africa will be featured as the “Market Focus country” at the 2010 London Book Fair and African writing will be showcased at the Gothenburg Book Fair.

The African ‘Greats’–Ngugi, Soyinka, Gordimer, Okot p’Bitek– have given way to a new roster of names — Chimamanda Adichie, Chris Abani, Helon Habila, Binyavanga Wainaina, Sefi Atta, Monica Arac de Nyeko, Chika Unigwe, Brian Chikwava — who have become the new faces of contemporary African writing.

This explosion of literary talent and publishing opportunities might be likened to a similar one that accompanied the heady post-independence days of the 1960s. But in spite of all the inspiring and exciting happenings of recent years, there still remain nagging questions regarding who exactly are the proper ‘gatekeepers’ of African literary tradition and production.

Read the full article "Who Controls African Literature" here.

Ricky Alexander report from Chalula library

2009-08-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

The food situation is more than satisfactory. Henry is coordinating things on that front for me in the village as Aaron is busy with some local government business and has been ill with the flu the past week or so on top of it. Henry has been great, making sure I'm satisfied with everything and the food is great! I'm sure going to miss ugali and mchuzi when I get back to the US! haha Henry set me up very nicely in the guesthouse adjacent to the school and library and I'm sleeping there with the company of a few children who are very sweet. It works out well...I tutor them in English and they help me learn Swahili. So food/lodging are great! (Joseph has been very helpful with escorting me to and from transportation and helping me while I'm in town at Dodoma. He lives here in Dodoma and works with Habitat for Humanity but is very much in touch with Henry and Aaron and very helpful and responsible. He is a great contact and knowledgeable about development in rural areas in Tanzania.)

The library is a wonderful place for the children to read during school breaks and after classes get out for the day. It is a nice structure and the bookshelves and tables/chairs are in good condition. What is lacking are resources (as I'm guessing is the case with most if not all FAVL libraries and other educational facilities in sub-Saharan Africa). The 200 or so Swahili children's books are tattered from overuse and many are falling apart and need to be taped together. The English books do not get used much as the nearest secondary school is quite far and the teenagers rarely walk the distance to the library. (Also, many are not culturally relevant as they are American/Euro-centric). So...what is needed are more children's books in Swahili, beginners/intermediate level English-learning books, rudimentary English stories, bilingual materials would be ideal, and a comprehensive Swahili-English dictionary would be great. I look forward to discussing possibilities for utilizing FAVL funds and/or fundraising to send some of these resources to the Chalula library when I return.

While resources is the main issue, usage is very high. The library is usually very full with all the tables and chairs full and scores of children sitting on the floor/along the walls. The children understand the importance of education/literacy and seek it, when the facilities and encouragement are there to promote it.

Three Cups of Tea... over coffee

2009-08-03T00:35:00.000-07:00

I spent the last four days up in the Sierras at San Jose Family Camp (our city's socialized but market-priced camp site), blissfully reading Three Cups of Tea in between poker matches with kids, beautiful hikes with friends into the Hetch Hetchy/Yosemite watersheds... and lots of coffee (in socialism, bad coffee will be available for free in copious quantities, as long as policemen's pensions can be capped at under 95% of salary...that last strictly for San Jose insiders).

Anyways, odd that the two premier development blogs (Blattman and Easterly) apparently have never mentioned Mortenson (at least a search of the blogs was empty on both sites). Too bad, because it's a good book, with lots to discuss, and more importantly, is probably the single most widely read "tract" about development aid in the last decade, and so what it says, or does not say, is probably shaping the perceptions of millions of persons around the globe, far more than the development studies academics' wishy-washy "we don't know the answers" style.

So just so you know the book's main message: heroes are taking care of the problems, just like they always did. Sure, things were smelly in the Augean stables, but Hercules was ready! So here comes Mortenson, ready to tackle world poverty (one girl at a time^TM).

So I'll say up front that while I obviously find Mortenson's work and devotion and success very inspirational and fantastic and laudable, I find the book raises all kinds of interesting questions, and raising those questions will inevitably make me appear less laudable than Mortenson. But hell, I'm an academic and the whole schtick is to raise questions.

And questions to be raised, there are. Only two paragraphs in the 330 page book are "questioning," in the sense that they diverge from the standard 40-something-American "it's all good" refrain, and these deal with an important issue, non-profit governance. Otherwise there is nary a questioning attitude to be seen. Weird, cause the guy writing it is a journalist (David Oliver Relin, who keeps himself completely out of the text, but must have insisted on inserting two photos of himself that make no sense at all... the captions just use his last name, and for 2/3 of the book I thought the guy in the pictures was some Pakistani dude who would be introduced later on).

So we have a book about a hero. It's a thrilling book, but it brings to mind the Brecht line (yes, Michael Watts did influence my reading habits...) from his play Galileo: “ANDREA: Unhappy the land that has no heroes! . . . GALILEO: No, unhappy the land that needs heroes.”

I could go into literary analysis- what is a hero and all that... but since this blog is about development and literacy, better to focus on that. Mortenson is basically doing what FAVL would have been doing if someone had given *us* a million dollars! So of course one can't help the sour grapes. But I do feel that gives me a rather unique perspective. Most people reading the book probably feel unqualified to be critical. They have never slept with a yak, nor befriended an authentic representative of "The Other"... Haji Ali. Of course, Haji Ali turns out to be Yoda, a very nice, reasonably wise uncle figure prone to platitudes about listening to the wind. Anecdotes and trials and tribulations are played to maximum effect... and some are downright bizarre- Mortenson's "bodyguard" beats up someone leering at his wife breastfeeding. A Pakistani general cowboying around with Mortenson in a helicopter buzzes "like an angry bee" the compound of some local chief who's fallen afoul of Mortenson. These anecdotes, and much of the book, serve to make clear to the reader that there are good guys (hero allies) and bad guys (hero enemies) and the hero can tell the difference (loyalty... everyone is ready to "give their life for Mortenson") except when the hero is tricked. Oops, no more literary analysis!

One more aside. My overall impression is that Relin was more interested in name-dropping mountaineers killed here and there than Pakistanis or Afghans killed during the various stages of the wars in the region. The brand-name turn in American literature is there, instead of riding around in an "old helicopter" it has to be an Alouettte. Instead of wearing an "old parka," he has to give the brand name. I confess I never understood the reader interest inknowing the brands of their book-characters, but then again, I wear a cheap watch, cheap pants, and cheap shoes.

As you can see, I am meandering around my thoughts, and it is now late, so I'll come back to the development and literacy stuff tomorrow.

Civic engagements...

2009-08-02T16:12:00.000-07:00

SCU student Louise O'Rourke will be spending the Fall in Burkina on the Santa Clara University study abroad program Reading West Africa, that is operating in partnership with the FAVL libraries... Nice article about her and her sister in the Bellevue Reporter.

Summer reading camp in Bereba village... photo: Madelyn Bagby

2009-08-02T16:08:00.001-07:00

What is development studies good for?

2009-07-30T17:02:00.000-07:00

Most people who come to the topic of development studies do so because they are interested in a particular region or problem. They realize that sometimes it is useful to have exposure to both broader views and narrower perspectives and analyses. For example, someone visits Ghana and becomes interested in learning more about why the people of Ghana are so much poorer than people in the developed countries (the broad view), and also whether spending two weeks volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity building site in Tamale, Ghana, would be a worthwhile way to spend their time (the narrow view).

The broad view enhances the contextual knowledge required to be a person of solidarity operating in a globalizing environment of increasing connections and significant inequality. Certainly we would think it somewhat arrogant to express opinions about poverty in Ghana and know nothing about how the economy and society of Ghana functioned. The minimum we might expect from a person interested in poverty in Ghana would be the capacity to fit Ghana into a broad schema, or model, of the essential features of developing countries. Such a schema or model makes generalizations about the multitude of regions that one might think of grouping under the rubric of “developing.” Some of the generalizations might be commonplaces: “In Ghana as elsewhere, people are motivated by a mix of material incentives and non-material goals.” Analyzing these commonplace generalizations is important, because often newcomers to development studies fall into the lazy trap of thinking that poverty is due to an indecipherable “culture.” A good chunk of the work in mounting a general schema is in leveraging people’s intuitive sense that culture matters into a more nuanced sense of how cultures matter.

The narrow view develops the analytical tools and experiences that enable a person of solidarity to be an effective agent of change. We should not applaud the do-gooder who botches a job, even as we acknowledge that botching a job is an important way that people learn! Some due diligence should happen before a job is undertaken. All sorts of examples come to mind. Some are simple common sense, involving learning from the experiences of others. Should a small village library classify books according to the complicated Dewey Decimal System? When installing a borehole well, will the villagers have the ability to maintain and repair the mechanical parts? Others are more complex and have to be thought about. When installing the borehole well, should it be the private property of a villager or should it be owned collectively? In setting up a computer lab where digitally-challenged villagers will pay a small fee for use, what incentives guide the computer lab manager in straddling the challenge of ensuring lots of users and minimizing costly breakdowns?

As these questions illustrate, some of the reflections in the broad approach (about what motivates people) are important for the narrow view (how to structure a contract to ensure long-term success).

Fille des crocodiles Auteur : Marie-Florence Ehret

2009-07-30T05:13:00.000-07:00

From publisher Ricochet-jeunes...

Fanta vit dans un village du Burkina-Faso avec sa grand-mère Mâ, tandis que sa mère Delphine garde des enfants blancs en France pour gagner un peu plus d’argent. Les deux femmes sont modernes au regard des autres habitants : elles refusent que la petite fille soit excisée, projettent pour elle des études… Mais Fanta, à qui on n’a pas demandé son avis, est un peu perdue.

A rebours des romans qui mettent d’habitude en scène des enfants immigrés en France, l’auteur a choisi de faire rester son héroïne dans son pays d’origine. Mieux, de le lui faire aimer, au point d’hésiter à partir vers l’Eldorado occidental ! Une attitude atypique, qui nous permet de pénétrer dans l’intimité d’une Afrique rurale à mi-chemin entre traditions et progrès. La vie quotidienne est dure, tendue vers l’autosuffisance avec le travail des champs. Le puits conserve une place centrale, qui possède une moto ou un téléphone portable est considéré comme riche. A côté de ce qui semble archaïque, la vie est aussi simple, socialement plus active. Les hommes se retrouvent pour boire un verre le soir, tandis que les enfants écoutent le conteur refaire le monde. Les fêtes durent plusieurs jours, la religion se partage sans heurts entre islam et animisme (voir les ancêtres crocodiles). Marie-Florence Ehret sait faire vivre ces aspects positifs, mais s’attaque sans complaisance à la réalité de la vie des femmes : d’abord l’excision, puis le mariage, enfin les enfants.

Une des tantes de Fanta n’a que quelques années de plus qu’elle, et la petite fille a peur de ne pas trouver d’époux quand sa grand-mère s’oppose à son excision. Cette décision choque d’ailleurs le reste du village, la vieille femme, revenue de la ville à la mort de son mari, n’est pas comme les autres. Fanta, si elle ne mesure pas sa chance à ce moment précis (elle regrette plutôt de ne pas avoir de robe neuve comme ses amies), sent bien le statut particulier accordé à sa famille ouverte sur le monde : mère exilée qui fait bouillir la marmite des oncles, sœur aînée partie étudier à la capitale.

Ethics of libraries... are people opposed to reading?

2009-07-28T22:08:00.000-07:00

Violence in northern Nigeria has left hundreds dead, and some stories suggest that a militant Islamic group is largely responsible, having raised a cry against "western education." This extract from a New York Times article I thought revealing:

A more mainstream Islamic group in Nigeria, the Jamaat Nasr al-Islam, or J.N.I., on Tuesday condemned the militants, known as Boko Haram, a Hausa expression meaning “Western education is prohibited.”
J.N.I. said through its acting secretary general, Abdulkarim Muazu, that the attacks on the police were “criminal.” Mr. Muazu added that “nobody is against Western education.”
“The first injunction is to read so that you improve on your life,” he added.

I can't help but think that Boko is a dervied Hausa word for book... so "Forbid Book" would be the better translation? But a little web research (amazing, this "western education" suggests that boko Hausa refers to writing Hausa language using Latin alphabet), and this posting tells the sorry tale of British responsibility during colonial rule for setting in motion the backlash.

Reading in the village... photo Madelyn Bagby

2009-07-28T05:07:00.000-07:00

Community Libraries in Pakistan

2009-07-27T07:26:00.000-07:00

One of my colleague's here at Ashoka sent me a profile of an Ashoka fellow in Pakistan that she thought I would be interested in. His name is Asad Danish and he is doing peace-building work, with one of his main outlets in addressing the population: rural community libraries!

Asad Danish is doing peace-building along with development work in Afghanistan. He is addressing the urban Afghan immigrant community and publishing literary and knowledge books. Asad is promoting education and establishing libraries in rural and urban schools by encouraging a book-reading culture and increasing the literacy rate.

The Idea:

Asad is working towards bringing harmony to war-torn Afghanistan and the Pushtoon tribal belt in and along Pakistan in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). He is focusing on education and learning using publishing, creating libraries and getting to the illiterate masses through radio. His publishing house prints ‘knowledge’ books including dictionaries, how-to books, translations and magazines that bring local wisdom and global knowledge to the Pushtoon people in their own language. He is also distributing popular and easy-to-read publications among the communities.

Asad has established libraries in small towns in Afghanistan, especially in schools. He has introduced the concept of the “Dynamic Librarian”; these librarians are creating reading circles to promote education in local communities. The libraries mobilize government and community resources and the books are donated by Asad’s Danish Publication Association. Asad established the publication house as a for-profit venture that supports him and helps him invest in rebuilding Afghanistan through various community projects. The publishing house targets Pushtoon and other communities in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and does outreach to Afghan and Pakistani communities in Europe, North America and the Middle East. This helps mobilize resources for development in rebuilding Afghanistan.

This sounds like quite an initiative, and it is exciting that the concept of community libraries is proving to be effective, globally.

Comments??

What should we do...

2009-07-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

Technology could really help with improving one of the most important cognitive skills of the human brain, which is how to process the written word quickly and effectively. What I mean is, how could we enable children to more quickly and effectively learn to read well. Well means both understanding the correct sense of the word they are reading, and also the sense of the entire passage they are reading.

This is especially challenging in a text-scarce environment like an African village. There are few signs, no newspapers lying around, the packages in little boutiques are "behind the counter", there are no Sears catalogues, no Boy's Life, etc.

So, should we choose One Laptop per Child, or a printed book, at this juncture, 2009?

The continuing saga of the One Laptop per Child....

2009-07-22T23:50:00.000-07:00

Just send a $250 donation to FAVL, please... we'll get it into libraries straightaway...

Courtesy of Michele ODI blogger, in Ghana:

Five 1.5 squared meters boxes containing 600 OLPC computers each, for a total of 3000 OLPC computers, were delivered yesterday at the ministry unbeknown to most.

OLPCs are supposed to cost $100 each, but according to my ICT technician their cost is more like $250 - $270. Summing up to the handsome expenditure of $750.000 - $810.000, excluding shipment. And their impact on educational outcomes has never been evaluated.

Two children's books from T. Obinkaram Echewa

2009-07-22T11:00:00.001-07:00

These stories are very nice, as are the illustration. I heartily recommend! The illustrations in The Ancestor Tree are by Christy Hale. Those in The Magic Tree are by E.B. Lewis. Echewa teaches at West Chester University in Pennsylvania.

African langugage books online....

2009-07-22T00:18:00.000-07:00

Sent in by Kim Dionne :

More Swahili, Kikuyu, Dholuo
and other African Languages in Google Books via Official Google Africa
Blog by Julie on 7/21/09
En Français

We've always said that with Google Books we want to bring more books to
more people in more languages. Today we're truly delighted to announce
that we're making progress, and getting closer to making this true for
more users in Africa. In a partnership with the East African
Educational Publishers (EAEP) we're working to bring more books in
African languages to our index. From Swahili, to Kikuyu, to Dholuo and
Acholi, but also including oral languages such as Mbeere and Maasai,
the thousands of titles published by EAEP will be digitized and indexed
on Google’s search engine and become available to users in Kenya and
around the world in the next several months.

Google Books helps users discover books. It exposes readers to
information they might not otherwise see, and it provides authors and
publishers with a new way to be found. We truly believe that Google
Books benefits anyone who reads, writes, publishes and sells books.
It's good news for people who read books because they can more easily
discover books that are of interest to them, and where to buy them; it
is good news for authors because it makes it easier for more people to
discover find their work; it is good news for publishers because they
can more easily reach a wider audience; it is good news for booksellers
because readers are directed to the bookshops where they can buy
interesting publications; and it is good news for libraries because it
means more people can discover the books on their shelves.

The EAEP is one of over 25 000 publishers worldwide, to join the Google
Books Publisher Program. Google Books has over 10 million books in the
index. It includes works in over a 100 languages, and is currently
available in 142 countries.

Posted by Santiago de la Mora, Head of Partnerships for Google Books in
Europe, the Middle East and Africa

Inspiring a reading culture in Burkina Faso..

2009-07-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

While sorting through Ashoka Fellows involved in rural development today at work, I happened upon Dieudonné Par, an Ashoka Fellow, passionate about inspiring a culture of reading in Burkina Faso!

"Dieudonné Paré has created a culture of reading in Burkina Faso through his community-led book program. By first rehabilitating discarded books and those no longer in circulation, he brings refurbished materials to rural areas through his “books-on-bikes/motorcycle” program. Providing books for rent to rural and urban youth who lack access to reading materials and libraries, Dieudonné encourages learning, reflection and an understanding of the importance of the written word as a tool for effective citizenry. " (Ashoka Website)

Read more about his idea and strategy here: http://ashoka.org/dpare It is a unique, sustainable and scalable model! It'd be interesting to get a list of the books he rehabilitates and shares.

What do you think?

2009-07-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

From Ugandan Insomniac... (HT Kim Dionne)

If you are a fan of Chimamanda Ngonzi Adichie’s books, you have to download the BBC World Book Club podcast in which she discusses Half of a Yellow Sun.
One of things that struck a chord for me was Chimamanda’s revelation that for the first years of her life she thought about the world through the prism of Europe and America because of the books she read. For a while all her short stories were about British people and an unhealthy obsession with ginger beer.

Until I was about 9, I didn’t know it was okay to write about people like me.

Interesting.

I have a friend who is writing a book set in Eastern Europe with eastern European characters. He’s a Ugandan man who until a few years ago lived no where else but here. Oh, and he’s never been to Eastern Europe.

While I may be completely wrong in relating his work to what Chimamanda said, it reminded me of stuff. Like how many books by African writers must have a white man or woman in order to ‘make sense’ to the rest of the world. Like how descriptions of ourselves are not informed by what we know about our villages, our countries or our continent, but what the rest of the world thinks of us.

I am one to talk.

Looking around my house as I write this, I see that I am no different. I’ve tried to make my house as ‘African’ as possible – tribal masks from Congo and Rwanda, Masaai sculptures, Kiganda baskets, Ghanaian printed reed chairs, cow skin pouf, large picture of African setting sun … These are things I have been told by interior design magazines are elements of ‘colonial’ design and ‘safari’ living. I would never decorate my home the way my grandmother did. That’s too rural for me.

Yeah, I’m a hypocrite.

Anyway.

Chimamanda said what I already knew, but hearing it again, a loud brought it home.

The power of literature … stories inform how you see yourself and what you think of yourself. I often ask my friends, ‘What are your kids reading?’ It’s important to have children see that their stories are worthy of literature. It’s okay for them to read Enid Blyton, but have them read Nigerian literature as well.

Wow... what a photo! I love it... by Amy Reggio

2009-07-20T01:01:00.001-07:00

POINT DE VUE DE KOURA SEKOU SUR LA BIBLIOTHEQUE DE BEREBA

2009-07-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

Received from Burkina Faso...

A toute personne qui me lira, je voudrais qu’elle sache que tout en accomplissant ce rédigé j’en suis de cœur. Oui pour un rat de la bibliothèque préparant munitieusement mon prochain roman de lui-même sur l’apologie de la lecture, imaginez l’intensité de joie quand on lui permet d’en faire l’exégèse …
A priori, je tiens hermétiquement voir consciencieusement à orienter mon salut si modeste soit_ il à l’endroit de tous les acteurs en patrouille de culture, d’éducation et…Et quoi de plus émérite ! Puisque tous nous savions ce qu’il faut à celui qu ‘il faut : à la bibliothèque de villageoise reconnaissance et haute assistance.
Bibliothèque de BEREBA ,moi je tiens en tant que celui qui est en train d’écrire, je suis en long et en large redevable très redevable et redevable encore. Je sais cependant qu ‘à travers une telle subjectivité l’on serait allé jusqu’à croire que je projette à me faire plaire tel un poète. Pour toute réalité donc, je ne suis naturellement pas celui qui rit quand il fallait le cri de détresse, simplement parce que l’on m’a intimidé d’une force physique ou d’une arme me dépassant. Non ! Et non ! Il me déplait à moi de jeter des fleurs à ce qu’il ne convient car cela en serait de gratuité. Quoi qu’on dise et quoi qu’on blasphème, la bibliothèque elle, mérite à bravoure, à vaillance sa fleur honorablement étoffée.
Eh ! Mon lecteur, daigne m’excuser si je te suis trop prolixe, oui instinctivement j’aime à ergoter. C’est pour dire que tout ce dont j’ai proféré n’est qu’introductif du vif que je vais aussitôt entamer juste après ce paragraphe.
Tout est parti du cours moyen première année quand je faisais la connaissance de ce réseau de cultures mondiales à quoi l’on attribue le substantif de¨ BIBLIOTHEQUE.C’est donc à de l’année 2001 suite sur l’initiative de mon père aussi imprégné de la chose, jusqu’à l’heure actuelle et comme quitte à ce que je rende l’âme, que la largesse, la bienséance, la positivité de cette bibliothèque villageoise consistera à nourrir ma personne physique, à enrichir ma personne idéaliste à éclairer mon sens moral et à débroussailler ma grande voie spirituelle des dérives sociales en un mot elle m’a achevé d’être ce qu’; dieu veut en effet de par mes interminables lectures que de chose que j’ai découvertes !! Trop de grand personnage que j’ai enfin connu à l’interposition ; des bons nombres de philosophe emblématiques à qui personnellement je m’identifie dans le quotidien.
En ce qui concerne le volet étude ; par toutes les classes que j’ai passé moi me suivent toujours singularisé de part par distinction de lecteur, et pour cela des professeurs m’approuvaient admirablement à la différence des autres. A cet effet j’ai fini par entraîner toute une vague de camarades dans la lecture et quand il en était ainsi jante sentait fier d’entre imité.
A toute situation d’entretien scolaire ou de vie courante je viens toujours par-dessus non pas seulement par la pertinence de mes idées mais aussi par le rayonnement d’un langage appris et acquit et quant éventuellement on m’en exhorte, cela ne m’étonne aucunement puisque je sais pourquoi ceci : c’est simplement et purement légué par la bibliothèque et qui parle.
Un autre fondement est ludique : Relativement à ma typologie artistique en tant que prétentieux musicien j’ai des textes exclusifs parce que poétiques ; et qui parle de poésie cite alors la liberté d’expression d’individus !
C’est ainsi que les bienfaits de la lecture ont contribué dans mon engagement de la lutte contre l’impunité, la corruption en toutes ces dimensions. Socialement, mon souci majeur est de nécessairement passer par la voie des sans voix si réellement ces milliers d’ouvrages nous ont révélé une triste réalité de l’homme, des peuples assaillis par des boucheries de guerre, des masses impitoyablement malmenés de famines. Tous ces propos que j’avance n’ont rien d’utopique ; ils émanent des écrits réalistes issus de bibliothèque et je crois aussi n’avoir exacerbé rien. Des preuves tout à fait abonderont quand il s’agira de prôner l’adhésion impérative à la bibliothèque villageoise de BEREBA pour celui comme moi qui ai été dans trois 3 provinces du pays aussi dotées chacune d’une bibliothèque aérée que celle en comparaison. Chers amis ne vous en faites point car l’originalité de ces bibliothèques aérées réside seulement dans le fait qu’elles sont simplement vastes de construction mais si, matériellement notre bibliothèque l’emporte de par ces tas infinis, et diversifiés de tous les genres littéraires, c’est dire qu’en premier lieu, la notre ont bel et bien droit de citer
Avançons cependant qu’en dépit du succès retentissant qu’offre la dite bibliothèque, elle présente aussi bien des sentiers auxquels vous et nous devrions nous atteler en vue des perspectives plus larges pour une meilleure approche de la structure. Je voudrais croire qu’une vulgarisation de cette utilité de culture, nécessite le dévouement de tous à savoir le personnel siégeant à la localité, le lecteur, le parent concerné.
Nous aurions à nous affairer à des projets pour peu qu’ils traitent du maintien et répondent aux éventuelles aspirations.
Alors un vif souhait mais latent est de renchérir la prépondérante d’une fameuse bibliothèque développée pour s’entre transformée en un centre culturel ou instruit et analphabètes peuvent se cotonner et se donner mutuellement des idées.
Je suis d’autant convaincu qu’une bibliothèque de cette carrure plantée à BEREBA, ce serait la pêche ou le marigot refusera du monde en raison de l’excédent des adhérents.
En attendant, moi je vous prête serment pour ma part de contribution à la réédification de cette bibliothèque témoignant de tout mon être.
Oui ! Tôt ou tard ! Salut !
Kourage à SEKOUer

Nice article about experience in publishing children's books

2009-07-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

By Carole Bloch

Although Raeez Writes is the only book (selected from the original 2002 set of books) that uses photographs, it was chosen because the committee felt that the topic of illuminating how we can support reading and writing habits was significant and because the characters would be familiar enough with children from the different regions of Africa. The story provides an example of how a young child, Raeez, apprentices himself to his grandfather, who helps him to write. When Raeez is asked where he is going, the reader is told “Raeez knows where he is going.” He is then depicted sitting at a table with Grandpa who is holding a newspaper: “Grandpa wants to read. Raeez wants to write.” We then see Grandpa stand up and help Raeez: “Grandpa helps Raeez.” “Then Grandpa reads and Raeez writes.” The final page has emergent writing around a drawing, and Raeez’s words, “Look what I wrote!”—celebrating and valuing the young child’s immature explorations in writing.

In dealing with names in the different language versions of the books, it was decided that as a rule, we should keep the name of the original, existing characters. For example, Ali and Titilope would remain such—as it is in life, people usually only change their names for cultural reasons or if they are oppressed in some way. At the same time, there are differing views on this and once the stories went for translation, they sometimes took on a life of their own, with one or another translator expressing adamantly that a name needed a spelling adaptation. For example in Orange, the original name “Beruk” became “Beruki” and “Mimi” became “Mimii” in Kiswahili. In Raeez Writes, it was decided that the name Raeez would be impossible to pronounce in Portuguese and so he became Rafique.

Nice and Clean, written in Ethiopia, is about personal hygiene. The first draft of the story was reminiscent of a lifeskills lesson, probably due in part to the challenge of translating from Amharic into English as well as the new challenge of writing for very young children. In the edited English version lightness and humor were introduced into the text through the use of repetition and wordplay. We also discussed where to best situate the story, and who the characters should be. What kind of technology should illustrate cleaning? Were baths, showers, and taps attached to sinks and basins appropriate? Could we illustrate brushing teeth with a toothbrush? None of these would be familiar practices for all children.

The challenge of where to situate a story and what characters to use was resolved in this case by a decision to use a simple outside rural environment, with a basic building that allowed for inside scenes. The characters are animals common to many African settings instead of human beings thus allowing children anywhere to identify with their actions. A mixture of scenarios were chosen and used—washing outside using a tap and bucket as well as indoors with all the modern features. On the first page we read, “Everybody needs to wash” and the story ends, “Now everybody’s nice and clean,” helping to pass on the message to young children, wherever they may be, that one of the things we share is a need to keep clean.

Read the full article here...

Little hands illustrated children's book

2009-07-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

Carole Bloch, a South African academic, also has a project to produce children' books. They have sixteen titles... see here on their website. Really nice illustrated books.

FAVL, Champions of Quality Education in Africa?

2009-07-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

I hate doing this... but, for the sake of the libraries... sigh. It's like Cal Worthington used to say, "I'll stand on my head to get a kid reading a book!"

Dear friends,

We need your support!

We are very excited to be entrants in the Hewlett Foundation and Ashoka's Changemakers Competition, Champions of Quality Education in Africa. This is a global competition to recognize innovative solutions to improve the state of education in Africa.

By being part of this competition, we have a great opportunity to get the word out about our work to leaders in the education field, investors, the media, potential partners, and other supporters.

The competition winners will be decided by online voting, so the more people we can inspire, the better!

Please help us rally support for our work:

Visit our project entry http://www.changemakers.com/en-us/node/21377
Leave us feedback about our entry. Here's how:
If you do not have a Changemakers account, please click here to register on the site. It only takes a couple of minutes.
Login at the Changemakers website.
Go to the Champions of Quality Education in Africa competition page.
Visit my entry, read about what I do and leave me feedback! http://www.changemakers.com/en-us/node/21377
Update your profile and be part of a growing online community of support!
Spread the word to your colleagues and friends through your emails, blogs, or websites. I've included some information about us below that you are welcome to share with others.

This contest can give our work a great boost. Thank you very much for your help!

Initiative, how do I love thee...

2009-07-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

I can't tell you how interesting it is for me to get an email like this from our coordinator in Sumbrungu, Lucas Amikiya. They want to spend $150 on a one day summer camp for 100 kids. This will be the first ever kid-centered activity in Sumbrungu! (I did reply saying that 100 kids is too many, that they should make it smaller and by invitation... randomized invitation, of course.)

Michael,

The librarians are planning to have a one day camp for children to do a workshop sim1lar like what we did when kathy came and it will include quiz, games, the best reader, and others. This is going to be a day. The rest of the libraries will come to sumbrungu for it.

We thought having it in town but we will spent so much if mean to do it in town. Our budget is as follows.

1. Sherigu and Kunkua Transportation 40.00
2. Awards to those will part take 20.00
3. Food and Water 70.00
4. Allowances 20.00

Thank you,
Lucas

Dangerous blog for people tempted to buy books... Literary License

2009-07-16T21:44:00.000-07:00

And they reviewed a new novel from Ghana... sounds very interesting:

In an interesting guest post at Publishing Perspectives, Kwei Quartey talks about his debut novel, Wife of the Gods, a murder mystery set in a rural area of Ghana. Quartey, born in Ghana and now a practicing doctor in California, encountered resistance when he first tried to publish his novel. An agent who declined to accept the manuscript explained, “There are two places on earth that no one has the slightest interest in reading about: Afghanistan and Africa.” Now, a decade later, all that’s changed. For Quartey, Ghana “provides a compelling background to any crime.” ... Wife of the Gods will be published in the US on July 14th.

Randomized education interventions

2009-07-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

I'm reading an interesting paper by Michael Anderson, who revisits the data from some of the early studies of the impact of pre-K interventions (i.e. preschool: daycare in educational-type settings) on very disadvantaged childen (i.e. where significant number would drop out of high school and have criminal records).

There has apparently been a lot of concern that the three influential studies of the 1960s and 1970s were very much compromised by small sample sizes and what the experimenters call "contamination", when the experimental protocol is not followed exactly. This is what we had, apparently, in FAVL's study of the effects of the summer reading camps of 2008, where some smallish number of the assignments were changed from the random assignment, because if someone who was assigned was not in the village, they were replaced not with a random pick but with someone the team knew would be around in the village. So there was some bias, and this was picked up in some of the pre-program test scores, which were higher for the campers than for those invited to the discussion groups and those who got free books to read.

After re-analysis, Anderson concludes:

The results demonstrate that preschool intervention has significant effects on later life outcomes for females, including academic achievement, economic outcomes, criminal behavior, drug use, and marriage. The effect on total years of education is particularly strong. However, while treatment effects are sizable for females, they are minimal or nonexistent for males - a fact relevant to the design of optimal human capital policy.

So a strong gender effect, which is very interesting and important, though not explained..

But the most interesting par tfor me is the method to control for contamination.

A thorough analysis of threats to validity, conducted in Appendix A, concludes that the main results are unaffected by reasonable assumptions regarding attrition, violation of random assignment, and clustering.

What Anderson does is assign values to the outcomes (in our case the test scores) for those missing. Typically he assigns outcomes in ways that are favorable to the null: the treatment group is assigned the 25th percentile score, which the control group missing are assigned the 75th percentile. Then he computes the new differences in means and statistical significance. And why not? So tomorrow I hope to run this and see how it affects results. We have more missing than he does, but larger sample sizes.

Great posting on the One Laptop per Child

2009-07-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

Of course the same could be said of many a library project. Human personnel and incentives are critical.

At the end of the day I am still asking myself if the computers are worth the money spent on them. The cost of the laptops was about $2300, enough to pay the tuition for 23 students for a year. Jes and I plan on using them occasionally, but I suspect that after we leave they will be relegated back to the stockroom. The computer teacher may use them to illustrate networking, but without commercial software, he can’t use them regularly in his classes. I am afraid that in the case of MCV the tech project has failed. In many ways the OPLC laptops at MCV illustrate why high-tech projects are so risky. The computer required charging, a difficult proposition with intermittent power, no converters, few plugs, and no power strips. The laptop design also failed to accommodate the population to which they were given. These inconveniences, combined with a lack of prerequisite computer knowledge, doomed the project and wasted thousands of dollars. This example would seem to demonstrate why appropriate technology should be embraced and high-tech projects dismissed. However, living in Malawi I have been exposed to a perspective which also should be given credence.

Read more...

HT: Kim Dionne... great blog!

MICHAEL KEVANE and KATHY KNOWLES :The same fight !!!

2009-07-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

That was the title of a note recently received from our Burkina Faso coordinator... with three letters of praise for Kathy Knowles and her continued inspiration to the librarians in Burkina....

Depuis novembre 2005 le coordonnateur et les gérants des bibliothèques de BEREBA ,SARA, KOUMBIA se sont retrouvé à ACCRA au GHANA pour suivre une formation sur la gestion des bibliothèques et surtout l’entretien des livres. Le séjour a été d’un succès inoubliable que toute l’équipe de FAVL ne peut pas s’en passer de parler.

Voilà des témoignages de certains gérants :
1 . SANOU DOUNKO
CHANGEMENTS CONSTATENT DANS NOS BIBLIOTHEQUES APRES LA FORMATION AU GHANA
En novembre 2005,quatre 4 gérants des bibliothèques de FAVL ont été au GHANA pour une formation d’une semaine avec les collègues du GHANA .La formation a été donnée par KATHY KNOWLES.Après le retour du GHANA nous avons pu remarquer des changements considérables et positifs. On peut citer
_Le lavage des mains surtout des tous petits avant de consulter les livres ;
_L’enlèvement des chaussures à la porte avant d’entrer dans la bibliothèque ;
_Le regroupage des dessins en un cahier de dessin pour consultation par les visiteurs ;
_La couverture des livres par le plastique ;
_Coller bien les feuilles des livres endommagés ;
_ La connaissance et la vulgarisation des jeux de puzzles ;
_La lecture des livres par les adultes qui les désirent.
Face à tous ces changements nous remercions KATHY, FAVL pour l’organisation du voyage pour la formation et surtout la qualité que KATHY nous a permise d’acquérir.
Nous souhaitons de telles sorties pour nous former d’avantage.
Fait à BEREBA le 1O mai 2009

2. KOURA IVETTE
CHERE KATHY
J’ai l’honneur de vous adresser cette lettre pour vous remercier pour votre accueil lors de notre dernière visite à ACCRA en 2005 .Vous avez été très ouverte avec nous et ce que nous avons appris ont été appliqués aussi et nous avons vu le fruit que cela a apporté.
_Nous accueillons chaque jour dans notre bibliothèque à BEREBA au minimum 100 enfants ;
_Nous leur faisons des contes ,du dessin, chanter, jouer au puzzles, au waré,et de cartes ;
_Nous leur avons appris comment tourner les pages d’un livre, l’entretien pour ne pas déchirer, ni le salir ;
_Maintenant quand les enfants viennent à la bibliothèque avant d’entrer ils enlèvent les chaussures, lavent les mains avant de toucher aux livres. En 2008 nous avons fait un camp de lecture avec les enfants et pendant ce camp nous avons encore appliqué tous ce que nous avons appris chez vous.
_Notre bibliothèque est devenue l’ami des enfants.
Je vous remercie encore tout en vous demandant de continuer à nous appuyer pour le succès de ces bibliothèques et la réussite de nos enfants.
PAR KOURA IVETTE
GERANTE BIBLIOTHEQUE DE BEREBA

3. PEMOU LUCIE
A VOUS KATHY
Après notre visite au GHANA ,des changements ont été faits dans nos bibliothèques.
Tout d’abord merci à FAVL encore pour cette sortie.
De retour du GHANA ,une semaine après j’ai payé deux seaux pour le lavage des mains à la bibliothèque et jusqu’à présent les élèves quand ils arrivent se lavent les mains avant de toucher aux ouvrages.
Tout lecteur avant d’entrer pose les chaussures à la porte avant d’entrer et cette méthode est appliquée jusqu’aujourd’hui
Nous faisons des séances de dessins et affichons sur les tableaux pour encourager les enfants.
Je fais la lecture dirigée ainsi que les jeux que nous avons appris au GHANA sans oublier les PUZZLES.
Avec le plastique je peux couvrir les livres sans problèmes et je veille surtout à la propreté de la bibliothèque. La propreté des bibliothèques au GHANA m’a beaucoup marqué.
Dans l’ensemble nous avons retenu beaucoup de choses pendant notre visite au GHANA ,malgré qu’il y ait une différence entre nos bibliothèques nous essayons de faire la même chose.
Nous souhaitons avoir une sortie comme celle là.
Merci
PEMOU LUCIE
BIBLIOTHEQUE DE SARA

For all of :FAVL,OSU CHILDREN LIBRARIES FUND ,thank you for everything you’ve done .I really appreciate everything you’ve done .
THE CORDINATOR
KOURA DONKOUI

Great website for book news from South Africa

2009-07-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

It is http://book.co.za/

Calling all FAVLers...

2009-07-14T13:36:00.001-07:00

Someone want to purchase these interesting sounding books and see if they would be appropriate and adaptable to programs in the village libraries we support? if so, contribute a blog entry!

BOOKS by Christy Hale

Art Activities For Little Learners: 15 Easy & Delightful Projects Using Everyday Materials (Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2004)

Quilting Activities for Young Learners: 15 Easy & Delightful "No-Sew" Projects That Reinforce Early Skills & Concepts (Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2005)

Collaborative Art & Writing Projects for Young Learners: 15 Delightful Projects That Build Early Reading and Writing Skills-and Connect to the Topics You Teach (Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2006)

Two new librarians join the FAVL team in Burkina Faso

2009-07-14T13:06:00.000-07:00

Michael,
Nous avons fait le test se recrutement a DIMIKUY et BEREBA et les heureux candidats ont les noms suivants
DIMIKUY
KORBEOGO SALIMATA
BEREBA
KOURA ZOMIZOU
Donkoui

Did I mention that Donkoui, who is the regional coordinator, and also a teacher in primary school, ad 45 out of 47 students pass the CP exam out of elementary school... he's a real inspiration- very dedicated to teaching.

Simon Oczkowski... The bitten man Reflections on international health

2009-07-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

From the open source journal Open Medicine...

Tucked away somewhere in the twisting innards of Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda, there lies the pink, neatly stapled medical file of a man who is doomed to die. I know this because I saw him on Thursday night.

“There’s an interesting case you should see if you have time,” said the attending physician cheerily. “You should look up his condition in your book and take a history. It might be good for a case write-up when you get home.”

We had just stepped into the casualty department, hoping to catch some of the evening’s action. It seemed as though the action had found us. Puzzled, one of us asked what the patient had.

“Rabies, a classic case,” the physician said. She paused. “But I’m not sure what to do about it.” Having had her say, she closed the door to the treatment room behind her, leaving us alone in the crowded hallway.

Review of The Non-Literate Other. Readings of Illiteracy in Twentieth-Century Novels in English

2009-07-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

Reviewed by Federica Zullo.

The Non-Literate Other. Readings of Illiteracy in Twentieth-Century
Novels in English
Helga Ramsey-Kurz
506 pp, 2007, $140 USD (Hardcover)
Rodopi, Amsterdam-New York

At the beginning of David Malouf’s novel, Remembering Babylon
(1993), two children from a family of colonial settlers happen to meet
a strange guy who tells them “Do not shoot. I am a b-b-British object”
(3). This is the impressive start of a narrative in which an adolescent
who escapes from England in mid-nineteenth century, arrives in
Australia, the land of “convicts,” and lives among the Aborigines for
sixteen years. After that period, his language sounds like a mixture of a
few aboriginal words and very poor English, and he represents a threat
to community life in the settler’s eyes. Malouf’s is a dazzling story
about racial hostility, newcomer fear and the impossibility of
acknowledging the “otherness” of Aboriginal culture, something that
certainly involves the problematic question of language.
Thus, it is not surprising to discover that the novel gave Helga
Ramsey-Kurz the inspiration for her illuminating and rich volume The
Non-Literate Other. Readings of Illiteracy in Twentieth-Century
Novels in English.

Read the full book review in Postcolonial Text, Vol 4, No 2 (2008)

Chinua Achebe, from Library of Congress...

2009-07-11T00:04:00.000-07:00

At 21 min. in he talks about Things Fall Apart. Very interesting!

Readers Build Vivid Mental Simulations Of Narrative Situations

2009-07-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

So I had a simulation running in my head Sunday night, when I stayed up until 2am reading the excellent Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, a very nice sci-fi dystopia for pre-teens, but works well as light entertainment for adults too. Elliot liked all the fighting, but I thought the emotional complexity of the main character was nicely drawn.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 5, 2009) — A new brain-imaging study is shedding light on what it means to "get lost" in a good book — suggesting that readers create vivid mental simulations of the sounds, sights, tastes and movements described in a textual narrative while simultaneously activating brain regions used to process similar experiences in real life.

Nicole Speer, lead author of this study, says findings demonstrate that reading is by no means a passive exercise. Rather, readers mentally simulate each new situation encountered in a narrative. Details about actions and sensation are captured from the text and integrated with personal knowledge from past experiences. These data are then run through mental simulations using brain regions that closely mirror those involved when people perform, imagine, or observe similar real-world activities.

Read more...

Great discussion of complex issue of poverty tourism

2009-07-05T23:53:00.001-07:00

From Glenna Gordon... in her Context Africa series... an excerpt...

The debate about "poverty tourism" rages on the blogosphere on the pages of the HuffPo, Bill Eastery's blog, and elsewhere. But, as Jina Moore (previous Context Africa feature), who wrote a great, nuanced piece about this for Christian Science Monitor, says,

If it’s that easy to be flip, you’re probably missing something.
Part of my goal in Context Africa is to look at projects that aren't interested in easy answers. There are people out there asking difficult questions, and coming back with stories, photos, and other works that don't provide straight answers. There's a lot of daily news out there that is factually incorrect, slanted, or stereotyped. But, there are also a lot of journalists committed to telling a different kind of story.

Today, I'm happy to highlight the work of Samantha Reinders, who is currently based in Cape Town, South Africa. Her take on Township Tourism shows that nothing is as straightforward as it might seem and even something as divisive as "poverty tourism" can be looked at with nuance.

Under The Reading Tree And The Osu Children's Library Fund Collaborate With Favl To Support The Randa Farmers' Library

2009-07-02T14:17:00.000-07:00

This is the welcome that FAVL Director Kate Parry received when she visited the village of Randa, in Bududa District of Eastern Uganda, in June 2009. Randa is up in the foothills of Mount Elgon, a beautiful place, but desperately poor. Early in 2009 one of the community's leaders, Moses Mukhobeh, wrote to FAVL, UTRT, and OCLF to ask for support for a library that the Randa United Farmers' Group had just set up. All agreed that Kate should visit and report back. She did so at the end of March 2009 and, as a result of her recommendations, OCLF agreed to donate a box of books and UTRT to pay for a part-time librarian and provide an additional book budget. On this visit in June Kate went to announce the news, to the great joy of everyone in the village. The salary will begin in July, administered by the Uganda Community Libraries Association coordinator, Grace Musoke, and the box of books will arrive in August, carried by Valeda Dent, who is coming to Uganda to do research at the Kitengesa Community Library. A wonderful result of successful networking!

Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

2009-07-02T01:44:00.000-07:00

I've just finished this beautiful long historical sci-fi novel from 1992 by Connie Willis, about a grad student in medieval history who time-travels back to the 1300s and is accidentally stranded in 1348, the black plague. There is lots of history, but the novel really turns on a portrayal of the fierce love the student comes to feel for the child Agnes. Willis is so amazingly assured in drawing the dialogue between the two, as the plague descends on the village, that it cannot be other than real, and yet it is a novel. Breathtaking, to me.

Gladwell reviews "information wants to be free"

2009-07-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

An interesting review, but all I can say is, "I love libraries."

Just thought I would share...

2009-07-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

A lovely essay by my sister, Bridget Kevane, in Brain, Child!

On Saturday, June 16, 2007, I was charged with endangering the welfare of my children, a criminal charge that, in the city where I live, Bozeman, Montana, can lead to imprisonment in the county jail. The Montana Code 46-16-130(3) states that a parent can be charged with this offense if she “knowingly endangers the child’s welfare by violating a duty of care, protection, or support.”

Typically, prosecution is pursued when an adult supplies a child younger than eighteen with drugs, prostitutes the child, abandons the child’s home, or engages in sexual conduct with the child. A violation of duty of care is described as cruel treatment, abuse, infliction of unnecessary and cruel punishment, abandonment, neglect, lack of proper medical care, clothing, shelter, and food, and evidence of bodily injury.

I was charged with this crime because I dropped my three children and their two friends off at the Bozeman Gallatin Valley Mall.

Read the full essay here...

Why doesn't FAVL...

2009-07-01T01:42:00.000-07:00

In Burkina Faso...
Have all the librarians wear snazzy polo shirts, cleaned and pressed everyday, and upload the statistics from each days checkouts, visitors, events into a cell phone that uploads to a website, interfacing with an MIS system where library "friends" could then suggest books to young readers, and even get some feedback from them,... "I liked it! What else should I read?" and also make the library super modern and super clean, with formica countertops and air conditioning all solar powered and glass windows and bottled water in a little refrigerator.

Why instead, are the librarians from the village, usually pretty nervous about doing anything in public (like reading a storybook), more likely to scowl than to smile when a "client" enters the library (very typical Burkinabè "affect") and the library is made out of mud bricks and tin roof with a thatch paillote outside, and the record-keeping is in old notebooks and somewhat imperfect?

a) We don't have enough money to make it all "modern".
b) We hate the thought of a library "franchise" where we train the librarians, after having them go through rigorous selection process so that the smartest most motivated villagers are selected, to shout 'Welcome to the library, HOW MAY I HELP YOU" to every person who walks in the door.
c) We honestly never thought of making the library a kind of branded modern franchise thingy.
d) We knew if we went that route the board would never agree on whether the polo shirts should be red or yellow.
e) We thought villagers would make fun of the librarians behind their backs.
f) The villages don't have glass, refrigerators, bottled water, electricity, web access through their cellphones, etc.

Those of you who have traveled extensively in Africa know what I mean...

A video tour of UTRT's Mpigi Community Library!

2009-06-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

FAVL's partner, Under the Reading Tree, has posted an enjoyable and well-made video capturing the activities at the Mpigi Community library in Uganda! Take a look!

Read UTRT's blog post about the library and the video here.

Reading Fatou Keita in a village...

2009-06-30T13:36:00.000-07:00

Fatou Keita's book, Le Billet de 10.000, is definitely one of the most popular in the libraries. What an awesome cover illustration. Click on the photo to see it in larger size. Photo: Madelyn Bagby.

Kwale Community library in Kenya

2009-06-30T00:06:00.000-07:00

Apparently being supported by Oakville Library in Canada. See their flickr photos...

Easterly's forefather... Ivan Ilich... crusty, nasty, but ultimately like a teddy bear

2009-06-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

Yikes I would have hated to have been in the audience... but he's right of course in emphasizing a the end of the speech that the idea is to be humble... reminds me of the wonderful but completely forgotten book by B. Traven, The Bridge in the Jungle...

IN THE CONVERSATIONS WHICH I HAVE HAD TODAY, I was impressed by two things, and I want to state them before I launch into my prepared talk.

I was impressed by your insight that the motivation of U.S. volunteers overseas springs mostly from very alienated feelings and concepts. I was equally impressed, by what I interpret as a step forward among would-be volunteers like you: openness to the idea that the only thing you can legitimately volunteer for in Latin America might be voluntary powerlessness, voluntary presence as receivers, as such, as hopefully beloved or adopted ones without any way of returning the gift.

I was equally impressed by the hypocrisy of most of you: by the hypocrisy of the atmosphere prevailing here. I say this as a brother speaking to brothers and sisters. I say it against many resistances within me; but it must be said. Your very insight, your very openness to evaluations of past programs make you hypocrites because you - or at least most of you - have decided to spend this next summer in Mexico, and therefore, you are unwilling to go far enough in your reappraisal of your program. You close your eyes because you want to go ahead and could not do so if you looked at some facts.

It is quite possible that this hypocrisy is unconscious in most of you. Intellectually, you are ready to see that the motivations which could legitimate volunteer action overseas in 1963 cannot be invoked for the same action in 1968. "Mission-vacations" among poor Mexicans were "the thing" to do for well-off U.S. students earlier in this decade: sentimental concern for newly-discovered. poverty south of the border combined with total blindness to much worse poverty at home justified such benevolent excursions. Intellectual insight into the difficulties of fruitful volunteer action had not sobered the spirit of Peace Corps Papal-and-Self-Styled Volunteers.
Today, the existence of organizations like yours is offensive to Mexico. I wanted to make this statement in order to explain why I feel sick about it all and in order to make you aware that good intentions have not much to do with what we are discussing here. To hell with good intentions. This is a theological statement. You will not help anybody by your good intentions. There is an Irish saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions; this sums up the same theological insight.

The full speech is here... worth a read.

Easterlyisms... poverty tourism

2009-06-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

Bill Easterly had a casual blog post about a serious subject, poverty tourism. In his post, he lampooned some effort by the Millennium Village movement to extract more money out of frequent visitors. Now, I could see myself, at some conference in Rwanda, thinking it might be interesting to go visit a Millenium Village, because after all, according to the website, they "are proving that by fighting poverty at the village level through community-led development, rural Africa can achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and escape from the poverty trap." So it would be interesting to see. And why not have the MV charge me for that visit, instead of making it a freebie. After all, if I'm taking up project participant time while they explain their latest crop technology, why not earn something on the side? Is there really something wrong with this?

In Burkina Faso, all the guidebooks point visitors to the village of Tiebele, near the Ghana border, where women paint fantastic geometric designs on the houses. It is pretty clear, when you visit the village, that the steady stream of tourists means houses are painted more often and better, and that plenty of people make decent livelihoods through the tourism. I grew up in Puerto Rico, a tourist destination par excellence, and remember vividly the government's efforts to educate the population about what is in everyone's collective self-interest: Smile at the tourists! Is it such a big deal? Safeway famously does it in the U.S.; heck, my "customers" (the students at the university) get the treatment all the time. We want you to be happy so you give us your money.

But Easterly has a big problem with this- he thinks its sick. He's really worried about "patronizing attitudes towards Africans." As if a book (his) called "The White Man's Burden" wasn't a patronizing attempt to separate readers' from their money. Or have you noticed the paperback cover of "The Elusive Quest for Growth"? An old-time compass and map, patronizingly reinforcing the illusion that "explorers" read about darkest Africa... and the Amazon jungle too... Cast first stone, etc.

Easterly concludes, "Try looking at the poor Rwandans living in the MV not as anonymous and interchangeable exhibits for a “poverty trap,” but as individuals who possess rights and human dignity just like us. Then we maybe we will understand that the most impressive, knowledgeable, and motivated soldiers in the war on poverty are usually poor individuals themselves." But he's so hopelessly misrepresenting the MV or other development projects, which are usually 99% local (with a couple expatriate directors or experts or low-level volunteers or grad students etc.) At FAVL, for instance, 95% of the work on the ground in the libraries and camps is done by locals. And they, like in MV, are the ones explaining to visitors what is going on, and making sure visitors understand the purposes of the libraries and how they work. How can it be dehumaizing for a village resident who works for FAVL (or MV) to be explaining to an outsider what the project is doing in terms of reading or farming or whatever. What exactly does Easterly think is dehumanizing? Does he think a village resident is "dehumanized" when he or she sees a bunch of rich people step out of an air-conditioned bus and point at a goat sitting in a tree and take pictures?

To answer my own rhetorical question, an anecdote; When I lived in a little village in Sudan for a year back in the 1980s, one day a "development worker" came by to promote bee-keeping. He was a wild guy, with a big long beard. The NGO called a meeting, and everyone in the village came and sat around. Everyone politely listened. Afterwards, not a single person grumbled about wasting an hour. They all completely dismissed the bee-keeping as pie in the sky. But that weird khuwaja (westerner) with the BEARD... he was HILARIOUS. He was talked about for weeks. So where was the dehumanization?

Stickers arriving...

2009-06-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

Thanks to some generous and kind folks, we've been receiving envelopes full of kid stickers, that we can use for summer reading camps and everyday activities to encourage reading. Thanks so much!!!!

Uh oh... wizards in Gowrie-Kunkua in Ghana

2009-06-27T02:36:00.000-07:00

From librarian Jennifer's monthly report on the library, explaining why visitors at night hours were lower:

The major problem that occurred in community was a curfew from which every member of the community was to stay indoors after five o'clock simply because a member of the community has been accuse of being a wizard and was beaten to death. As a result the law was then taking its course which the police were then arresting and person found outside after 5pm.

Dimikuy Library almost ready to open

2009-06-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

Finally I got some pix, courtesy of FAVL volunteers Amy Reggio and Madelyn Bagby... the idea here was a smaller children's library, that would have more emphasis on outdoor reading. So the library building is smaller, and it features girl's and boy's latrines (so they painted them "men" and "women".... ) (and that is Dounko with a big smile). Separate latrines is a BIG DEAL... the first ever in the village. Also FIRST EVER is the tiling of the outdoor reading area. As you can see, they did it in classic "who's in charge" style- rows for the kids, and a special seat for the storyteller in front. Why not a circle, one might ask? What, am I an anthropologist? it is one of those deep mysteries, if you ask me. When I was once asking Donkoui about doing a circular "cours" (the wall around the library), he smiled and said, "Our local masons don't do circles, just straight lines." As you can see from the tiling work, this is a "new art" for local masons... they've literally never had any tile work in a village in the area. So this is a first, and we'll see whether it takes off and whether the artistry improves over the years.

Book inventories

2009-06-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

FAVL volunteer Madelyn Bagby and FAVL regional coordinator Sanou Dounko have been doing inventories of the libraries. In general things are going well, but one library, Koumbia, had way too many lost and late books over the past five years. This library had been having some management problems, and is the furthest from our central "zone," so it is not surprising. The librarian has since been replaced with a new librarian. We will be keeping close watch. Note that the number for Karaba, 19 books lost, is the total lost over a five year period (i.e. since inception)... so about 3 books lost per year. Everything is tracked manually, and there are lots of occasions where a child might step out with a book without letting the librarian know. So that is very reasonable. But Koumbia was definitely a problem. They have not done the inventories for Bereba yet, and Boni and Dimikuy just opened.

Are you a FAVL or African village library promoter?

2009-06-26T11:47:00.000-07:00

Consider spending $5 to buy a copy of Kathy Knowles latest book, Crocodile Bread, which FAVL translated into French and Jula for our libraries in Burkina Faso. (Or you can get an English-language version from Kathy's site).

The book makes a great prop when meeting someone that you want to talk to about FAVL and African village libraries, because it communicates easily three things:

1) We care immensely about literacy that is relevant to kids in villages- so we really try hard to have books that are developed for the African village audience, and much less attention is paid to shipping low priority book (my favorite example, bless them, is Berenstein Bears, which just don't travel well). We have several programs that we are developing to be producing even more books like these. We buy books in East Africa from Fountain Publishers and other local presses.

2) We partner with other library support orgs., e.g. Osu Children's Library Fund, African Library project, Under the Reading Tree, etc. We're "Friends", not jealous friends...

3) Kids in African villages love reading just as much as kids anywhere! It is hard to convey that in an office in New York, but when someone sees the books they immediately start smiling and thinking about a kid in a village reading...

Students in Burkina Faso...

2009-06-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

I just got off a Skype call with Amy Reggio and Madelyn Bagby, two university students spending part of the summer working with the libraries in Burkina. They just returned from about 10 days in the villages. Everything went splendidly, and in particular they did a lot of reading with kids, including Crocodile Bread. They also took a lot of photos, and now will prepare a number of books: mothers and daughters working together in the village; a profile of the village midwife; girls and their favorite books. They are also preparing a book on their travels in Dogon country, which should be really neat. So expect to see some great children's books in the coming months. Someone had asked me some time ago about a $200 project, and here it is: $200 will pay for about 50 copies of one of these books, which would mean we could get it to many more libraries in Burkina. So if you want to donate to produce books (and we'll send you a signed copy of one of the books! how's that for an incentive) make your check out to FAVL and write "Microbook production, Burkina" in the memo line.

Children's book illustrator from Congo

2009-06-23T22:58:00.000-07:00

Click here for a Flash of some illustrations from the work, lovely, really, of Dominique Mwankumi.

UgCLA forms agreement with UTRT

2009-06-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

UTRT (Under The Reading Tree) is an organization based in Vancouver that, like FAVL, promotes community libraries in Africa. It is already supporting three libraries in Uganda and is just about to take on a fourth. Also like FAVL, it is conscientious about keeping in touch with its libraries and making sure that the funding it provides is sensibly used. Two of UTRT’s directors, Nate Lepp and Jonathan Nikkel, were here in Uganda last April, and we at the Uganda Community Libraries Association spent a lot of time talking with them. The upshot was that UTRT asked us to help supervise their libraries, in return for their paying Grace Musoke, our coordinator, for two days’ work a week. UTRT has just formalized the deal, and we expect the first installment of funds early in July. We all win from this arrangement: Grace can at last earn a living wage since she will be working nearly full time; UTRT will get better reporting from its libraries; and the libraries will receive their funds more regularly and will have more advice and support. Even UgCLA’s other member libraries, though not directly supported by UTRT, will benefit. Grace will be able to do work for them in combination with her UTRT work, and we are already developing reporting instruments and mechanisms for UTRT libraries that can be extended to others. So thank you, Under The Reading Tree! And please visit their website at www.underthereadingtree.org.

The fourth library mentioned above is the Randa Farmers Library about which Mukhobeh Moses wrote to FAVL, as well as to UTRT and OCF, three or four months ago. I went to visit last April, as we all agreed I should, and recommended that OCF give it some books and UTRT some support for a librarian. The books will arrive in August when my friend Valeda has agreed to bring them, and our agreement with UTRT includes a part-time librarian’s salary for Randa. I’m going there tomorrow with Mukhobeh so will be able to give the farmers the glad news and hand over a children’s dictionary that I bought with the first installment of the book grant that UTRT has also budgeted for them. This is a terrific model, I think, of cooperation among organizations interested in libraries.

The weekend’s travelling will also include a visit to a school in Manafwa District, near the Kenya border, where the director, a friend of Mukhobeh’s, proposes to set up a library. Then I’ll visit the school in Bududa town where Emily Soeder, another person who’s been corresponding with FAVL, has also set up one. That’s a school rather than a community library, but we’ve been corresponding quite a bit since she’s been asking me for advice on library organization etc.. Unfortunately, she’s away this weekend, but I spoke to her on the phone, and she’s arranging for others to meet me. Then, on the way back, I’ll visit Busolwe, where the first library in our Library 2 Library scheme is located (it’s one of the two that Espen visited), and I will drop in on two of the recipients of our small grants – one, at Kamuli, because I’ve never been there, and the other, at Njeru, because it, alone of all the recipients, had not when last visited spent the grant as it was supposed to; I trust I’ll find that it has done so by now, since otherwise I will have to ask for the money back.

Update from Kate: I’ve just visited Busolwe, which is the first library (and the only one so far) in our Library 2 Library scheme. They received their grant at the beginning of this month and, as it happens, a group of volunteers from the University of British Columbia. The librarian and volunteers together are effecting a wonderful transformation in the place. They’ve opened up a new reading room and have decorated it with a beautiful mural; they’ve instituted a reading club; and they’re still taking books round to primary schools. Since the workshop that we had there last April primary school teachers have been coming much more often to the library – though the number of actual members (i.e. who’ve paid their subscription) remains small.

6. My UN friends are proposing an Event at the UN at the beginning of October on behalf of the Kitengesa Community Library. I’m hoping that it will raise enough to complete our building project. The computer centre and library room are now almost complete, with only windows and a ceiling to put in. Then we must buy the necessary solar equipment, most of which should be paid for by the grant that we expect any day now from the University of British Columbia’s Go Global Program. My friend Eric Morrow of the Maendeleo Foundation (www.maendeleo.org) hopes to be able to contribute some computers from the grant that he has got from Intel.

E-waste in Ghana... looks good

2009-06-23T09:45:00.001-07:00

Thought you might be interested in the following:
Be sure to tune into the next episode of PBS's Frontline for their segment titled, "Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground" this upcoming Tuesday, June 23rd at 9:00 p.m ET. Click here to check local listings and to see a preview.

HT: Chad Raphael

I believe in libraries

2009-06-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

“I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries..."
- Ray Bradbury

Interesting article in today's NYTimes on Ray Bradbury's passion for supporting libraries:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/us/20ventura.html?hp

Ht: Jonathan Harris

French BD classic: L'heritier (Largo Winch)

2009-06-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

Largo Winch is the inheritor of one of the world's largest fortunes... but he's irrepressibly cool and adventurous... and someone is always trying to kill him. Action-packed BD that can be read in an enjoyable 30 minutes... like watching a TV show. What I don't get is how or why anyone would pay $15 for something like this- you can watch any TV show for free and get the same entertainment value. I guess kids like Elliot read them multiple times (E read all the Tintin ones dozens of times). So I suppose on a per read basis it turns out to under a dollar. Not so bad. Good fun, and wonderful graphics.

Why am I blogging about this on FAVL site? Few American readers know that BD are the literature of choice over there in francophone West Africa. I find it fascinating how graphic novels never really caught on in the U.S. QWERTY anyone?

What kinds of books are stocked in the libraries in Burkina Faso?

2009-06-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

We're trying to get away from Berenstein Bears... so not surprising that you've probably never heard of any of these that were a selection of books purchased for the Steve Cisler Memorial Library in Dimikuy, which is about to open sometime this month. We're waiting for the "tile"... yes, in a complete innovation for a village in Burkina, part of the outdoor reading area is going to have tiled benches... more confortable and durable and aesthetic than just plain cemented mud-brick benches... we saw a lot of tilework during our trip to Dakar last November, and Koura Donkoui, our local rep. southwestern Burkina, decided to give it a try... just one more little innovation... we'll see how it works!

Titre	Auteur
Le seigneur de la danse	Veronique Tadjo
Thieni Ghanani	CEDA
Fati n'est plus triste	EDICEF
La revanche de Sonko-le-lievre	EDICEF
Kayeli	Chantal Iritie Boan Lou
Mificao	Marie-Danielle Aka
Une cueillette ratee	O.J.R.Georges Bada
Mais qu'est-ce qu'il y a Dodo?	O.J.R.Georges Bada, Hector D. Sonon
Louty, l'enfant du village	Fatou Ndiaye Sow
Akissi reine d'une nuit	Annick Assemian
Bouh et la vache magique	Abdourahman A. Waberi, Pascale Bougeault
La carapace perdue	Assamala Amoi, Benjamin Kouadio Kouakou
Louba le petit footballeur	Sanodji Yombel Abiathar, Adi Moussa
Afi et le tambour magique	Thecla Midiohouan, Hector D. Sonon
Pourquoi je ne suis pas sur la photo?	Kidi Beby, Christian Kinge Epanya
Landisoa et les trois cailloux	Raharimanana, Jean A. Ravelona
Les jeunes detectives	Yaw Ababio Boateng
La hyene affamee	Stella Katengesya
Legendes africaines	Bernard B. Dadie
La potion magique	Inna Hampateba
La legende de sadjo	Isaie Biton Koulibaly
La belle tella	CEDA
Le garcon qui chevaucha un lion	James Ngumy
Sauvee par les animaux	Pere Castor Flammarion
L'ane au crottin d'or	Yves Pinguilly
Le Sida et autres affaires le concernant	CEDA
L'enfant et l'oeil du ciel	Ansomwin Ignace Hien
Les colombes de la paix	Ansomwin Ignace Hien
Lucy la grand-tante de l'humanite	Anne-Sophie Chilard, Claire Mobio
Le grand combat	Michael Cullup
Sarraounia la reine magicienne du Niger	Halima Hamdane, Isabelle Calin
Neka va au marche	Ifeoma Okoye
Kimboo contre la drogue	Liliana Lombardo, Kolo Toure, Basile Boli
Premiere rencontres avec Jesus	Irene Mieth
Le Club des Cinq en vacances	Enid Blyton
Princesse Zelina le rosier magique	Bruno Muscat, Edith
Karateka	Yves-Marie Clement
Un pantalon pour papa	Angela Shelf Medearis, John Ward
Conte de la marguerite	Beatrice Appia
Jack et le haricot magique	Marlene Jobert
La main sacree de metallica	Usinor Sacilor
Donito la sirene des caraibes	Conrad
Georges, ver de terre	Bruno Heitz
A la decouverte de l'anglais sur les traces de Timothy	J.C. Sentenac
Un jour dans la foret	Hemma
Le petit Dragon qui ne savait pas moucher	Odile Delattre, Benoit Rondia
Contes des peuples de l'U.R.S.S.	Robert Babloian

The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

2009-06-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to get a collection of books together for the students who will be going to Burkina Faso on the Reading West Africa study abroad program... in particular books about the power of books, or the nature of reading itself, just so even in their leisure reading the students are thinking about the importance of libraries and especially the transformative power of fiction. So in that vein I read The Book Thief. I can't recall who suggested it to me. I'm not sure the writing is Coetzee-quality (but then what is?) but the story definitely makes this a perfect leisure reading book. Grim, but not so grim as The Road. Nor, for that matter, as grim as Uwem Akpan's short story, Fattening for Gabon, which the more I think about it is truly a brilliant piece of ethnographic fiction... the character of Fofo, the uncle, is so sharply drawn it almost brings tears just to think about him.

Anyway, I strongly recommend The Book Thief for adults and readers above age 12 who are able to appreciate very strong images of death and suffering; the book is about the grim life of a young girl growing up in a small town in Germany during WWII... lots of death all around. Indeed, the narrator is Death, a clever device.

For your enjoyment... some photos from Dogon country on the Mali-Burkina border

2009-06-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

Amy Reggio, a student at Santa Clara University who was studying abroad in Dakar and who is now in Burkina Faso working on developing a number of children's books for the libraries, sent us some amazing pictures from her trip to Dogon country. Stunning.

Anne-Reed - FAVL volunteer- explains some of her activities

2009-06-12T17:52:00.001-07:00

It is a great presentation, but one little caveat- at one point she has a "speako" that the cost of printing books is 20 cents... it is more like $7 for each... with small print runs.

Books for South Sudan

2009-06-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

Teresa Jolly Holt sent us the following:

Subject: Library books

Dear Teresa,
We are a recent faith based organisation in southern sudan. WE are a
group of religiuos congregations living and working in Upper Nile State in
Souhtern Sudan. WE are having Inservice teacher training programmes for
prmary teachers. But the dire need is teaching English and the non
availability of English reading material is a drawback. We woud be grateful
if we could know how and what we do to apply for books from your resources.

Our mail address is:

Rev. Vincent Mojowk
Bishop's House,
Catholic Church
Malakal
Uper Nile State
Southern Sudan

The good people at African Library Project and Books for Africa are the best NGOs for this type of request... they do great work.

[in French] Praise for Kathy Knowles' new book, Crocodile Bread

2009-06-03T23:12:00.000-07:00

lliteracy rates in West Africa

2009-06-03T23:11:00.000-07:00

DAKAR, 22 April 2009 (IRIN) - Illiteracy rates in West Africa are the highest in the world, cramping development and weakening citizens’ power to effect socio-economic and political change, say education agencies, who are calling on governments and donors to step up literacy and education efforts.

Sixty-five million West African adults – 40 percent of the adult population – cannot read or write according to a new study, 'From closed books to open doors – West Africa's literacy challenge'.

Of the 10 countries with the world’s lowest recorded adult – 15 and older – literacy rates, seven are in West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone, the report says.

"Tens of millions of non-literate women, men and young people in West Africa are trapped behind closed doors, excluded from the living standards, educational opportunities, and democratic power that are their rights," said Mahamadou Cheick Diarra, coordinator of the African Platform for Adult Education (Pamoja).

“People [in West Africa] cannot access jobs or economic or technical opportunities that have been shown all over the world to be driving development," said the report’s author, Oxfam West Africa advocacy coordinator Caroline Pearce.

Read the full article here...

Anecdotes about books making a difference...

2009-06-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

From the NY Times...

Of course, it wasn’t the encyclopedia itself, or the encyclopedia alone, that may made the difference in Sonia Sotomayor’s life. More important was the value placed on learning that led her family to shell out nearly $400 for the Britannica in the first place. And, as Judge Sotomayor has made clear, credit must be given to the Nancy Drew mysteries, which inspired her, she has said, to become a lawyer, so it wasn’t only the Britannica that inspired her.
The story of the little girl reading the Britannica in her Bronx housing project is a perfect example of America’s most treasured narrative of success, treasured, precisely because, for many people, it was true.
It’s Abe Lincoln reading everything he could get his hands on, in part to compensate for his lack of formal schooling. Now it’s Sonia Sotomayor, being raised by a determined, hard-working widow (for whom a $400 encyclopedia must have represented a tremendous financial sacrifice) reading the Britannica in a neighborhood where few if any other people valued it as much as her mother did.
“The Britannica was a physical embodiment of the existence of a serious world where there was a lot to be learned beyond one’s own experience,” Randall Stross, author of the books “The Microsoft Way” and “Planet Google” (and an occasional contributor to The New York Times), said in a telephone conversation. “Just having it on the shelf was a way to remind kids of the importance of education, and it was a counterweight to all the trivial and even dangerous pursuits that surrounded them.”

A library for Pobe Mengao, in Burkina Faso

2009-06-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

Emilie Crofton, a dynamic Peace Corps volunteer in northern Burkina Faso, is working closely with the community of Pobe to get a library started. She's launched a blog and will be working with FAVL to get the library operational. The community already has a mueum (pictured) which is really neat. I can't wait to visit!

Here's how Emilie describes her work and the village:

My name is Emilie Crofton, from San Jose California. I am currently serving in the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso. I am volunteering as a Girls Education and Empowerment volunteer in the village of Pobe Mengao, located in the Soum province about 25k south of Djibo. The commune of Pobe Mengao has roughly 6,000 people. There is a local health clinic, primary, secondary and Franco-Arab school. Pobe's population is made up of Mossi, Peul and Korumba ethnicities. The Korumbas speak Korumfe, a local language that is slowly dying off and the village is fighting to keep alive. In 2004 a German NGO helped create a small museum in the village to help preserve the Korumba culture.

Fiction from Sudan,,, Leila Aboulela, The Translator

2009-05-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

Oddly enough, I'd just been talking with a friend about the apparent lack of Sudanese novelists accessible to English-speaking readers, apart from the recently deceased Tayeb Salih, and I literally "randomly" picked this novel from the stacks at my neighborhood library- I was browsing in the fiction section looking for African writers.

Judging from Aboulela's biography and an interview, it is a very personal novel. Definitely gives a perspective on Islam that you will not find in most novels. More Graham Greenish in it's explicit invocation of faith and crisis of faith (in religion, in one's self). She's an excellent writer, though not the same caliber as Salih, Achebe, Okri, Coetzee, etc., but then again, who is? I recommend the novel- it is short... but in full disclosure have to add that I was in the end disappointed. The ending is very pat. There was one wonderful passage, though. One about how Sammar, the main character, reconnects with her son who she hadn't seen in four years. I loved Aboulela's description of Sammar holding her son, now older, and playing "baby" with him, the only time he allows himself to enjoy that special intimacy between parent and child. Very moving.

What to do in summer reading camp? Collage!

2009-05-23T17:42:00.001-07:00

Sare Elisee worked with some kids in Sumbrungu library, Ghana how to do it when he was there last May. He called the picture "fly eagle fly" and it's what we want kids to do!

Waah, why couldn't I be there....

2009-05-22T16:21:00.001-07:00

A party to celebrate English and German translation of BD illustrated by Pov (left) and written by Jean-Claude de l`Estrac (right).

The amazing power of Lois Lowry

2009-05-22T00:03:00.000-07:00

So I just paused for breath and found that I had read 123 pages of the semi-sequel to The Giver, entitled Gathering Blue. So far it is a beautiful children's story. It is a truism that the best stories always involve an orphan with a special destiny, who hears the voice of her mother in her dreams and times of stress, calmly evoking the warmth of the hearth. But Lowry takes that commonplace and makes you want to be that orphan.

Research based education programming

2009-05-21T23:58:00.000-07:00

I found this blog post on a recent column by David Brooks to be very interesting. As FAVL moves increasingly into evaluation of programs, it is worth bearing in mind that even the best program evaluators (i.e. Fryer) can be subject to lots of immodestly... All of it worth keeping in mind the next time you read a study about the amazing power of books.

Just How Gullible Is David Brooks?
Gotham Schools ^ | 8 May 2009 | Aaron Pallas

Posted on Monday, May 11, 2009 4:46:09 PM by Bob017

Now that I have your attention … Today’s New York Times column by David Brooks touts a new study by Roland Fryer and Will Dobbie of the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) Promise Academy charter schools, two celebrated schools in Harlem. Fryer and Dobbie’s finding that the typical eighth-grader was in the 74th percentile among New York City students in mathematics leads Brooks to state that HCZ Promise Academy eliminated the black-white achievement gap. He’s so dumbstruck by this that he says it twice. Brooks takes this evidence as support for the “no excuses” model of charter schools, and, claiming that “the approach works,” challenges all cities to adopt this “remedy for the achievement gap.”

Coming on the heels of yesterday’s release of the 2009 New York State English Language Arts (ELA) results, in which the HCZ schools outperformed the citywide white average in grade 3, but were well behind the white average in grades 4, 5 and 8, skoolboy decided to drink a bit more deeply from the datastream. The figure below shows the gap between the average performance in HCZ Promise Academy and white students in New York City in ELA and math, expressed as a fraction of the standard deviation of overall performance in a given grade and year. The left side of the figure shows math performance, and the right side shows ELA performance.

It’s true that eighth-graders in 2008 scored .20 standard deviations above the citywide average for white students. But it may also be apparent that this is a very unusual pattern relative to the other data represented in this figure, all of which show continuing and sizeable advantages for white students in New York City over HCZ students. The fact that HCZ seventh-graders in 2008 were only .3 standard deviations behind white students citywide in math is a real accomplishment, and represents a shrinkage of the gap of .42 standard deviations for these students in the preceding year. However, Fryer and Dobbie, and Brooks in turn, are putting an awful lot of faith in a single data point — the remarkable increase in math scores between seventh and eighth grade for the students at HCZ who entered sixth grade in 2006. If what HCZ is doing can routinely produce a .67 standard deviation shift in math test scores in the eighth grade, that would be great. But we’re certainly not seeing an effect of that magnitude in the seventh grade. And, of course, none of this speaks to the continuing large gaps in English performance.

But here’s the kicker. In the HCZ Annual Report for the 2007-08 school year submitted to the State Education Department, data are presented on not just the state ELA and math assessments, but also the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Those eighth-graders who kicked ass on the state math test? They didn’t do so well on the low-stakes Iowa Tests. Curiously, only 2 of the 77 eighth-graders were absent on the ITBS reading test day in June, 2008, but 20 of these 77 were absent for the ITBS math test. For the 57 students who did take the ITBS math test, HCZ reported an average Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) score of 41, which failed to meet the school’s objective of an average NCE of 50 for a cohort of students who have completed at least two consecutive years at HCZ Promise Academy. In fact, this same cohort had a slightly higher average NCE of 42 in June, 2007.

Normal Curve Equivalents (NCE’s) range from 1 to 99, and are scaled to have a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 21.06. An NCE of 41 corresponds to roughly the 33rd percentile of the reference distribution, which for the ITBS would likely be a national sample of on-grade test-takers. Scoring at the 33rd percentile is no great success story.

How are we to make sense of this? One possibility is that the HCZ students didn’t take the Iowa tests seriously, and that their performance on that test doesn’t reflect their true mastery of eighth-grade mathematics. The HCZ Annual Report doesn’t offer this as a possibility, perhaps because it would be embarrassing to admit that students didn’t take some aspect of their schoolwork and school accountability plan seriously. But the three explanations that are offered are not compelling: the Iowa test skills were not consistently aligned with the New York State Standards and the Harcourt Curriculum used in the school; the linkage of classroom instruction to the skills tested on the Iowa test wasn’t consistent across the school year, and Iowa test prep began in February, 2008; and school staff didn’t use 2007 Iowa test results to identify areas of weaknesses for individual students and design appropriate intervention.

If proficiency in English and math are to mean anything, these skills have to be able to generalize to contexts other than a particular high-stakes state test. No college or employer is ever going to look at the New York State ELA and math exams in making judgments about who has the skills to be successful in their school or workplace. I’m going to hold off labeling the HCZ schools as the “Harlem Miracle” until there’s some additional evidence supporting the claim that these schools have placed their students on a level academic playing field with white students in New York City.
1 posted on Monday, May 11, 2009 4:46:09 PM by Bob017

And killjoy Charles Murray (who I always understood to be a little weird) actually posted a sensible comment

I’m not being mindlessly pessimistic. The problem is that we have had 40 years of “Miracle in X”—the early Head Start results, the Milwaukee Project, Perry Preschool, the Abecedarian Project, Marva Collins’s schools, and the Infant Health Development Project, to name some of the most widely known stories—and the history is depressingly consistent: an initial research report gets ecstatic attention in the press, then a couple of years later it turns out that the miracle is, at best, a marginal success that is not close to the initial claims.
I haven’t seen the study by Roland Fryer and Will Dobbie that was the basis for Brooks’s column, but if I’m going to be such a grinch I might as well lay out the kinds of things I will be looking for (these are generic issues, not things that I necessarily think are problems with this particular study) when I get hold of a copy:

1. Selection factors among the students. Did the program deal with a representative sample? Was random assignment used?
2. Comparison group. Who’s in it? Are they comparable to the students in the experimental group?
3. Attrition. What about the students who started the program but dropped out? How many were there? How were they doing when they dropped out?
4. Teaching to the test. After seven years of No Child Left Behind, everybody knows about this one. Worse, there are the school officials who have rigged attendance on the day the test was taken or simply faked the scores—that’s been happening too with high stakes testing.
5. Cherry-picking. Do the reported test scores include all of the tests that the students took, or just the ones that make the program look good?
6. The tests. Do they meet ordinary standards for statistical reliability, predictive validity, etc.
7. Fade-out. Large short-term test score improvements have, without exception to date, faded to modest ones within a few years.”

Georgia teacher helps out!

2009-05-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

Teacher Nancy Wilson and her mother recently partnered with African Library Project and FAVL to send off almost 80 boxes of high quality children's books that Nancy had been collecting following decades of service as an elementary school teacher. The books are now en route via container to school libraries being setup under a program organized by African Library Project and their local NGO partners. if you are a teacher or student in the U.S. and want to organize book drives for English-speaking libraries in Africa, then definitely get in touch with ALP- they are doing great work. And don;t let me not mention Books for Africa, another great organization that helps supply all sorts of libraries with books.

News from Uganda

2009-05-21T15:03:00.000-07:00

Kate Parry writes:

Some good news. I’ve recently met two young men who have already launched library projects. The first is David Ssemwogerere, who heard about us through Mukhobeh Moses of the Randa Farmers Library. He runs an NGO called D+ (Development Plus) Uganda, which has teamed up with an Australian group called HUG (Help Us Grow -- www.hug.or.au) to establish the Suubi Community Centre, which does all sorts of things but includes a library, at Lubanda village in Kisekka sub-county in Masaka District (one of my relatives lives in that sub-county). The second is Simon Mugabi, a friend of David’s, who is working for Unicef at present in Kenya but is coming home at the end of this year and is well ahead with plans for establishing a Community Empowerment and Development Centre (including a library) at Lwampanga trading centre in Nakasongola District. He, too, has support from abroad – in this case from an American woman named Lori Peacock, who has set up a not-for-profit called Nziza (www.nziza.org) to work in Rwanda and Uganda. Both of them are eager to join UgCLA and have already paid their subscriptions! I’ve sent David the application form and will send Simon his now. I’ve also been in correspondence with Helen Brown, or HUG and hope to meet her when she comes to Uganda next month; and I will write to Lori Peacock to suggest she work with both FAVL and Ready to Read, which is the organization set up by my friend who’s working on libraries in Rwanda. Both David and Simon seem to be very able and experienced and will I’m sure be good contacts for us, as Board members, perhaps, in future, and as facilitators of workshops. So, Grace, expect their application forms, and remind me to give you the 40,000/=.

Simon’s CEDC is library member number 28, Ggaba is still in line to join (Mary is just raising the money from library subscriptions), and we still have all those libraries in Toro lining up (I’ll be writing to them soon). So I’m sure we will have more than 30 libraries by the end of the year.

Librarian trainings and workshops...

2009-05-20T08:48:00.001-07:00

FAVL hosts the occasional workshop- it is a necessary part of any enterprise, and the issue is when is it taken to excess. (Many of my university colleagues know what I mean!) I found the following paragraphs from Susan Watkins and Ann Swidler particularly blunt:

(i) Training and the ‘‘Workshop Mentality”
In Malawi as elsewhere Sub-Saharan Africa, the supply of
‘‘training” has created a huge demand. In an incisive analysis
of family planning programs in Nigeria, Daniel Jordan Smith
(2003) has described the ‘‘workshop mentality,” arguing that
training and workshops provide the ideal intersection of donor
and recipient interests. Donors can believe they are doing something
self-renewing by providing training, while workshop facilitators
can build their patronage ties by providing access to the
per diems, travel allowances, and opportunities for networking
that workshops provide. But we argue that the predominance of
‘‘training” as a core donor-sponsored activity also arises from
the constraints of the sustainability doctrine. If donors are supposed
to help, but without funding substantive programs that
could breed dependency, then training and workshops are the
ideal donor-funded activity: experts will teach people skills, or
better yet teach them to teach skills, which will provide all with
the capacity to provide for their own needs.

The logic of sustainability reinforces the interstitial elites’
commitment to esoteric knowledge. If funders will not finance
substantive projects (VCT, nutrition supplements, paid healthcare
workers, paid teachers or counselors) on an on-going basis
because they would not be sustainable, then ‘‘training” is
one of the only fundable activities. And what is all that training
to consist of? Since the training is in some ways an end in
itself for both donors and those trained, the content of the
training becomes elaborate formalizations of what would
otherwise be common sense.

Swidler, A., & Watkins, S.C., ‘‘Teach a Man to Fish”: The Sustainability Doctrine and Its ..., World Development (2009), doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2008.11.002

I will add that a refrain that I hear myself repeating to a lot to potential library funders etc is, "It's not that hard to run a village library... a week working in one of our libraries is enough to get all the basic skills for administration." The harder part- storytelling, leading book discussions, imparting the love of reading, animation- is probably better imparted through one-on-one that through a formal workshop. Lots of learning by doing is needed.

World Music interlude... Amadou and Miriam from Mali

2009-05-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

Chinua Achebe: Girls at War and Other Stories.

2009-05-14T16:14:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Chinua Achebe's 1972 collection Girls at War and Other Stories. Beautifully written stories written mostly in his youth. The stories themselves often end abruptly; he had not mastered the art of the final twist that is so appealing of the short story format. But the excellence of writing is so very much there.

[French] Remerciement de Lecteur de Koumbia, Burkina Faso

2009-05-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

Je tiens à vous féliciter tout d’abords pour cette idée à la fois géniale et généreuse de mettre cette bibliothèque si fournie dans cette commune de Koumbia, mais surtout de répondre au besoin si grandissant de nos frères et sœurs en livres d’études et de sensibilisation de la jeunesse (surtout pour les écoliers et les collégiens).

Nous, travailleurs de la commune, partageons aussi ce bonheur. Moi en particulier, en plus d’être profondément touché par votre geste, je trouve en cette bibliothèque d’ailleurs à côté de chez moi, une merveille, j’allais dire une divine providence dans laquelle je ne me fais pas prier. Cette bibliothèque me permet de me cultiver, mais aussi de dompter ma solitude surtout que je viens d’arriver dans cette commune où je ne connaissais personne. Je vous en suis très reconnaissant.

Je souhaiterais néanmoins que cette bibliothèque soit agrandie dans la mesure du possible avec votre soutien.

Merci pour votre attention.

Alexandre Sawadogo

Technicien Supérieur d’Agriculture

en service a Koumbia

Real email exchange, slightly edited

2009-05-13T15:18:00.000-07:00

Michael: We wouldn't expand into another country at this point since we don't have the logistics for managing something. But we're partnering with another library organization that also works in East Africa... so between the two of us perhaps something will happen over medium term.

Bob: You are an economist, or businessman...! I am thinking of: Can I get seed money for a project? And you, rightly, can we have a management structure to keep it going as a quality service?

[French] A reader from Dohoun, Burkina Faso, sends his comments

2009-05-12T08:06:00.000-07:00

Lecteur de Dohoun

La bibliothèque villageoise de Dohoun a été crée en 2006 par FAVL. En tant que lecteur fidèle de cette bibliothèque, j’ai saisi l’occasion qui m’est offerte pour vous transmettre des informations sur ladite bibliothèque. Elles concernent trois points essentiels qui sont les suivants : Les avantages de la bibliothèque, le profit que je tire de la bibliothèque et enfin mon point de vue sur la bibliothèque.

Les avantages de la bibliothèque
- La lecture : Etant un acte de distraction, cette activité a permis aux lecteurs de se cultiver, de s’instruire et de s’informer.
- Les manuels scolaires : La bibliothèque disposant de manuels scolaires conduit chaque année nos écoliers à obtenir des résultats très satisfaisants aux examens de fin d’année
- Réduit le taux de chômage dans notre village : grâce au patrimoine de la bibliothèque, les chômeurs qui ont des diplômes sont bien préparés pour affronter les différents concours de la fonction publique et les tests de recrutement. Ce qui nous laisse voir certaines personnes qui après avoir passé deux ou cinq ans au village se retrouvent dans des écoles de formation professionnelle.
- Pour terminer, je dirai que la bibliothèque est un véritable lieu de retrouvailles car disposant de ces différents jeux éducatifs, attire les analphabètes. Ceux-ci à force de la fréquenter pourront s’alphabétiser petit a petit avec le temps.

Le profit que je tire de la bibliothèque
Avant la création de la bibliothèque, j’aimais la lecture, mais les conditions dans lesquelles je me trouvais m’amenaient à me poser ces questions : lire quel roman ou quel journal et ou les trouver et ou les lire ? Depuis sa création toutes ces questions ont eu leurs réponses et dès lors je suis devenu un grand amoureux de la lecture car celle-ci dispose d’une variété de romans, journaux, bouquins, livres etc. En d’autres termes le profit de la bibliothèque pour moi est qu’elle m’a permis de me cultiver, de m’instruire et de m’informer.

Mon point de vue sur la bibliothèque
En ce qui concerne la bibliothèque villageoise de Dohoun, j’aurais sollicité à FAVL de bien vouloir penser a notre bibliothèque qui fonctionne depuis 2006 sans électricité, pendant l’hivernage, les gens passent toute la journée en brousse. Ce qui veut dire que c’est dans la nuit que les amoureux de la lecture vont vouloir lire, mais avec quelle électricité ?

Pour conclure, je sollicite à FAVL de doter chaque village africain d’une bibliothèque villageoise, car selon moi la bibliothèque villageoise est considérée comme un centre culturel de proximité. Or sans culture, il n’y a pas de développement.

Liehoun Dofinido
Dohoun

Finally finished Jean Marie Le Clézio's Onitsha

2009-05-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

And I don't have much positive to say. For the first hundred pages I was in great admiration of the prose, but then he switches prose style when he gets to Geoffrey Allen's ruminations on scarification and mother Africa, and it got too weird and frankly boring. I forced myself to continue reading- it's a Nobel Prize winning author, after all. But maybe it was not his best effort- I've read a number of his shorter pieces and they are much more interesting. Indian blogger braindrain has a nice piece after reading a pirated English translation, but comes to an opposite conclusion....

A beautifully written book, about the intolerance and brutality of colonial powers and the destruction of native culture and exploitation of their resources. The prose is very clear and straight forward , and look at the events at difference perspective of the child, mother and the father. After a somewhat dragging initial pages of their voyage to Onitsha, the novel is a superb read.

A library founder in Uganda

2009-05-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

Kate Parry writes:

One of the Uganda Community Library Association’s members, Michael Oguttu, has written the following account of his own motives in setting up a community library at Bugiri. I have visited it, and at present it has little to offer, while the need is evidently enormous. At the same time, it’s a shining example of the kind of local initiative that UgCLA is trying to encourage. Michael himself is the librarian of another UgCLA member library, Inforall, in Kampala.

From: Oguttu Michael [mailto:micoguttu@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2009 5:07 PM
To: kateparry@earthlink.net

BUGIRI COMMUNITY LIBRARY

Background:
After working for a community in Kampala, I realized how important libraries are to the promotion of reading culture, literacy and development and also improvement of education performance in the world. This also made me believe that books/information materials or information can change/improve the ways of living. From the fact that I studied from my home district(Bugiri) Uganda, where there are so many private schools and only few government owned schools. Most of the schools have no libraries and only few have books which are kept in books, which actually limit children/students access to books. Most of the teachers don’t have access to textbooks-this means that they only use the notes they copied during their study/school days, and yet the syllabus changes which has or is leading to poor performance in education sector in most rural schools. Another fact is that the income of rural based families is so low and they can not manage to buy text books for their children, this is also proved by many parents failing to pay school fees which have led to many school drop-outs in Bugiri and Uganda at large. Not forgetting that even if the government introduced universal primary and secondary education (UPE and USE) respectively, many children/students are not going to schools due to failure by parents to buy only scholastic materials which is due to poor states in families. Although I got the interest of helping my home district/nation by establishing a community library, I didn’t wakeup one day morning and put it in place. But it was a gradual process.

STAGE 1
I started by saving some of the money from my little allowances I got.
STAGE 2
In July 2008, I attended the workshop of people who were eager to establish a community library in their local areas which was organized by Uganda community libraries association (UgCLA).after which I learnt skills of how to start and run a community library.
STAGE 3
And it was from there that I got the courage to go and talk to the leaders in Bugiri district, residents, and my family members who all welcomed the idea. But their major worry was where the funds will come from. But I answered them that all will be solved. And now the library is operating helping both children and adults.

I believe that, ‘there is nothing good like serving my others in need’.

Mr. Oguttu Michael
Founder
micoguttu@yahoo.com
bugiricomu.lib@gmail.com
+256 75 1 935 054.

(Photo:
The Bugiri Community Library. Michael Oguttu, the founder, is on the right, in the back row, and the librarian, whom he pays from his own salary, is in front. Also in the back row is Michael's brother, who works as library assistant - and all the others are children who were playing around the front of the library and whom the library hopes to serve. )

Why not a little world music interlude... Los Aslandticos

2009-05-08T22:24:00.000-07:00

An amazing song. If you don't understand Spanish this song should make you want to learn! The crowd is great, singing along. The lyrics are here.

Chambao sings about crossing the Atlantic to get from Africa to Spain

2009-05-05T22:18:00.000-07:00

The refrain is "Some never make it, their dreams drowned, wet papers, papers without owners."

Brief report from Chalula Library in Tanzania

2009-05-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

Thank you Aaron!
Kindly accept the March Report,

I am glad to inform you that the Mobile Library Exercise is the Secondary school has proved very successful. This has been so because three quarters of the school teachers have left school for farther studies so my presence and sending books to them has been a great relief to make them busy all the time. On my part it has been a strenuous but productive exercise because of moving to and fro (between Chalula and the Secondary School). But I am proud of the success and appreciation from the secondary staff and students. The Junior Readers are fit for them. We have not started charging them.

I have also included a short list of books which we need for our library. The mobile exercise I have started creates a great demand for more secondary books. Once they are motivated with our services due to various books, pamphlets, past exams, exercises etc we will start slowly charging them.

Joseph is compiling the yearly financial report which will be sent to you very soon

Attendance: March 2009

Adults	Primary school	Secondary school
Men 13	Girls 829	Girls 936
Women 9	Boys 869	Boys 740

Buying books should be given highest priority especially for secondary school services.

AARON

Dimikuy library almost ready!

2009-05-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

Just got word from Élisée that the building is done, and now it is all the little things left.

"J'ai parler avec Donkui hier, il m'a dit que le bâtiment est achevé et il ne reste que l'aménagement interne. Moi je voudrais alors profiter de la visite de Amy pour m'y rendre afin de voir l'evolution et de faire les photos (si ce n'est pas trop tard !)"

I had hoped that it would be finished in time for the Steve Cisler Memorial Lecture at Santa Clara University, Thursday May 7 at 6:30. The speaker is Manuel Castells.

The library has been funded by generous donations of friends of Steve, who passed away last year. We'll have some pictures and details at the end of May.

Messenger

2009-05-03T23:29:00.000-07:00

Just finished Lois Lowry's wonderful, but perhaps not quite interesting enough for ten-year olds, book Messenger. There's a very nice plot summary available here. We had been listening to The Giver, the Newbury-award book that precedes, by perhaps 40 year, the events this book. It was a pleasant surprise as I was reading to gradually realize the books were connected. The genre is hard to pin down- it is very small-scale fantasy, I guess, more heavy on the awe than the fantasy. The awe, in fact, is constructed by the reader knowing that the fantasy is metaphor, and not meant to be literal. The two books complement beautifully Alan Garner's Stone Quartet, which focuses all on the awe, with the fantasy only hinted at.

Kitengesa Community Library receives books (and paper cranes) from Japan

2009-05-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

Kate Parry writes from Uganda:

Two or three years ago I was visiting a friend in her office at Makerere University when a young Japanese woman walked in. Her name was Robin Sakamoto, and she was studying in Uganda before going back to teach English in Japan. The conversation turned, as it often does, to my own library work, and I told her of what we were doing in Kitengesa. Then she wrote to me about a year ago saying that she wanted to arrange a book donation project with her students. I gave her the information she needed and forgot about it – but recently I got a notice telling me to pick up a parcel at the post office. I picked it up on April 28: it is a box of the most beautiful books, all in English, though one is a translation of a Japanese manga comic book. Each book is carefully covered in plastic and contains a note from the student donor saying why she (or he) chose it; and then there is a string of carefully folded paper cranes. I wrote to Robin at once, of course, to thank her, and yesterday, May 1, she wrote back to say that she’d like to do it again, with her present group of students , and inviting me to send a list of books that we’d like. I’m often cautious about book donations, but I cannot resist this one – the books are so beautiful, and it is such a marvelous example of international cooperation around a library.

How many books can you read?

2009-05-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

Kitengesa library in Uganda has made it's 20 challenge program a regular feature of the library activities. Here's the proud winner of one of the challenge rounds! Kids get so much motivation from accomplishing goals; they start off by thinking this is something that can never be achieved, but once they get rolling and finish the task, they are raring to move on to the next challenge.

Book tour in Nigeria!

2009-05-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

From the "I'd love to be there" category, by way of EverythinLiterature:

From May 2nd to Saturday June 6th 2009, nine Nigerian writers will embark on a book tour to 4 cities across Nigeria. The event is themed 9 Writers, 4 Cities: The Book Tour, and it is a series of book readings, book signings and discussions. Each event will be recorded and made available for download online. The series of weekend readings will hold in Benin, Ibadan, Lagos and Warri. The first event, which is to be hosted by Writers Anonymous at the African Artists Foundation in Lagos, will be followed by a ‘Book Party’. The participating writers are: Odia Ofeimun (poet and author of The Poet Lied), Toni Kan (author of Nights of a Creaking Bed), Lindsay Barrett (journalist, poet and author of several books, including Song for Mumu), Jumoke Verissimo (author of I am Memory), Tade Ipadeola (a lawyer and author of the poetry collection A Sign of Times), Joy Isi Bewaji (author of Eko Dialogue), Eghosa Imasuen ( medical doctor and author of To Saint Patrick), A. Igoni Barrett (managing editor of Farafina magazine and author of From Caves of Rotten Teeth) and Bimbo Adelakun ( journalist and author of Under the Brown Rusted Roofs).