April 2012 Archives

I'd like to apologize to all you FAVL fans out there for my lack of blog updates lately. I know you're on the edges of your seats waiting to hear what's going on here in good ole Ouagadougou.

Dounko and I have been pretty busy lately. The FAVL team just finished up a round of evaluations for the LED research, and we've working hard to enter all the data into the computer. The responses are really interesting, and you have to chuckle when a kid tells you that one of his evening tasks is eating and it's difficult. We hope to be done with this by the end of the week!

We've also been making the rounds in Ouaga FINALLY dropping off the letter to ask for financial help for the reading camps. So far, we have a few positive "we're interested and we'll see what we can do"s. We're going to work to make sure they become "we'd love to help out your camps because it's an awesome project"s! We got a very positive response from a representative of the American Embassy in Ouagadougou, so keep your fingers crossed!

I will be leaving for Ghana on Monday to visit our 3 libraries there. I'll be doing a training with another PCV from Burkina and Brianna about how to sustain Brianna's health literacy class after her departure in a couple of weeks. Kerry and I will also be débuing our new health book for primary school students, Mary Loses Her Teeth. It's the riveting tale of a young girl who learns about oral hygiene from her father, and when she doesn't follow his advice, learns firsthand what can happen when you don't take care of your teeth. The French version, Fatou Perde Ses Dents, will be available in Burkina upon our return. Looking forward to a few days in *knock on wood* the cooler temperatures of a country already in the midst of rainy season!

In the meantime, enjoy an image from the LED Evaluations:

A response to a question in our survey of library users.  The student picked a, and added "it was moumouni who stole it"  The it? The solar lantern we distributed back in May 2011.  Should we prosecute "moumouni "?!  (Note, to protect confidentiality I have changed the name....)

Let's remark that there are a dozen "moumouni" in every village... Round up the usual suspects!

Le travail sur les camps de lecture avance. Voici les nouvelles:

Le Corps de la Paix a donné permission d'utiliser la salle au bureau pour la formation des volontaires. La date de la formation est le 23 juin. Pendant la semaine, je vais envoyer un mail pour voir le nombre des volontaires qui sont intéressés a participer aux camps.

Regina et moi, on va rencontrer un représentant de l'ambassade d'Amérique pour demander les fonds. L'ambassade donne les petits bourses aux projets au Burkina, et on va discuter si FAVL peut être un récipient des fonds. Le rencontre est à 17h30 demain.

Dounko et moi, on va commencer à déposer les lettres de demandes de soutien demain.

On a passé a DIACFA and Mercury (une autre libraire à Ouaga) et on a choisi deux livres pour les camps. Bouba et Zaza Protègent La Terre (à 1.800 FCFA per copie; 45.000 FCFA en total) et Le Rêve d'Amina par Fatou N'Diaye Sow et Moustapha N'Diaye, l'histoire d'une petite fille qui veut aller à l'école (à 2.900 par copie et 36.250 en total). La dernier, on doit commander les copies et ça va venir dans 3 semaines. On a décidé que 25 copies chacun est bon.

On va voir si on peut joindre un bande-dessiné Kouka comme c'est juste 100 FCFA par copie.

On Thursday, April 19, the monthly librarian meeting for the month of March took place in Houndé. (It had been delayed due to LED research evaluations and preparation for the Monique's departure.)

Here was what we talked about:

1. Summary of the latrine and hygiene training in Baskouré
2. LED research
3. Discussion and distribution of Echo Library Newsletter and Annual Report 2011
4. Reminder to librarians to recuperate late books
5. Miscellaneous
    a. Introduction of Antoinette - a Peace Corps volunteer who will be working with FAVL in     Houndé
    b. Departure of Monique

    c. World Malaria Day (April 25)

During the summary of the latrine and hygiene training, Dounko gave a demonstration of how to contruct a handwashing station. The librarians all took turns using the station (Dounko showed them that they should turn off the "faucet" with an elbow so that they didn't recontaminate their hands after washing them.). An old woman who lives in the courtyard saw our demonstration and was interested. So Donkoui showed her how to use the handwashing station, and then she used it herself. It was a nice little demonstration of our skills, and when Donkoui gets a handwashing station for his courtyard, hopefully she will use it too! We encouraged all of the librarians to construct the stations (which are very inexpensive) at their libraries and their homes. We also asked the librarians to come up with a schedule of activities for presenting the information they learned about hygiene at their libraries. 

 

Pourquoi faire de la recherche sur les programmes d'appui a la lecture dans le zone FAVL

La recherche sur la distribution de lampes solaires pour encourager la lecture nous aide dans plusieurs sens.

1.  On a pu faire un acte de bénévolat pour les élèves... avec la donation de lampes.

2. On pourra mesurer les effets de cette donation, pour voir si ca vaut la peine... si les effets sont petits, mieux vaut faire une autre interventions (camps de lecture, donation de livre, programmes au sein de la bibliothèque, etc.) Donc c'est très important de évaluer chaque projet objectivement!

3. C'est une forme de compensation pour FAVL.  A cet égard, Donkoui devrait, le plus rapidement possible, me fournir avec les reçus et budget globale de tous les dépenses de la recherche, comme ca je pourrai demander a être rembourser.  FAVL-Burkina devrait aussi inclure les frais de "temps" de Donkoui et Dounko et autres staff FAVL.  Aussi les frais du véhicule... peut-être a raison de 10.000 CFA par jour?  Comme ca la recherche subventionne un peu nos activités.

4.  Dounko, Donkoui et autres prennent de l'expérience/expertise de recherche, très important pour notre future de FAVL-Burkina comme "maison d'expertise"

5.  On peut créer de l'emploi pour nos partenaires locales (instituteurs, cuisinières, chauffer, etc.)  Bonne chose.

I thought this email exchange should be shared with everyone interested supporting community libraries in Tanzania!  Contact the interested parties...

A.K. Hassan akhassan@esrf.or.tz

Sarah Switzer-Dogra maktaba4afrika@yahoo.ca

Rahim Niah'" coseta09@gmail.com

Dear Rahim

I have come across this email from Sarah, which has reminded me of the meeting with one official from EIFL an organization interested in supporting community and public libraries in EA.

It has provided grants (competitive) in Uganda and Kenya. In Tanzania we have not yet benefited from this (Public libraries through TLSB are in process) because of the absence of the body that unites this type of libraries. I talked to the official and promised as chairperson of Tanzania Library Association - to find the way to meet and see the way forward for community libraries in Tanzania.

I am therefore writing this email to propose a formal meeting between representative of community libraries in Tanzania and The Executive Committee of Tanzania Library Association to see how we can jointly assist to develop community libraries development in Tanzania and the profession in general. If you accept the idea of having a meeting, can you suggest a date and venue for the meeting?

With kind regards

A.K. Hassan

 

From: Sarah Switzer [mailto:maktaba4afrika@yahoo.ca]
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2012 4:29 PM
To: A.K. Hassan
Cc: Rahim Niah

Hello Hassan!

It is great to hear from you as well!  I am CC'ing this email to the TaCLA coordinator.  He can put you in touch with the rest of the board members as well!

Rahim, Hassan and I talked about the need for a TaCLA many years ago and he gave MANY good advices.  Please communicate well with him :)  He has previously worked with the public libraries of Tanzania and has experience with the Tanzania Library Association.

Rahim, keep me up to date on TaCLA activities.  Do you have any plans for a workshop for your members this year?  Any more support from Book Aid for such a workshop?  Does the association have their association status yet?

I hope some for some good news!

Blessings,

Sarah Switzer-Dogra

I've lately strayed far from African literature, hoping to get back to it soon.  I went on a sci-fi tour this past year, as readers of the blog know, and finally ended up with China Miéville who I have been hearing about for several years.  Embassytown is good but not particularly great. I found myself skimming a lot.  And the ending is a complete disaster... like the Narnia movies where you have to stage a giant battle... why?  So untrue to the vision.  A battle?  Really?  They can travel through the "immer" millions of light-years but they still have battles with smoke and dead bodies?  But the setup and premise was really clever.  The idea of the "language" that can only be spoken by special ambassadors is well executed.  As is the idea of language as a kind of drug, taking the meme notion to the extreme.  Any true sci-fi fans will of course have read this already, so no need to recommend.  But if you are not a sci-fi reader, but are a really intellectually curious reader, I would encourage this one...  Especially as a gift for a precocious 15 year old....

I forgot to post this last December... I think it is sweet.  Welcome Simon to the FAVL team!

From lefaso.net:

Le Premier ministre, Luc Adolphe Tiao, a visité, les 13 et 14 avril 2012, les sites d'accueil de réfugiés maliens de Mentao dans le Soum et de Gandafabou à Déou dans l'Oudalan. Sur ces deux sites, le chef du gouvernement a promis à la forte communauté touarègue et arabe, le minimum vital pour leur séjour en territoire burkinabè.

Des huttes confectionnées avec des vieux pagnes, des tentes offertes par le Haut-commissariat des Nations unies aux réfugiés (HCR), le tout sur une superficie à perte de vue. Une colonie de gamins massés à même le sol et une grande communauté touarègue réfugiée au Burkina Faso mobilisée pour la circonstance, afin d'accueillir le Premier ministre, Luc Adolphe Tiao, le vendredi 13 avril 2012 à Mentao, village situé dans la commune de Djibo. Sur le terrain, la présence des partenaires est visible pour tout visiteur à l'image du HCR, du Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM), du Fonds des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO) et des institutions rattachées au ministère de l'Action sociale.

Ce site qui compte plus de 3 mille réfugiés, selon le haut-commissaire de la province du Soum, Barké Ima, fait partie des premiers à accueillir la communauté touarègue qui a fui la crise du Nord- Mali. Mais ces réfugiés qui n'ont pas caché leur satisfaction d'avoir reçu la visite du chef du gouvernement ont indiqué vivre de nombreux problèmes qui compliquent leur séjour à Mentao. Cheick Mohamed, étudiant en 3e année en lettres, a souligné que les conditions de vie sur le site sont très difficiles. « Nous avons besoin de l'aide par rapport à la nourriture et au logement. La cohabitation même entre nous refugiés est un peu difficile. Il y a ici des Touaregs et des Arabes et au niveau de la nourriture, on assiste à des querelles.

Les chefs ne font d'ailleurs pas les choses comme il se doit. Ils ne luttent que pour leurs propres intérêts », a déploré l'étudiant en lettres, obligé d'abandonner les amphis à cause de la guerre. Pour le représentant des réfugiés, Mohamed El Maouloud, les principales préoccupations tournent autour, non pas des guerres intestines, mais de l'insécurité alimentaire, de l'habitat et de la sécurité du bétail. Le chef du gouvernement a indiqué aux refugiés qu'il est venu les encourager de la part du président du Faso, médiateur dans la crise malienne et surtout, s'imprégner de leurs conditions de vie. « Nous sommes conscients que vous vivez dans des conditions difficiles. Mais vous êtes venus à un moment où notre pays traverse une crise alimentaire. Il est donc difficile pour nous de vous donner tout le confort pour votre séjour », a relevé le chef du gouvernement aux réfugiés maliens.

« Nous ne sommes pas contre vos us et coutumes, mais... »

Toutefois, Luc Adophe Tiao a promis à ces réfugiés la sécurité et le minimum vital pour assurer leur alimentation, l'éducation de leurs enfants, leur santé et la prise en charge de leur bétail. « Notre souhait est que la paix revienne au Mali. C'est pourquoi le médiateur travaille à cela. Mais après la crise, tous ceux qui veulent rester au Burkina Faso, nous les accueillons à bras ouverts », a indiqué le Premier ministre, à la grande communauté malienne venue l'écouter. Il les a invités à vivre dans la paix avec les populations autochtones. Le samedi 14 mars 2012, Luc Adolphe Tiao était à Gandafabou, dans la commune de Déou, province de l'Oudalan, pour s'enquérir aussi des réalités des 3420 réfugiés sur ce site. Selon le gouverneur de la région du Sahel, le colonel-major Boureima Yiougo, la province de l'Oudalan compte au total, plus de 20300 réfugiés.

A entendre leur représentant, Mohamed Youssouf Ag Ghallas, ils sont bien intégrés dans la localité et leurs us et coutumes sont bien respectés. Il a précisé que leurs préoccupations sont les mêmes que celles vécues dans les autres sites. Luc Adolphe Tiao a prêché aussi à Déou la même nouvelle qu'à Mentao. Il a promis, en outre, de tout mettre en œuvre pour permettre aux élèves et étudiants réfugiés de pouvoir poursuivre leur cursus scolaire et universitaire normalement. Sur le respect de leurs traditions, le Premier ministre leur a dit ceci : « Nous ne sommes pas contre vos us et coutumes, pourvu qu'ils ne troublent pas l'ordre public et la sécurité nationale. Respectez les lois en vigueur dans notre pays, ainsi que les traditions des habitants avec lesquels vous cohabitez ». A Mentao comme à Gandafabou, le Premier ministre a procédé à des remises de vivres et de matériels divers aux réfugiés.

Lassané Osée OUEDRAOGO (oseelass@yahoo.fr)

Sidwaya

From Brianna:

Last week my health literacy students took a few days off for Easter, and Lucas suggested we go explore Mole National Park. My days here are flying by, and I wouldn't have many more chances to visit, so I jumped at the chance. In addition to the park, I would also get to see the climactic differences across the country, and how the architecture varied from the Upper East, where we have flat-roofed square houses, to the thatched-roof round houses in the Northern Region, though both types are made of adobe and both are arranged in circular compounds.

After the sort of bus trip that makes you appreciate paved roads and any other form of transportation, we arrived at the Mole Motel. As a Seattle girl, I soaked up all the green I had been missing, and couldn't wait for the cool relief of a swimming in the pool.

We woke up early in the morning, and met our guides who would take us on our safari walk. We headed down the escarpment towards the watering holes to begin our day, where we had our first animal sighting: warthogs. I believe that whoever cast Pumba recognized the naturally comedic nature of an animal that looks too fat for its little feet, but is still armed with sharp tusks. We moved on, and I was pleased that I hadn't lost my natural ability to walk right behind the guide, no matter where I started from in the crowd. While this is the natural tendency of an annoying teacher's pet (no comment on that) it is also really useful on walking safaris to be in the lead, before the shuffling noisy footsteps of the group scare off the animals.

We were able to see a lot of species of antelope including kob, waterbuck, and duikers. We also saw many birds, including one of my favorites simply based on looks, the grey hooded kingfisher, with stunning blue wings when it is flying, and really difficult to see when it is still.

However, we had to head back for the day without having seen the big attraction, elephants.
We grabbed some breakfast at the staff canteen, while warthogs milled around by the women cooking. This family of warthogs was apparently unaware that they were supposed to be aggressive when they were with their young, since they completely ignored us in their foraging even when a human baby started spraying the warthog baby with a sachet of water just to see how it would react. It reacted like you or I would: surprised and a little annoyed, but hey, it's 100 degrees out so who can complain about some refreshing water.

Before we could escape the growing heat in the swimming pool, we got a call from the guide that the elephants had the same idea and were in the watering hole. You could see them from the viewing deck of the hotel, but we wanted a closer look so we scrambled back down the escarpment with the guide. As we approached, and the elephant got out, our guide warned us that this elephant was not one of the ones familiar with humans, so it wouldn't be friendly. We had to keep our distance. However "our distance" was surprisingly close, which caused a large number of our group to panic and start to run away when the elephant suddenly let go a large trumpet and stamped his feet at us. The guide was armed, and urged us to stick close to him. When the elephant got closer, our guide picked up a stick and threw it at the elephant. And the elephant went away. This awesome display of human/animal interactions showed us the cheeky bravery of our guide, and also provided me something to tease Lucas about for the rest of the trip ("remember when the guide yelled at you for trying to run away?") which we spent lazily swimming, reading, and watching more elephants from the comfort of the viewing deck by the pool.

I don't often post from the NY Times, but this was a pretty decent article.  Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso has a lively arts scene.

Even in stable times life can be hard for artists in West Africa. Not that art ever stops being made. Cities like Abidjan, Dakar in Senegal, and Bamako in Mali are saturated in it. Murals cover public walls and the sides of trucks and buses. Pottery, metalwork and weaving, in styles new and old, fill open-air markets. Portraits of jazzy beauties, Sufi saints and culture heroes (Che, Mandela, Obama, Madonna) are for sale everywhere. But the elements that in the West make a healthy contemporary scene -- galleries, museums, collectors, journals, critics and a steady, responsive audience -- are in short supply. And the degree of isolation of individual artists from others across the continent and from art developments worldwide is almost inconceivable to an urban Westerner who takes instant global communication for granted. Both despite and because of such isolation, local artist networks coalesce occasionally into tight and efficient collectives like Huit Facettes in Dakar, more often as loose affinity groups of fellow art students and friends. For a visitor, like this art critic on a monthlong trip in Africa, such groups can be difficult to find in cities that have nothing resembling art neighborhoods. But they're there. So are a few alternative spaces, conceived on a Western model, often with Western backing, like Raw Material Company in Dakar; Appartement 22 in Rabat, Morocco; and Zoma Contemporary Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Raw Material, run by Kuoho Koyo, a curator from Cameroon, encompasses a gallery, a library stocked with foreign catalogs and magazines, and a cafe-bar. It's more than just an urbane hangout. You could practically live there.

I came across this chart of the trends for the real value of the dollar (the exchange rate adjusted for inflation, or purchasing power, in a sense) in Econbrowser.com, and realized with a start that one of the reasons FAVL got started in Burkina in 2001 was... the dollar was so darn high!  And so establishing libraries seems incredibly inexpensive.  I wonder if we would have been so enthusiastic if the dollar had been at its low!  Anyway, 15 libraries later, all I can say it thanks to the hundreds of generous donors that have enabled thousands of kids (and grown ups to) become avid readers in some of the most unfavored places in the world.

I came across an interview with the famous author from April 12, 2011 on LATimes.com. Even though Ms. Cleary was definitely not talking about Africa or not even about libraries, there was one part of the interview that really hit home with the mission of FAVL. She said:

I had a bad time in school in the first grade. Because I had been a rather lonely child on a farm, but I was free and wild and to be shut up in a classroom -- there were 40 children on those days in the classroom, and it was quite a shock. The reader was incredibly stupid -- about Ruth and John and Rover. But my mother always kept library books in the house, and one rainy Sunday afternoon -- this was before television, and we didn't even have a radio -- I picked up a book to look at the pictures and discovered I was reading and enjoying what I read. It was "The Dutch Twins" by Lucy Fitch Perkins, who did a series of books about twins in different countries. Maybe that's why I had twins. (laughs) Something happened in "The Dutch Twins." They fell into the Zuider Zee. They were lively stories, with a simple vocabulary, so then I took off with this and I've been a reader ever since.

I really like what she has to say here. Mostly because we have a lot of kids who have no interest in school or learning whatsoever and come into a FAVL library just to look at books' images, especially those in our photo books. These are kids who probably don't speak/very much French and get discouraged in their large classrooms where they probably have little idea of what's going on. But they can understand simple language that is used in these photo books and are encouraged to look at more books and maybe even expand their literacy skills. 

We get a question a lot, from Burkinabè especially, about why, when Burkina has so many problems (food security, in particular), do we bother promoting literacy. Monique and I still to this day talk about the presentation we gave at the PC 50th Anniversary Fair, where someone asked why we give books to children instead of sacks of rice. They're right, in a way. One could argue that food security is the most pressing issue that Burkina faces, especially as climate change brings increasingly unpredictable rainy seasons and Malian refugees take shelter here. But that doesn't mean that all development solutions should necessarily fit into a box called "Food Security" and all resources be directed towards those kinds of programs. And it doesn't mean that development should equal food hand-outs. Because if there is anything I have learned in my three years in Burkina, development is a multi-layered beast, and efforts in all sectors are necessary to bring it about. So who knows when a kid if going to wander into a FAVL library one day, picks up a book and love it like Beverly Cleary did so long ago, and go on to become the Burkinabè politician who solves all these problems. Okay, that may be a bit far fetched. But maybe he'll become interested in reading, one day read about a new farming technique, share it in his village, and that village's food security problems will be alleviated. A much more realistic scenario.

From FAVL volunteer Brianna Osetinsky, in Ghana:

A few Saturdays ago there was a perfect storm for poor attendance to the health literacy class in Sumbrungu library: it was market day, there were two important funerals, and also it was the Saturday before Palm Sunday,
 
When class time rolled around, there was only one student present. When 10 minutes had passed, there was still only one student present. I decided to swallow my annoyance at the other students, and focus on making it the best private tutoring session for the one dedicated student Beatrice, who has never missed a class.

I grew up surrounded by books, and some of my favorite childhood memories of my father come from us reading together, despite his penchant for picking age inappropriate books (reading your seven year old The Pearl pretty much guarantees she will grow up with a stark view of human nature and greed). However, for people who didn't have that exposure to reading, books are somewhat of a foreign object no matter how much we encouraged the students to use the library to practice reading. I decided in this private lesson Beatrice and I would read a book together, since reading with someone else can be very pleasant and educational, and it can break down the distance between the new reader and the world of books.

I picked one of the books from the Reading West Africa Program, What Work Do You Do? by Brian Lance. This book was fantastic for Beatrice, who has only recently mastered her letters and sounds, and has been working on sounding out and identifying words. The sentences were formulaic so she could start seeing patterns, and the pictures were both accurate and interesting to help her identify and understand the larger words like butcher or mechanic

The first several pages I would read the sentence, explain it to her, and then she would repeat it. After several pages of correcting herself as she repeated the sentences, Beatrice correctly read a new sentence all by herself. With my help she stumbled through the rest of the book, and at the end I don't know who was more proud between the two of us. My favorite teachers have told me about the intrinsic rewards of teaching, and I have volunteered and tutored in the past, but I was still unprepared for the amount of pride and happiness I felt in my student finishing a book and being able to read sentences on her own.

Now literacy doesn't come in a day, not even during a one-on-one reading session, but that moment when Beatrice realized that she was capable of reading sentences on her own and of finishing a book will help carry her through the frustrations that come with learning to read, especially as an adult. It also reminded me, like a saccharine after school special, that even in the failure of having most of my students miss class, I could find a lot of joy and merit in my work.

Although I feel like this article very much simplifies the reasons behind behavioral change to "something being lost in translation" when aid is only delivered in elite languages, it is definitely a very important consideration that if oftentimes not addressed in projects. A lot of people in villages here in Burkina don't understand French, and it's very important to spread messages of the importance of health care, education and development in both the official language of a country and it's many local languages. Thus, Translators Without Borders is taking on a very noble and difficult (tiny Burkina alone has over 65 different languages spoken within its borders) task. It's a task that FAVL also participate in, especially with our various photo books that are in French/Dioula and in Dioula. This helps spread literacy and important messages of education amongst even those who are not literate in French.    

I think part of me is a sucker for any book by Gallimard... the distinctive style and quality just makes you feel more intelligent.  And a commonplace: If you read it on an airplane while others people are reading either Kindles or trashy airport stuff, you feel like the complete college-educated snob that you really are! 

A Wikipedia contributor sums up the novel in one sentence: "It is the story of an Arab girl whose life is full of adventures. A brothel in Morocco, a Spanish slum, Parisian Bohemian life, and at last a trip to America, where she fulfills her dream of becoming a jazz singer."  That last part- about her having a dream, is not true really. And a relevant part of the story is that the girl is really more African than Arab.  I guess I should correct Wikipedia?

Overall the book was disappointing.  It is a novel intended I think for the teen reader from developing countries: the style is very straightforward, it is a "real" picaresque tale in that the narrator just keeps moving from place and situation to another, and things are always happening to her by chance... but it is real (=grim) in that the good things are all small good things (she finds a sympathetic friend; she learns she can sing and loves music) while the bad things are pretty bad (she fritters away her chance to be successful at music because she does not... what exactly?; she gets raped; she is abducted as a child...).  It is all really sad, but really true. 

Unfortunately for an adult reader like me, I could not invest emotionally in her life story... Le Clézio (deliberately?) makes her not very deep in her reflections about her situation (she makes the same mistakes, she doesn't reflect that she is making mistakes, she has no penetrating insight into the character of her friends).  I suppose at some level is it exactly what he set out to do- an account of an ordinary life that is extraordinary for his reader, because his typical reader is so privileged that the poverty and desperation the characters are in seems extraordinary.  But of course the situations described are very common and ordinary. 

So what to make of the whole thing? I honestly don't know my overall assessment... none of the real lyricism of other Le Clézio novels, nor of my current crop of favorites (Beppe Fenoglio and Alan Garner) and none of the hard-driving devilish clever sci-fi storytelling of my other current favorites (China Miéville, Vernor Vinge, Ted Chiang). 

It's like a food that is good for me... but the chewing and the swallowing leaves no taste or aftertaste.   I did enjoy reading the French though, because in truth the level is exactly my level.  I mean, it was wonderful to be immersed completely and not once come across a realization of my limitations as a French reader.

This morning I gave a presentation at the International School of Ouagadougou (ISO) to help kick off their literacy month activities. They will be holding a read-a-thon from now until April 27th to raise money for FAVL's 2012 reading camps. During my presentation, I explained what FAVL is, what we do and how the read-a-thon is going to help us. For the read-a-thon itself, an activity mostly organized by ISO's librarian, students will ask for pledges for 15 blocks of time, and will pledge to read a certain amount of 15 minute blocks by the end of the month. The high school kids, who are required to do a certain amount of community service during the year, have extra incentive to participate as each participant will receive 5 hours of community service. The librarian also promised a schoolwide prize if everyone participates. She was very hopeful for a wide participation from the students. An expat volunteer for FAVL, who is also an ISO parent, has been working on outreach to parents to get maximum participation in the event.

Other events during ISO's Literacy Month include a D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) day where kids get to come dressed in pajamas and bring stuffed animals, a Poetry Slam and a Book Swap.

We're hoping for an awesome participation so we can raise some money for the reading camps!

There are a lot of ways to become a failure, but never taking a chance is the most successful. It was this reason that the Sherigu Community decided to take this chance and organize a quiz for students to see whether the struggle of FAVL/CESRUD in harvesting the reading culture in students/children would come through. It all came on the 7th of March 2012, where Dorongo and Sherigu Junior High schools battled against each other in Mathematics, Science, English Language, and General Knowledge. The function was attended not only by present students, but some parents, head-teachers, assembly persons, and retired educators.












As mentioned, Dorongo Junior High School head teacher chaired the function and in fact the function was worth witnessing since the quiz was educational and life improving method. The librarian could not have expressed his feeling if he was asked to do so because of the presence of some personalities which overjoyed him, this he said was the concern presence of parents, who are not even educated but saw the need to witness how their wards were going to compete. He acknowledged their presence and made them to feel at home though they were not understanding what was said in the competition.

What was also amazing was the manner in which students answered questions posed to them. Though questions were of standard (not simple) students tackled them well that gave them marks. In fact, it should be added that the audience made the day well, since questions which could not be answered by the competitors were turned to them and answers flew from all corners.

It was just a ram to ram balled between both schools but as it out to have a winner and a loser at the end of the competition Dorongo Junior High carried the day with 38 points representing 55% performance which they took a wall clock as winner's award and Sherigu Junior High trailing with 33 points representing 45% performance which they had no award since there were only two schools and needed not to take second winner award but all contestants from both school had two pens each to their credit.

This librarian doubts not that the children will have a better academic future if programs like this are organized for them. At the end of the competition Mr. Simon Abanga, a leader of the Catholic community gave his word and assured students of his ready support if only they pass their examination and wanting to go to senior high schools. Honorable Dorongo electoral area also gave his word and assured the organizer his support to programs like this. A parent, Madam Elizabeth Adame, who came to witness, also advised student to take their studies seriously since they are blessed to be educated, and also lauded them for their performance.

The librarian at the end thanked the management committee, quiz masters, various headteachers as well as staff members and all who help in bringing through the quiz. He thanked the coordinator very much for approving it to him to carry out the competition organization. He assured student that, more programs would be organized for them and cold be extended to the senior high school lever. To the various personalities he thanked them for their time and wished them well in all they do. Not forgetting Brianna Osetinsky who came very early for the program but could not stay to the starting due to her slight illness but her camera was used to capture pictures to which could serve as reference. He said all gates are open to any idea of improving on children's reading culture in the library.

She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Suriname.

The days have been long but the months have been short. It is hard to believe that we only have about five months left of our Peace Corps service. Half of our villagers talk as if we are leaving tomorrow and the other half insist that we have become so Saramaccan that we cannot possible go back and live in America. Though I appreciate the integration compliment, let me assure everyone back home that there is no doubt that we will be returning to the states this summer. ;) Like much of our time in this extreme, cultural challenge, emotions are high. One moment volunteers in my training group are exhausted from almost 2 years of washing clothes in the river and just want to go home now. The next they are close to tears at the thought of not waking up next to neighbors they have come to love. My heart is also being pulled in two directions.

What I WILL miss about my life in Suriname: · Our neighbor girl, Lefurny. I don't know how I'm going to be able to leave her. L · Simplicity. · The richness of spreading information to people who have not heard it before. · Being able to wear flip flops and tank tops every day. · Having it literally not matter what I wear because the person next to me is wearing a lady's see through nightie as a daytime outfit. · The creek by my house. · Green everywhere. · The amazing and strong women here. If I start to think about all of them and the work we have done together, I will be a blubbering mess. · Being so close to nature. · My porch! · Getting to hang out with my hubby so much! · Learning firsthand about the realities and challenges of development work. · Being able to learn new things about Saramaccan culture in my everyday life. · Not having to constantly rush from one thing to the next. · Not having to pay rent, water, electricity, and phone bills. Eek! My fellow Peace Corps Volunteer friends. They are the only ones who truly understand what I've experienced here.

My favorite place in the world when I was a kid was the library. Our village library in upstate New York was the best of all. As my mother will attest, I could spend hours in there wandering about, collected a ridiculously large stack of books that no one thought I could read until three days later I demanded to go back to the library because I'd finished all of my books already.

When I was in preschool, I stayed with my grandparents a few days a week because they lived closer to my school, and it made everyone's life easier. My grandma used to pick me up around lunchtime, while my grandpa was still at work and we had "Grandma-Krystle" time. Since I was only like three or four at the time, I remember very little from those days. Except mozzarella grilled cheese sandwiches cut into four triangles and going to the library with her to check out those little Beatrix Potter books. I loved reading them over and over to my grandparents and then taking them home and forcing my little sister to let me read them to her. So I came across this on the "Letters of Note" website, and it brought me back to the good old days of visiting the library and reading about Peter Rabbit.

Apparently, the story started out as a letter to her friend's child and later she went back and expanded the story for her book. It's funny how that kind of stuff sticks with you more than 20 years later. If FAVL libraries have that long-lasting impact on just a few kids, I think it means we've done our job.

Here's the transcript of the letter from the website. Check out the actual website because they show the original letter with drawings. It's very cute!

Eastwood
Dunkeld
Sep 4th 93

My dear Noel,

I don't know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits whose names were - Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter.

They lived with their mother in a sand bank under the root of a big fir tree.

"Now my dears," said old Mrs Bunny "you may go into the field or down the lane, but don't go into Mr McGregor's garden."

Flopsy, Mopsy & Cottontail, who were good little rabbits went down the lane to gather blackberries, but Peter, who was very naughty ran straight away to Mr McGregor's garden and squeezed underneath the gate.

First he ate some lettuce, and some broad beans, then some radishes, and then, feeling rather sick, he went to look for some parsley; but round the end of a cucumber frame whom should he meet but Mr McGregor!

Mr McGregor was planting out young cabbages but he jumped up & ran after Peter waving a rake & calling out "Stop thief"!

Peter was most dreadfully frightened & rushed all over the garden, for he had forgotten the way back to the gate. He lost one of his shoes among the cabbages and the other shoe amongst the potatoes. After losing them he ran on four legs & went faster, so that I think he would have got away altogether, if he had not unfortunately run into a gooseberry net and got caught fast by the large buttons on his jacket. It was a blue jacket with brass buttons, quite new.

Mr McGregor came up with a basket which he intended to pop on the top of Peter, but Peter wriggled out just in time, leaving his jacket behind, and this time he found the gate, slipped underneath and ran home safely.

Mr McGregor hung up the little jacket & shoes for a scarecrow, to frighten the blackbirds.

Peter was ill during the evening, in consequence of overeating himself. His mother put him to bed and gave him a dose of camomile tea, but Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail had bread and milk and blackberries for supper.

I am coming back to London next Thursday, so I hope I shall see you soon, and the new baby.

I remain, dear Noel, yours affectionately

Beatrix Potter

Brianna writes:

I visited Burkina Faso last week. Although I was traveling from a fairly well developed African country to one of the poorest countries in the world, I was also traveling from a village to a country's capital city. While I was impressed with the water conservation efforts, even during dry season, I was most impressed with the quality of cheese on my pizza.

This trip began, as any visit to a foreign country really should, by emailing a friend who studied the official language for 12 years to inform her that within 24 hours I had mastered French. Monique, who knew my friend Louise well from having worked with her for FAVL's Reading West Africa Program, helped me to write perfect French to complete the ruse.

On Saturday, Monique, Lucas and I visited the Bougounam library. The library was impressively decorated. The walls covered in murals of village scenes and portraits of important people in Burkina painted by the librarian. The small library had two tables, one for adults and another for children. When we arrived at the library around 10 a.m., there were already a few people working at the tables. Throughout our visit, more people showed up. The books were very neatly organized. They were divided into sections for French, English and African literature as well as school and reference books and children's books. After touring the village and over a much appreciated cold drink, we discussed how the library has been running. The librarian's biggest concern was the lack of books by African authors, as the selection is very small despite their high demand. He also commented on children's need for puzzles and games, so they can use the library as a general learning center.

As we began to head back, Monique started talking to a man who was also visiting from Ouagadougou to report on the school opening in the area. We were invited to join the reception, where local and national dignitaries, including the educational director, local chief and patriarch celebrated the importance of making a solid investment in education. Monique was invited to speak about the role of the libraries and reading in improving education in Burkina Faso. My own speeches were thankfully limited to repeated thanks as we were leaving, since my French really consists of stammered greetings and Italian slurred into what I imagine to be a French accent. 

Sunday was also a special day. It was Lucas's birthday, which I found out by looking at his passport.  I was shocked that he hadn't mentioned it, since I start my birthday countdown a good month in advance. Lucas planned to head home on Sunday to be in the office on Monday, but before he left we insisted on celebrating. When Monique found out it was Lucas's birthday, she quickly took the lead. She and I hurried to pick up supplies. We found a cake shop, and the baker wrote "Joyeux Anniversaire Lucas" on the cake. We returned home with the cake, some Burkina beers, and big smiles - in other words the ingredients to a birthday party. With a candle in the cake, we walked in singing, to Lucas's surprise. He was excited to cut the cake and so impressed to find his name there. We toasted Lucas's birthday, and quickly reached our sugar quota from the cake's icing. All in all, it was a great celebration.

The next few days were a pleasant taste of life in Ouaga. I tried to keep up with some of my work and take advantage of the comparatively fast internet, but I also spent a lot of time just visiting the city. Krystle, FAVL's PCV, took me around to the Artisan Village, where I had to face the reality of being a volunteer instead of an independently wealthy patron of the arts. The artwork and craftsmanship was amazing, especially the bronze and wood sculptures. Later in the evening, I was joined by Melinda and Tim, two researchers from Johns Hopkins who were also staying at the guest house. Together we were able to explore some live music and meat vendors. Our best find was a percussion band of 3 drums and 2 xylophones accompanied by three dancers of dramatically varying abilities.

The trip was a very pleasant visit of a country that is really less than an hour away from where I am living, but still dramatically different in many respects. Besides the obvious difference in language and cuisine of a Francophone culture, there were also more subtle but broadly reflective differences, like the use of metal tables in Burkina instead of wood or plastic, materials that are much scarcer. Monique, Krystle and Salimata were such fantastic hosts, I was sad to say goodbye, but luckily Krystle will be coming to visit us in Sumbrungu and see how the health literacy classes are getting on. 

No matter how good a trip or vacation is, there is a sense of relief in coming home. And by home, I most definitely mean the Sumbrungu Women's Center where I have been staying. Upon coming to my town and my home, I was welcomed by my good friends, who I had missed while away. That is really the best ending to a trip anyone can have.

Le jeudi 22 mars 2012 à la bibliothèque de Sara a eu lieu une séance de sensibilisation des femmes sur la fabrication du crème anti-moustique à base des feuilles de Nime. 12 femmes ont pris part à cette séance qui s'est déroulée de 15h30 à 17h20 au sein de la dite bibliothèque.

Après avoir souhaité la bienvenue à toutes, la gérante a expliqué ce que c'est le paludisme, le mode de transmission et comment il faut l'éviter.

Ensuite elle leur a montré comment elles peuvent l'éviter à moindre coût en utilisant le crème de Nime à partir des feuilles. Elle a fait un espacé sur la fabrication du crème puis suivi d'une expérience pratique faite ensemble. Elles ont fait bouillir des feuilles de Nime dans une marmite au feu pendant 20 minutes puis extraire les feuilles à l'aide d'un tamis. Après cette partie elles ont réchauffé l'eau recueilli puis ajouté du beurre de karité et du savon qu'elles ont cassé en petits morceaux mettre en remuant jusqu'à obtenir une patte légère qu'elles ont laissé refroidir pendant un bout de temps. Une répartition de ce crème obtenu a été faite et chacune a reçu un petit sachet bien rempli pour essayer à la maison. Il leurs a été dit que l'effet du crème ne dure que 3 heures de temps. Pour cela elles ont été conseillé d'utiliser le crème après avoir se lavé vers 18 heures le temps d'attendre de manger puis se coucher sous une moustiquaire. Les femmes se disent très satisfaites de cette séance qui leurs a permis de comprendre et d'être capables de fabriquer le crème. Désormais elles peuvent partager leurs acquis avec leurs camarades pour diminuer les cas de paludisme dans leurs familles. Elles ont remercié la gérante pour son apport à la population de Sara.

SANOU Dounko
Animateur de FAVL

Brockport High School Foreign Language will be hosting a Foreign Film Night to support FAVL! All ticket sale profits will go be sent to FAVL and will be spent on library activities!

The International School of Ouagadougou (ISO) will be holding a read-a-thon as part of their Literacy Month. I will be going next Tuesday to give a short presentation about FAVL to kick off their literacy activities. Each student will be sponsored by individuals for a certain amount for each book read. At the end of the month, students will collect the money, all of which will go to support our 2012 series of reading camps

Guest post from Erica Ernst, USF grad student:

I recently came across this study published in 2010, "Perceptions of Public Libraries in Africa" completed by the organization EIFL and carried out by a Kenyan research agency.  This was a very thorough study that was conducted in several African countries, which examined attitudes about libraries across a wide population spectrum through means of surveying (and some interviewing) of government officials, librarians, as well as users and non-users of the public library system.

What was surprising was that the majority of users and non-users alike both viewed libraries as being "very important" and "essential" despite their differences in the actual usage of the library (100% of librarians and government officials also viewed libraries as helpful in gaining literacy skills).  When non-users were asked the reasons why they did not use the library, the main reason was "I'm too busy." Interestingly enough, illiteracy was not one of the main reasons why people claimed they did not use the libraries despite the high levels of illiteracy in many African countries. Perhaps this response of being "too busy" was because feelings of self-consciousness about being illiterate.

Other common complaints about public libraries by non-users were lack of interest in the materials at the library, dissatisfaction with range/quality of books, and not liking reading.  Luckily FAVL libraries are very good about providing interesting, good quality materials that people would be more likely to read.  This already addresses several of theses problems that are being faced in public libraries.