Recently in Activities Category

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. 

 

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

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.

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.

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