Recently in FAVL Category

You may remember that I went on a trip in late April to Ghana with a fellow PCV to talk about oral hygiene with the adult literacy classes being held there by FAVL volunteer Brianna. I started working on a video montage of the trip, and finally had the time to sit down and finish it.

So, without further ado, I give you Kerry and Krystle Take on Northern Ghana.

A video of the kids at the Béréba camp singing a song about handwashing in French to the tune of Feist's "1, 2, 3, 4." It's adorable, I promise. (Look out for Donkoui's mini-me daughter in the front row.)

Enjoy!

Thanks to GlobalGiving, FAVL has received $350 to put towards buying Aya de Youpougon books for FAVL libraries in Burkina and Ghana. We have already been able to use $200 to buy 12 books (one copy for each library) in the graphic novel series from Côte d'Ivoire in the beginning of June. See the post about it here. But we still need help if we're going to get the entire collection of Aya books to each of the 15 libraries. Click on this link to learn more about the project and to donate to the project. Every little bit is appreciated not only by us but the kids who visit the village libraries in hopes of reading books with familiar language with scenes from their own lives in African villages.

A million thank you's to those who have already donated, and stay tuned to the FAVL blog and the GlobalGiving website for regular updates on the progress of the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Sara Thompson, who I previously mentioned is finishing up a library project in the far east of Burkina, mentioned FAVL in a quarterly update to the generous donors of her library.

Here's a little snippet of the email she sent out:

First things first, while I was running around the community telling everyone the good news that I had raised enough money to begin the purchasing and ordering of future library books, I found out that a local organization (Tin Tua-a local eastern Gourmatche organization) has a building for a library and a librarian but no books.  (At the risk of running off on a tangent, I would just like to interrupt myself and proclaim that I am SO glad that I have the opportunity to give such a classic scenario of the life of a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV).  As you can see, I have been living in a small village-around 5,000-10,000 people for about a year and a half at this point.  I had talked with several people throughout my community during the planning stages and not once had I heard about this so-called library that was quite literally right outside my backdoor.  This is such a great example of some of the surprises and frustrations that the life of a PCV experiences.  And as such, this experience is not uncommon among PCVs and represents some of the cultural disconnect that inevitably happens throughout any PCV's service.  Brings a new  meaning to that cliche in which every day is very much a new adventure).  Regardless, the moment I found out about this non-functioning library, I was shocked and (yes, as any Volunteer is when this happens) slightly embarrassed.  Needless to say, as revelatory as it was, this was a complete boon to the entire project.  Now, not only do I have the library and books, which I had planned on, but I had a librarian!

With the money, I have bought over 450 library books as well as a solar panel specifically designated for the library.  And in addition to the financial aid of being able to afford books that everyone can use and enjoy, I was fortunate enough to know about Friends of African Village Libraries (FAVL).  FAVL is an NGO which organizes librarian trainings, reading camps, awareness campaigns, and numerous other library-related activities and projects.  When the coordinator of Tin Tua approached me and asked for more information and assistance in order for the library to function well, I was able to set up a meeting with one of the coordinators/trainers of FAVL.

The meeting between the coordinators of FAVL and Tin Tua went really well as there was a great exchange of ideas and information.  The librarian in Matiakouali will hopefully attend a FAVL librarian training session in order to learn more about how to successfully manage and operate a library.  This training will take place in mid-September after I will  have left the country.  However, to emphasize the sustainability aspect of this project, FAVL will most likely schedule a visit to Matiakouali in order to follow-up on the training and the project in general.  This is SO exciting due to FAVL's blossoming success over the past few years and the fact that both participating organizations have been around for more than 5 years and are run mostly by Burkinabe (locally) which I feel increases the sustainability of the project exponentially.

It's always nice to have fans spreading the word about FAVL and the work we do.

Dounko writes: 

L'association Amis des Bibliothèques de Villages  Africains /FAVL vient de donner le top départ de sa cinquième édition des camps de lecture à la bibliothèque de Béréba ce lundi 23 juillet 2012 avec les élèves de la classe du CM1 bientôt au CM2 à la rentrée scolaire 2012-2013.  A 6h40mn les animateurs, les bibliothécaires, les assistants de camp attendaient les enfants à la bibliothèque. 18 enfants se sont présentés pour cette première journée. Il faut noter également la participation de trois volontaires du Corps de Paix pour apporter leur savoir dans ce domaine.
Après avoir fait l'appel les enfants furent habillés en t-shirts du camp puis chacun a pris son petit déjeuner. Les animateurs leurs ont souhaité la bienvenue  au camp de 2012  suivi des consignes des principes du camp c'est-à- dire la discipline durant tout le camp qui durera 6 jours. Une petite ambiance a régné avant l'entame de l'activité qui fut un pré-test sur les thèmes des  activités de sensibilisations et un petit test de niveau en lecture.  Cette journée a eu une grande motivation du coté des élèves que des animateurs.

Donkoui writes:

Nos bibliothèques sont souvent des lieux populaires. En plus de la lecture et du prèt de livres, des communautés utilisent les hangars à d'autres fins pendant les heures de fermeture des gérants.

Cette femme vient pour se procurer de l'eau à la pompequi est à proximité de la bibliothèque. Etant mère de jumeaux, elle vient bercer ces enfants sous le hangar de la bibliothèque en attendant son tour d'avoir de l'eau pour rentrer chez elle. Elle nous a confié qu'elle aime bien la bibliothèque et elle profite pendant les heures d'ouverture pour feuilleter les albums pour voir certaines photos. Elle trouve que ses jumeaux se reposent bien quand ils sont sous le hangar de la bibliothèque.
 
Voilà des futurs lecteurs de cette bibliothèque !!!!!

Je m'appelle OUEDRAOGO YACOUBA. Je suis un élève Burkinabé. J'ai commencé à fréquenter la bibliothèque de KOUMBIA depuis que j'étais au CE2. Grace à la lecture que j'ai tant aimée, j'ai un bon niveau notamment la littérature (philosophie, français, anglais). Cela m'a permis de décrocher mon baccalauréat série A4 au premier tour. En 2008 la bibliothèque de KOUMBIA a organisé un concours de lecture consistant à lire 40 romans en l'espace de deux mois. A la fin de ce concours, j'ai été retenu comme le meilleur lecteur. Cela m'a permis de travailler comme assistant lors des camps de lecture que j'apprécie bien.

Je remercie de ce fait les bibliothèques villageoises et toutes les structures comme FAVL (Friends of African Villages Libraries) qui œuvrent  pour la promotion de la lecture en milieu rural.