More books have arrived in Kamapala from Belgium. Godfrey, who was returning to Uganda, kindly brought them along with him.
A box of about twenty books, magazines and educational CDs, purchased by friends in the US, have travelled to Nairobi with Sarah. We are working on finding someone who could bring them across the border to Uganda.
A very big thank you to Peter, our book-dealer in Belgium, Naveen and co in the US, and to Godfrey and Sarah for making it possible to get the books closer to Sironko.
You might be wondering if this international operation is all that necessary. Why don't we simply buy books in Uganda, or send the books over by mail?
Well, we also wish it were easier to source books. We haven't figured out a better way to do this though. Books and shipping both tend to be prohibitively expensive.
The one hundred and twenty or so books that are either already at SDV or on their way, have cost SDV nothing.
However, we have visited numerous book shops, both in Kampala and Mbale and did purchase a few locally published books.
And recently, someone in Kampala, expressed support for expanding the library. She rightly pointed out that the focus should be on materials related to the school curriculum given the dearth of textbooks.
And what does this have to do with a "Community Technology Center"? Well, books are a natural extension of our concept of technology. And if we are to be serious about helping young people realise their potential, then we simply cannot ignore the fact that they don't have access to basic educational materials.
PS. That's Alice in the picture paging through a book received from Belgium. She drops in at SDV regularly, and observes with intense curiosity what people get up to on the laptops.
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