emilygoestothegambia:

On January 5 (about one month after being at my site), I visited the school in my village and met the Head Teacher to discuss possible work opportunities and a partnership with the school. Apart from mentioning an array of school clubs that don’t actually meet, he shared his vision of creating a school library. Over the past six months, I have thought of many reasons why a library project was impractical or not worth my time, ranging from students’ minimal to nonexistent English proficiency, children initially not understanding how to take care of books, and not knowing where the books would come from. 

At the beginning of Ramadan, four teachers at my school participated in a Read Aloud Workshop, after which the school became more motivated to create the school library they had envisioned in January. Two weeks ago, along with my counterpart, we whitewashed the library walls and already have 100 books! By the end of the calendar year, we plan to have painted murals at the library, trained a school librarian, gathered more books, and hope to have a fully functioning library! In my first 9 months of Peace Corps service, I’ve discussed a lot of project ideas (all of which have come from the community) with counterparts and most have failed or never worked. Even though helping with a school library was not on my radar as a Health Volunteer, it’s so exciting to be involved in a community-driven project that people are motivated to see succeed! 

We can’t wait to see the finished product!

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Jul 15, 2016
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    We can’t wait to see the finished product!
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