The Stories We Tell: Our Blog

In May of 2016, I retired after 30 of teaching mostly kindergarten and first grade. Primary teachers tend to be book lovers and I am no exception! Over the years I had created an extremely extensive library of high quality children’s books to use in my classroom.

In 2012 my long-time fascination with the African continent led to a month-long camping trip with other teachers to four countries in sub-Saharan Africa.  While we were there, we visited some very rural schools. Noticing the total lack of any supplemental library materials, I filed away a plan that somehow, someday, I would find a way to get my classroom library to Africa. So at my retirement party, I requested only donations to “help me get my children’s books to Africa,” even though I had absolutely no idea how I would do that.

My name is Bright Edem Kofi Adeti.  I teach French and Information and Communication Technology in a deprived junior high school in the Volta Region of Ghana.

Listening to the students speak English leaves much to  be desired. One would ask, “What good can come out of these students if they can’t construct a simple sentence?” Yet. in the mist of all the uncertainties, discomfort and stress, there was one priceless thing, the lives of these innocent little children who deserved education too.

Summer is looming in the Northern Hemisphere, and those who love to read are happily planning which books to take to the beach or wherever they will vacation.  But no matter what hemisphere you live in, you may want a pile of good books nearby, ready for when you have the time to read. 

I knew that the members of the African Library Project Board not only want to provide books for African children to read, they also like to read books about Africa, so I asked them to give me their favorites.  I learned about a number of novels and young adult fiction that sound quite intriguing.  I hope you will check out the list and find some books that you would like to add to to the pile of books by your bed.  Happy Reading!

Conducting a book drive for the African Library Project was a perfect fit for Midland Elementary School for many reasons. We were looking for an internationally-focused, education-related project to do that didn’t require a large cash contribution and had opportunities for hands-on engagement by our students.  In addition, the ALP project provided a perfect opportunity to help the children in our town learn more about Africa.