The Stories We Tell: Our Blog

When the African Library Project Board voted earlier this year to hold a golf tournament, Sharna Fey, a Board member since 2011, enthusiastically agreed to become the Project Manager for Links for Literacy.  Orginally scheduled for late September, the tournament has been moved to spring 2018.

"A golf tournament brings together two things I love--golf and the African Library Project,” says Sharna. “This project integrates my life.”

Sharna has traveled to Swaziland, Ghana and Malawi, and she knows that, “What we do works. Literacy can lead to social change.  What we do matters.”

This is the third blog from Ashley Kahn about her recent trip to Lesotho with Amy Jo Carson, ALP’s Lesotho Country Liaison. 

The village of Bokone is special to Amy Jo Carson. A part of Amy’s heart belongs to the Majara family, their house and village, as that’s where she resided the first three months of her Peace Corp deployment. While she was there, she read with the Majara family and with children in the village.

ALP not only creates libraries; it also stays in touch with our African partners to be sure the libraries are working effectively.  And when possible, helps make them even better.  On a recent trip to Lesotho, Amy Jo Carson and Ashley Kahn found a fun way to reorganize one library and celebrate literacy in the community.

One of the libraries we visited was to the Kick 4 Life’s Hope Community Center. Kick 4 Life is a football club dedicated to social change through HIV/AIDS education and care, sport, and a thriving social enterprise.

ALP is working to send a container of books to Lesotho this fall to create 35 new libraries.  We still need Book Drive Organizers, who can complete a book drive by September 1.  Click here to find out what’s involved and how to sign up.  As you will read below, two ALP volunteers recently visited Lesotho and saw how libraries are working in the community and what more is needed.

ALP’s Lesotho Liaison, Amy Jo Carson, and I recently traveled to Lesotho.  Our first stop was Malealea, a beautiful village in the Mafeteng District of Lesotho. Its enchanting mountainous views are delightful to tourists and natives alike. Unfortunately, like the majority of rural inhabitants, the people of Malealea often do not have access to educational supplies or even an education.