Library Actvities
Many of the people around Kitengesa have only a little education and have not had much exposure to books. So the library needs not only to make books available but also to organize activities that encourage people to come in and get to know the place. The activities change over time but have included:
• Children’s Days: About once a month a class from a neighboring primary school is invited to come with its teacher to spend a Saturday morning reading, listening to stories, drawing, painting, writing, and playing games.
• Children from the nearest primary school (Lwannunda Primary) come three times a week, brought by the volunteers who teach them.
• Games Night: Anyone is welcome to come in on Saturday evenings to play with the library’s collection of
indoor games.
• Computer Instruction: The Canadian volunteers who come to Kitengesa often provide instruction to library members in using the library’s laptops. They also teach typing skills using small keyboards called Alpha-Smarts.
• Twenty Challenge: This is a reading program by which students are “challenged” to read twenty books in a month. If they succeed, they receive a small prize and a certificate. The program was conducted for five months in 2008-9.
• Family Literacy: The Lwannunda Women’s Group has been meeting at the library since 2005. In 2009, Gorreth Nakyato began a Family Literacy Project with the group. They met every Wednesday and worked through two twelve-week units produced by the Family Literacy Project in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We are now seeking more material so that the project can resume.