DEVELOPMENT
PROJECTS
Electricity
Comes to the Kitengesa Community Library
In
June 2004 the United Nations One Per Cent for Development
Fund gave the Kitengesa Community Library a second grant,
for US $3650. This grant has enabled us to purchase a solar
lighting system, with three solar panels and three batteries,
this equipment being able to power four light bulbs and two
electric sockets. It was installed on July 29, 2004, amid
great excitement; a student was coopted to climb up onto the
roof with the engineer to put the panels in place, and everyone
gasped audibly as the first light went on. We hald an official
"switching on" ceremony on August 17, at which Kayaga
Mulindwa, the Director of Uganda's National Library, did the
honours most graciously. Now the library is open every night
until 9 p.m. It is always full, so the opportunity to read
in the evenings is obviously appreciated, but even for those
who can't read, the library's electricity is powerfully symbolic:
it is the only building in the village that is lit up after
dark.
In
January 2005 the One Per Cent Fund gave us a further grant
for $1200, with which we purchased an additional solar panel.
The extra power enables us to run a printer and several laptops. We are also able to charge mobile
phones. People pay a small fee (about 70 cents) per charge, and the income from this enables us to give refreshments to the children when they come for Children's Day.
Computer Use
We are steadily accumulating a collection of laptops—we have four so far—which have been donated by various foreign visitors. The laptops are old (one has no USB port, while the hinge of another is broken so that the screen has to be propped up), but they can be used for teaching typing and other computer skills. Of the two good ones, one is reserved for maintaining our library records, while the other is dedicated to our eGranary (see http://www.widernet.org/digitalLibrary/), installed in January 2008. The eGranary is a hard disk containing 7 million texts, including all of Wikipedia and many other internet sites, and it comes with software for searching them. Using it is just like using the internet (except there are no pornographic sites, and it’s quite a bit faster), and so our library users now have a chance to learn more computer skills, as well as to access much more information than they ever could before. It was TEAA (Teachers for East Africa Alumni) that gave us this treasure, and we are very grateful.
The
Women’s Group
The Women’s Group began meeting in the library in 2005 as an adult literacy class, with Shelley and Dan teaching them. But then they wanted to discuss possible income generation projects. Dan arranged for a number of different experts to meet them and tell them about goats, pigs, and poultry farming, and they also worked on skills such as book-keeping. When she returned to Canada, Shelley raised funds for the group, which were handed over in January 2007. With these funds, the women constituted themselves as a microfinance organization, taking it in turns to borrow money to finance various projects. By June that year one of them was the proud owner of a cow (“It is BIG,” she said), while another had pigs, and another chickens. In January 2008 the women are still meeting regularly and continue to develop their literacy skills.
Forestry
and Agriculture
This
project was initiated in October 2005 by Leigh Fox, a student
from the University of British Columbia who heard about the
Kitengesa Community Library through YouLead. The project includes:
1. A work program for students to earn their school fees.
2. Nursery beds for tree seedlings and vegetables.
3. A scholarship program for students who board at the school
and care for the nursery (this program is modeled on the Library
Scholarship scheme).
4. Training sessions for students on how to sow, transplant,
and graft trees.
5. Contracts with local farmers to grow and sell trees.
By 2008 the project had grown and developed. Leigh established a not-for-profit in Canada (Forestry for African Development Association—FADA), and this organization continues to employ students, giving them realistic hopes of going to university. The link with the library has become closer since Dan is serving on FADA’s Board of Directors. In January 2008, FADA contributed to the library’s purchase of land (see Plans for Expansion below), and is now maintaining its nursery there.
Plans for Expansion
In 2007 YouLead obtained a grant for the library of CAN$10,000 for establishing a computer center. But we cannot simply buy computers: the present library is too small to accommodate them, and its location on the school’s land prevents us expanding it. So we have bought our own plot of land close by and have started erecting a new building. It will consist of:
1. A library room, like our present one, where our printed materials will be kept and space provided for reading them.
2. A computer room, equipped initially with five or six computers.
3. A larger hall, capable of accommodating 100 people. This hall will be used for library events and as extra reading space, but we will also rent it out for functions such as weddings and graduation parties. In this way we will earn an income to pay the salaries of our librarians.
This project will be an important step to making the library self-sustaining, so our present efforts are focused on raising the $20,000 needed to complete it. As for the present building, it will become a vocational training center where girls in the neighborhood can learn how to do tailoring. At present girls have few income earning possibilities, so this center will be an important contribution to local economic development.
