Kenya National Library (KNLS) Head Librarian Visits ORS Kairi Library

The Kairi Village Our Reading Spaces (ORS) program invited Kenya National Library Services to visit their new library to evaluate the program and recommend required processes or support that the Kenya National Library Services (KNLS) could offer.

On arrival, Naomi the Our Reading Spaces librarian was found arranging and sorting books to keep the track/record of the books. Miriam, the KNLS Head Librarian, was amazed to see the large quantity of books available on the shelves, and stunned by the many more books still in boxes. She was also extremely impressed by the QUALITY of the books, some of which she does not have at the Thika library, especially the young children’s books.

At on point, Miriam pleaded with Naomi to allow her to borrow some books for children at her library (Robotic books). Apparently, most KNLS book donations are outdated and that is what the KNLS Librarian expected to find. She was very happy with the selection of the books and looks forward to borrowing some books for Kenya National Library – Thika some day soon.

Recognizing that it may take our Librarian Naomi a year to finish processing the books, the visiting Librarian offered to send two of her KNLS staff members to assist in the process. Extra support will shorten the set up time so that we can now allow the community to borrow books.

While the Kenya National Library Services was happy the ORS progress, we continue to fundraiser for the purchase of an additional containers so that we can create a larger reading space.

by Peter Okeyo

Our Reading Spaces - Kairi Village

Finally Home

The bright red shipping container pictured above is now the HOME of the Our Reading Spaces Program at the Thika Primary School for the Blind and Kairi village in Kenya. Over 22,000 books were donated by individual donors in the USA and Books for Africa. Caring Georgia volunteers assembled to sort and pack these books for children and families in far away Kenya.

While it is easy today to celebrate the Library, just a few short years ago the fate of these donated books was in limbo because a Delta Airlines flight from Atlanta to Nairobi was suddenly cancelled. This meant that inABLE had to seek out an alternative shipping plan. We did not know quite where to start, but we had to do something, as the schools and entire community was already waiting for the shipment books. Thankfully, the Safaricom Foundation came through, in a big way, with a grant to ship the books.

Now this new Our Reading Spaces Program has many wonderful stories to share. It’s a welcome place for the children who arrive at the library daily, the senior citizens (70 years old) in the community who stop by often to pick up a book or learn to read. Even college students, who cannot afford to buy new text books, visit to access computer books that are required for their classes.

Now that our Kairi library is finally home and open, we can take time to a moment to recognize the impact of our collective hard work and efforts as we continue to expand the Our Reading Spaces Program.

A Dream Come True

I remember watching the container get offloaded, dangling in the air above the many boxes of books below that were waiting to call it home.

The community (young and old) watched patiently as this big red box was slowly lowered and placed on the donated land. Congratulatory words of kindness and appreciation were shouted as the joyful excitement rippled across the waiting community. A new local library was now a dream come true!

Years of planning, praying, and outreach had finally paid off. Bidco Ltd’s amazing shipping container gift helped us to scrap the less desirable plan B, which required distributing the books to all the eight schools instead of uniting the students and community in one central place. Not to mention that the local schools option was very limiting because of restricted hours of operation. There was also the risk of extra work for teachers, who are already overwhelmed with their daily tasks.

A central location to plant our container library was the ideal solution, on a piece of land donated by the community. A new learning destination to visit after school and weekends, for anyone and everyone, was not a reality. A reading haven for the entire community had bloomed in vibrant red. A place for teachers to borrow books for their classes was now nearby. A place for children to read and enjoy storybooks of their choice was here.

A TEAM EFFORT

A small act of kindness has a huge impact on an entire village.

Two days before the books arrived at Mombasa port, inABLE hosted Dialogue in the Dark Business Leadership workshops in Nairobi, Kenya. After the workshops, I met the Managing Director of Bidco LTD. Mr. Vimal Shah. As soon as we were introduced my heart and mind began racing, “maybe he has a shipping container to house the many books en-route”.

Keep in mind that while Mr. Shah had heard of me from a mutual friend, he had only just met me in person. To my surprise, our biggest challenge was eliminated with an out stretched hand and a generous response “give me a call on Monday and we can plan the delivery of a container for your library”. I was shaking with excitement and joy. Did he really say YES? I could not wait to tell the whole world. Unbelievable!!!!

Miracles do happen!

As the year comes to the end, What were your achievements and challenge

inABLE has had a very successful year. inABLE

• Continued to train more students on our Computer Program at Thika Primary School for the Blind
• Opened the Our Reading Spaces Library in Kairi Village, Kenya.
• Hosted Dialogue in the Dark in Kenya for the first time (was an amazing and out of the box experience for the participants)
• Most of all our new partnership with Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) that will help take our program to the next level by using technology to teach Math and sciences in schools for the blind.

Funding still remains a challenge and we hope to see some changes in the new year. There is hope and very positive energy from the students on our program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVHhq3IBWhM

Why should the blind and the visually impaired be equipped with IT skills and knowledge?"

As we work so hard to make inABLE a success , we come across many people who have no idea what a blind person can do with technology. People ask many questions, completely unsure of how a blind or visually impaired person can use a computer.

Our goal is to set up computer labs in the eight schools for the blind in Kenya and other countries within the African continent

The truth is, we are powering posibilites and the possibilities are limitless with the power of technology.

" As the world cup curtains have come down, what are your general feelings about the team you supported?"

I did not support any particular team but I was very impressed by Germany. They did not make it to the finals but I must say they make a very strong team. Watch out for Germany in Brazil - 2014.