Rosemary Harris
Chalula Library Project
Spring 2009
A lot is happening at The Chalula Library! We continue
to have thousands of visits from both children and adults
and we understand that plans for the new water tank are
finally underway!
In January, librarian Aaron Chomolla traveled to Uganda
to attend the Community Libraries Association Workshop in
Kampala led by Professor Kate Parry of FAVL, who has herself
started numerous libraries in Uganda. Aaron also visited
several village libraries in Uganda to see how they serve
their communities. One of his goals will be to try to raise
the profile of the library in the community using methods
learned at the meeting.
In August, Bruce and I will return to Tanzania and join
Professor Parry, Aaron and library coordinator Joseph Biseko
for a two day library conference in Lushoto, Tanzania ( a
twelve hour bus ride from Mvumi..) Next stop will be Dar es
Salaam for a book buying trip to expand the library's
collection. Our visit will coincide with the The 6th Pan-African
Reading for All Conference and we hope to meet many experts
who will help our Tanzanian friends to grow the library and
its usefulness to the students and parents of the Mvumi
community. And then it's off to Mvumi to visit headmaster
Henry Lyandala and all of our friends in the village.
This time we will be joined by two wonderful and
energetic volunteers - Holly and Lauren who will spend three
weeks volunteering in the library and staying as guests of
the village.
Tanzania is still one of the poorest countries in the
world where the average daily wage is only $2.00 a day when
people can find work at all. However, this generation of
Tanzanians is much better educated with a rising rate of
literacy and that is why supporting the library is so
important. We welcome any help that you can give.
Contributions may be sent to:
Chalula Library - Friends Of African Village Libraries
PO Box 90553
San Jose, Ca. 95109
Book contributions or magazine subscriptions may be sent
directly to the library
Chalula Community Library
Chalula Primary School
PO Box 993
Dodoma, Tanzania
Asante sana,
Rosemary and Bruce Harris
Read letters from previous months
© 2006-2008
Rosemary Harris