Note: I blacked out the name of specific villages for safety/security reasons. It's Peace Corps policy. Safety/security is not really my thing, but policy is policy.
------------------------------------------
PROJECT SUMMARY
Almost universally throughout my village and the surrounding villages, there has been an acknowledgement that literacy is one of the most widespread problems. The school system is overcrowded and many students leave the classroom without having acquired fundamental skills like reading, writing or basic mathematics. Parents, teachers, and students have all expressed the desire for more educational materials that will allow them to learn outside of school. This project is designed to meet that need by providing a small building with some simple furnishings and a modest collect of reading materials. We will have books in a variety of languages such as French, English and local languages. Maps, reference books, portable chalk boards, picture books, games and writing supplies will also be available to the village through the library which will be additional learning opportunities. The library will not only be a place where villagers will have access to books, however, it will also be a community center where awareness campaigns on health topics can be held, along with reading camps, girls clubs and Scrabble tournaments. The library will be focused primarily on providing educational materials to the community, but it will also place a high priority on making learning dynamic, engaging and fun. This project is designed to meet a serious need in the village and to make learning accessible and enjoyable for the whole community.
COMMUNITY BACKGROUND
My village, village, is virtually indistinguishable from two other villages (village and village) and between the three villages there are a total of three primary schools and one middle school. This conglomeration of villages has a high population, but it does not have access to a proportional number of educational opportunities. The need for a library has been acknowledged by most teachers in the village. In fact, a library has been attempted in connection with the local middle school, but the location of the middle school (it is on the fringe of the village) as well as the limited hours of access (they would have to enter the school grounds during school hours in order to use the facility) create difficulties. The library at the middle school is currently closed down and locked up. However, by organizing this library, the school has demonstrated a desire for a library for its students. This desire has been repeated by the teachers at all three of the primary schools; students in this region face a serious lack of access to educational materials. Many students cannot afford textbooks for school and there is certainly not any money that remains for books used for recreational reading. They also do not experience hands-on activities in the classroom due to the sheer number of students in each class, nor do they receive one-on-one tutoring. These needs are recognized and acknowledged by teachers, as well as parents and even the children themselves.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
It has been remarked to me by a number of community members that there is a serious lack of educational materials available to students, as well as adults in the village. Books are sparse and expensive; as well as out of date or at too advanced of a reading level or focused on an irrelevant subject matter for many of the villagers. It is difficult, I’ve been told, to develop reading skills if there aren’t materials available for practicing reading. Furthermore, with the schools being as overcrowded and understaffed as they are, many students leave school without actually achieving literacy. With the literacy rate as low as it is in Burkina Faso, education can easily be identified as an area that is in desperate need of improvement. Many community members have pointed this out to me; however, the main driving force behind this project is one particular primary school teacher.
This teacher is frustrated by the lack of educational resources in the village and hopes to be able to give students more one-on-one attention at the library. He also hopes to see adults using the library in order to pass on good reading habits to their children, as well as improving their own literacy. This teacher has taken a great deal of his own time and energy to find a building and prepare a budget for the library. He approached me about the idea for the library originally and has been enthusiastically pursuing the project since his proposal.
DESIRED OUTCOME
This library project was proposed primarily to meet the educational needs of the community. It is geared towards the youth in the community, but it is also meant to be a resource for adults who wish to expand their knowledge but do not have the means to do so. Our goal is to meet these needs and also offer a fun, safe environment for the community to come together and learn. The merit of a community library is that the community will have access to educational materials and also that it will be able to have a place in which one can foster the love of learning. With this library, we hope to encourage the community to see learning as an exciting, fun and dynamic venture, as opposed with the static, obligatory model that is presented to them through the government-issue school system which is the first and, sometimes, the only interaction that villagers have with education.
PROJECT IMPLIMENTATION
The funds procured by this grant are meant to start the library. The first steps in implementing this project will be repairing the building and purchasing a small number of books. This work will be done by volunteers from the community. Once the physical building is in working order, the next challenge will be regulating use of the library without discouraging its use. We need to have a volunteer librarian open the building every day and regulate the use of books and other resource materials. Also, we will start collecting small fees in order to finance future improvements as well as to regulate the use of the materials. Another potential issue when implementing this project will be encouraging the use of the library. To generate interest we will offer reading clubs and camps, perform awareness campaigns, and host fun activities like game tournaments. These activities will be organized and implemented by teachers and volunteers from the community in conjunction with the librarian and the library committee.
CAPACITY BUILDING
This library project will be geared towards increasing literacy in the community by providing materials that can be utilized by the public, as well as organizing events that will encourage use of the library facility and generate interest in reading and learning. The library will be open and the materials will be available for use by all members of the community. Students, of course, will also be strongly encouraged to take advantage of the library and its materials.
The skills that will be acquired by the community will be, first and foremost, increased literacy and an introduction to the resource that books can be. The library will not be confined to simply books; however, we hope to use the library as a community center which can host awareness campaigns, tournaments, reading camps, and other activities. Also, the library will be run by a small committee of interested community members which will give them experience in starting and maintaining a large project that fulfills a need in the village.
In addition, this will be the first time that most community members are working together to plan, start, and maintain a library in village. It will be an exercise in creating group goals and small project design, as well as continuing an activity that will continue into the future and will need to be maintained as well as improved and expanded.
SUSTAINABILITY
This grant is meant only to be a starting point for the library. Its funds will purchase furniture, books and a few journals, pay for the repair of the building and construct a hangar for reading outside for times when it is too hot to use the building. The rent for the library and the guardian will be covered for the first three months, after which the community will be required to find the means to support the library. These fees will be relatively minimal and will be acquired by support from the community, the collection of library fees and fundraising projects. We also hope to generate interest in the library and its activities by hosting a number of exciting, interesting activities as well as providing materials for independent learning. These activities as well as the finances of the library will be controlled by a small committee who will work together to make decisions about the library as well as be the staff that operates the library on a daily basis. This committee will include a few teachers but it will take special care to also include members of the community who, unlike the teachers, are not in danger of being transferred to another village.
GOAL 1: Improve literacy for youth in the village Commune area
OBJECTIVE 1.1: Each year, hold at least 2 reading camps geared toward young students
OBJECTIVE 1.2: Make reading materials available to youth at least 20 hours a week
OBJECTIVE 1.3: Provide materials not available to students in the classroom such as games, magazines, books, and art supplies
OBJECTIVE 1.4: Use a variety of teaching methods that appeal to young people including reading, art, theater, music and sports
GOAL 2: Improve awareness of health topics in the village Commune
OBJECTIVE 2.1: Hold at least 1 awareness campaign for a health topic each month
OBJECTIVE 2.2: Invite the staff of the local health clinic to assist and/or lead in explaining prevention techniques for health concerns
GOAL 3: Improve teaching/tutoring capacity for the library staff and local teachers
OBJECTIVE 3.1:Hold at least 2 formations each year for library staff to improve teaching techniques
OBJECTIVE 3.2: Hold a formation for local teachers in which they can share ideas and best practices for the classroom
Wow! That's quite the write up for your project. Nice!
ReplyDelete