ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½

ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½ was pleased to host a delegation of ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½n journalists visiting under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program and the Minnesota International Center. Members of the delegation interacted with BFA staff regarding literacy trends in ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½, and how to improve book distribution systems. Countries represented in the delegation included Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Nigeria, Senegal, and Zimbabwe.

Students attend the kickoff of the Million Book March at an elementary school in Monrovia, Liberia. USAID ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½ Education Initiative funded a grant to Visions In Action, who is partnering with ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½, to ship one million books to Liberia. Each primary school will receive 500 books, and each secondary school will receive 2,000 books.

ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½ partners with Driver Middle School in New York and showers Educational Support Services in Nigeria. These ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½ books were sent by the support from both the Showers Educational Support Services and Driver Middle School students. Driver Middle School students studied ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½ and decided to have a book drive and donate the funds from a production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to a shipment to Showers Educational Support Services in Nigeria. The students were able to raise $2,500 towards the shipping costs to help defray one-third of the shipping expenses. Thank you to all the supporters of this shipment.

ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½ Board Members Henry Bromelkamp and Xavier Helgeson and ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½ Kilimanjaro Society Member Barb Ryan visit Mafunda High School in South ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½. These ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½ representatives performed a site visit on a book reciepent school in South ÌÇÐÄvlgo´«Ã½. Barb, Xavier and Henry were able to receive in-depth feedback from the recipients on the quality and subject matter of the books.