BAKE in partnership with Grab A Book, recently launched a CSR project dubbed “Adopt A Library”. The project entails setting up a library at Shadrack Kimalel Primary School in Ngumo. We were looking to raise Kshs, 108,000 for the project. The money would do the following: secure 300 books, 4 puzzles or game-boards and 4 shelves for the library. As it stands, we have raised Kshs, 5,000 and secured 50books.
On Saturday February 22 2014, we had a soft launch at the school. It was more of a meet and great where we familiarized ourselves with the space set aside for the library and met some of the children.
The headmistress of the school; Mrs Mary Mukasa was excited and pleased to meet the team. The school mainly caters to children from the Kibera slum are and she sees the library as a way to keep them busy rather than have them idle and roaming the slum. It was decided that we will first focus on the lower primary school (class 1-4). This is because they are the ones who leave school early and have no Saturday classes, therefore more is needed to make them productive. It was also because they need the most help in terms of reading and writing.
The library is scheduled to open towards the end of the school term. Once the children finish exams, we shall focus on spending time with them and understanding what they need to do to read more and learn from it.
From the soft opening, we learnt that some of the children have issues with reading. Therefore going forward, we shall be looking at getting books tailored to help them read, ones where sounds are key in the book. We shall also be looking into starting indoor games as the students are many meaning only a few can use the library at a time. A separate room for the games will be set up.
The project is still ongoing and we are open to receiving donations for the library. Volunteers who can help us in running it are also welcome. To donate, drop books at Nailab, 4th Floor Bishop Magua Centre on Ngong Road. Or send money via M-Pesa to 070 090 471.
Help put a book in a child’s hand with BAKE and Grab A Book.
Here are a few photos taken during the soft opening
