We are grateful to…SIR EMEKA OFFOR FOUNDATION…for making access to books possible in South Sudan — Luc Picard, Catholic University of South Sudan.
One of the major obligations of parents is to see their wards excel educationally, and that demands a lot of financial resources to achieve this feat. Giving a child education is vital to enhancing his knowledge that inevitably provides a smooth path for him or her for the future. Education however is a complex phenomenon and, as a result, doesn’t seem to end in the classroom.
The culture of book reading is very important both at school and essentially at home because studies show it leads to high academic attainment.
Books are very important. They play an important role in the complete development of children during the early years of life. The more books children read; the quicker their vocabulary develops. Books aid children in learning new words and ways of using words that they already know.
Today, the culture of book reading appears to be waning. Such educational decline is blamed on poorly equipped libraries and in some cases, little directs access to books. It is, therefore, critical that an effective methodology is employed to tackle the downward trend. The reason for this appeal is not far-fetched.
According to a survey, children who grew up in homes without books averaged about seven years of education, while those with books averaged about 14 years worth of education that is twice the number of years. It is why a number of organizations and individuals have taken up the initiative to correct this educational deficit.
Interestingly, one of the few individuals in Africa who has taken up this challenge is Sir Emeka Offor. He is making giant strides in the “book reading culture” by facilitating the delivery of books to interior regions of the continent.
Buoyed by his passion for education and belief that every child must develop and improve their reading habits, the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation (SEOF) went into partnership with Books For Africa (BFA). As an organization which collect, sort, ship, and distribute books, BFA has donated over 31 million text and library books to 49 different African countries since 1988. BFA has over the past 12 months provided 2.6 million books running at $35 million to 27 African countries with additional 223 computers.
As a corollary to the above, BFA received not long ago a $600,000 donation from the SEOF to ship over 1 million books to Nigerian children and others in African countries. The donation, according to BFA, remains till date the single largest donation ever received by the organisation. Happily, both organisations are into a 3-year partnership to provide shipments of books to Nigeria and Gambia. In 2010 and 2011, SEOF as part of BFA’s book to the Gambia, sponsored the shipment and donation of 110,000 books for school children.
Not resting on its oars, just a couple of months back, the SEOF through the BFA donated books to the Catholic University of South Sudan. These books, from mid-March until June 2014, were distributed. A fascinating aspect of the book donation is the remarkable distribution network.
This has seen a significant number of schools and religious institutions receiving hundreds of books to equip their libraries and aid in the educational development of their wards and members as a whole. For example, apart from the Catholic University of South Sudan, the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek was also one of the many institutions that received books through the SEOF and BFA partnership.
It is, hence, not a surprise that the book donation initiative by the SEOF has witnessed monumental and positive effects on those it touches directly. The foundation’s aim, among others, is to provide quality education and educational materials to African students of all ages. This humanitarian gesture could only be done through the heart that understands the challenges African student face on the continent. The initiative has seen more than half of the countries on the African continent receiving books that are rich in educational content and viable for research and study. Libraries could once again be equipped and students able to access materials or books that hitherto were unavailable over a long period.
Accordingly, the news and success story of the book donation and distribution has reached a number of other institutions and schools in South Sudan and have therefore, come out to show interest by requesting for their own book donation. These requests are indications that a significant number of people are hugely interested in the initiative. The benefits that come with this initiative are numerous and with the continuous provision of scholarly educational books for children in all of South Sudan, the SEOF has become a shining light for the country’s education advancement.
Raheem Oluwafunminiyi wrote via [email protected]