Newsletter #29, March 2023

Time rushes on – 

It’s 3 months to tax time (for those who have to deal with the ATO), so here is the reminder to make a donation  on/before 30 June to help us close the gap in the budget: 

Donated to date in 2022/23 year – $11,352.74 Budget for 2022/23 is $22,939 

For all who have donated $’s to have us at about 50% coverage of the budget, thank you

2 companies have each made a donation this year sufficient to cover the cost of two pallets of books to be  shipped to Lesotho – I think they deserve your support! 

o Michell Cox is the owner of Three Sun Possums which donated again – www.threesunpossums.com.au

o Helen Whait of ActivOT Pty Ltd (Occupation Therapy!) gave for the first time – www.activot.com.au 

Mitcham over 50’s Exercise Group has been a long-term supporter of B4L. From 1 July 2022, members have  donated $604.80 including $165 raised during the Australia Day picnic. 

And ”in-kind” assistance: 

o Jurlique in Mt Barker provides us with a supply of plastic pallets (required for our books that tranship through the Port of Singapore o Preschem Pty Ltd in Melbourne supplies us with cartons and sticky labels to affix to each box of books

How lucky is Books for Lesotho Inc. to have such great supporters!

GOOD NEWS STORIES 

On 09 November 2022, 7 pallets (16,748 books) left The Barn for our long-term partner in Lesotho,  Transformation Resource Centre. This, the 16th shipment to TRC, left Port Adelaide on 21 November bound  for Durban via Singapore. The load arrived at TRC in Maseru on 07 March 2023 – another successful shipment! The next shipment of 4 pallets left The Barn for the Rotary Club of Maloti in Maseru just a few days ago!

The total number of books sent to Lesotho is 270,265 

The total direct freight cost has been $113,955 – an amount (plus overhead and other operating costs), totally  donated by YOU. Thank you for your support of this “Nation Building Project”. 

COST INCREASES: The above shipment cost $9,374 (The cost was $8,691 in 2021 and $5,886 in 2020.) 

I received the following email from the Rotary Club of Maloti 

Dear David, 

Thanks a million for this update, very exciting and humbling to note the effort you and your team go into to continue the  support to the education outcomes of the children of Lesotho. 

We have had previous communication with the Ministry of Education regarding this leg of the project, who have  supported our suggestion to deal with schools in the remote Thaba Tseka schools. We shall in the meantime intensify  the logistical arrangements this end to ensure smooth receipt, storage and hand out of the books. Kind Regards 

Maud

(We are expecting Maud and 3 other Rotarians to visit Adelaide in late May 2023 – that’s exciting news!) 

Personally, I am pleased with this focus on remote schools, as the first shipments from 2007 were direct to these  very disadvantaged schools. 

Here is the Founder of New Toro Books, Retsepile Sello: “NewToro Books is happily running and we would like to  send you this report so that you see the positive impact you have done.” 

Here are extracts from a report to B4L from NewToro Books: 

Fifty People really like our books from your organization. Only 1 person who complained that our book was boring. Twelve people did not get the books due to inconvenience from our courier. Six people got the books, but they did not finish reading so they did not give the exact responses concerning our books. Fifteen people did not give feedback, they said they were busy until then. To conclude, all we can say is this, your books are very useful to our library, our clients keep on taking them from time to time. 

Here are some of the comments: 

He said he is not a person who can read but through the book we loaned him, he learnt to read and found the book interesting. – SPY HOOK 

She was totally excited as we gave her the book not knowing that Danielle Steel was her favourite author. She learned new geographical locations and new French words and their pronunciations. ’’The book was great’’ She concluded. – THE HOTEL VENDROME 

He learned about a man who was searching for a job and when he got one he was astonished by the way investments are making a lot of money. He confirmed that he now has a new 

perception on making investments. (My note: be careful of any investment that looks like a “quick fix”!) – THE MARKET-MAKER, NO REGRETS 

Stand firm for what you believe in and give it your all fulfilment of your dreams. (This looks like a Readers  Digest Condensed Book!) 

o ELEPHANT – sometimes we must acknowledge that letting something die doesn’t mean you love it less o PIRATES BOOK – the biggest mistake is losing hope when tribulations come but with hope you can see a  way out. 

o ADOPTION BOOK – they give their all for what they wanted, they wanted they were even willing to steal  the baby when it looked break 

She has enjoyed the book and suggested that it can be loaned to peers because it teaches very much. – THE  GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE 

She was very excited to develop a reading culture after so long and she said the book was very good. – STAYING DEAD 

Very wonderful; it says much about youths, it is encouraging book ever. – AND THEN IT HAPPENED ‘’It was my first time to read a novel book so I thought I would struggle luckily, I enjoyed, thank you so much NewToro Books’’. – HIGH WATER She said the book was somehow nice, but she likes (prefers?) motivational books. – SHIP OF GOLD “I am not used to reading but this book has shown me that I have potential” – TRUE PLEASURE

Through the Rotary Club of Maloti, B4L has enabled Mr Mothae Moletsane to establish a library in his remote community. Here is his latest email: 

Hello David and Liz! Nice to hear from you. I am very happy to hear the good news that you have dispatched the next  shipment to Rotary Club of Maloti and that another Box will be for the Library. On behalf of Mpharane Community  Library, we really want to express our gratitude and appreciation for the support and donations we continue to  receive from B4L. 

Thank you for your continuous support. Mothae

And in the same way, B4L is adding to the catalogue offered by NewToro Books: 

I was away for a bit due to illness but I am excited to see that NewToro staff sent you an update (see above). The  library is growing quite significantly, thanks to B4L continued support and books). We now have three graduates (4 if  you count me 🙂 working full time, and 2 part time staff. We currently have 638 readers nationwide and our weekly  deliveries average is 10. 

I am so excited to hear that there are more books coming for us. I am sure our readers will love that too. Best, 

Rets

Finally, here’s how one new recipient linked with one of our partners:: 

From: Sibylle Vieux 

Good afternoon, 

I am currently volunteering in an orphanage in Maseru (Margaret Mary Centre), where we would like to help our 40+  children better grow, learn and succeed at school by creating a library. That’s why we are looking for books donation,  mainly in English for them to improve in a nice way. 

Would you be interested by this project? How could we work together? 

Thanks a lot for your answer!

On 28 March 2023 I received this email: 

Good morning David, 

We’ve been to TRC a few weeks ago, we’ve been warmly welcomed and now better understand what they do, and  this is great! 

They already gave us 2 spare boxes of books – which are great, children love the comics and books like “Where is  Charlie?”  

If we find the funds for our project of building a library, we will definitely go back to TRC and Books for Lesotho for  more books and advice! 

Have a nice day, 

Sibylle 

A BIG THANK YOU 

I trust the above reports warm your hearts and let you know what good we re all doing in this wonderful country, the “Kingdom in the Sky”. Page 4 shows some of the Kingdom”! 

Thank you to everyone who has recently contributed to the project. 

David Linn 

Chairman, Books for Lesotho Inc.