SUSTAINING BOOKS FOR LESOTHO INC.
We thank all our generous donors of books; we receive suppliers of wonderful books ready to sort and pack for our partners in Lesotho. However, we are always looking for donations of books – from first children’s books to young adults, fiction and non-fiction. Please talk to your school or local library about what they do with “discards”. Many libraries still do not know that organisations like B4L exist to “recycle” their discards for “hungry” readers in places like Lesotho.
How do we get the books to Lesotho? By sea freight packed on pallets. To do this we need $s! Our income last year through donations totalled $18,141 which fell well short of the costs. To maintain sending 14 pallets each year will likely cost B4L $22,353 in 2023/24. YOUR donation (however small) will help us meet that target.
Giving is easy – see the end of this newsletter.
WHAT DOES YOUR DONATION ACHIEVE? PLEASE READ ON!
THE ROTARY CLUB OF MALOTI receives books and marks up a first
On Saturday 02 June, Rotarian Maud Boikanyo sent a WhatsApp message: “Consignment received and in storage at the Schools Supply Unit of the Ministry of Education in Maseru. Thumbs up.”
This was our 5th shipment to Rotary Club of Maloti (RCoMal). Usually, a Rotary club has nowhere to store such a shipment while the distribution is arranged. After discussions with the Ministry about distributing books to schools in and around Thaba Tseka (mid-country, east of Maseru), the two entities are cooperating. Liz and I have helped unpack a container load of books for schools, being part of African Library Project annual shipment from the USA. This same Ministry facility was being used by African Library Project as a storage base from which schools collected their allocations. Before a school year starts, the facility is full of curriculum materials, but for the rest of the year it has limited schools’ stock, The fact that RCoMal has linked with the Ministry to use this temporary storage facility prior to the distribution is a FIRST for a B4L shipment. Well done RCoMal.
THE ROTARY CLUB OF MANTSOPA (RCoMan)
The annual shipment to RCoMan left The Barn late in June and arrived in Maseru on 07 September.
Here is an extract from a Facebook post at the time of their annual “handover” to a new Board. It celebrates the club’s achievements in which you all played a part as supporters of B4L!
Here are 3 images showing the club at work with a book distribution at a school:
And 3 images taken at the 2023 “handover” event – full of celebration and pride:
BOOKS ARRIVE AT NEW TORO BOOKS
An enterprising young woman named Rest started this NGO, based in Mokhotlong in the mountains in NE Lesotho, to order to provide a library service with delivery to the reader’s home, anywhere in the country. (I find it impossible to understand how she achieves this considering the remoteness and mountainous country that Lesotho is!) The first boxes of books from B4L were shipped through the Rotary Club of Maloti during 2022 with a second delivery (also through RCoMal) arriving a few months ago. Below are images of Rets and her helpers unpacking the books. Do they look excited?
Click this link to watch video of the books being unpacked!
HOW ARE WE DOING IN 2023/24?
A reminder: With a 2023/24 budget of $22,353 and donations to date totalling just over $4,000, B4L is looking forward to your contribution, no matter the amount.
A BIG THANK YOU
I trust the above reports warm your hearts and let you know what good work we are all doing for this wonderful country, the “Kingdom in the Sky”.
Thank you to everyone who supports this “nation building” project through donations of books and $s.
David Linn
Chairman, Books for Lesotho Inc.