Photos have been removed from this issue because of a law in Kenya requiring strict documentation for photos and videos featuring school children.
December, 2019
Website: https://libraries4kids.org/
Merry Christmas or in Swahili Krismasi Njema, I was curious as to how Christmas is celebrated in Kenya so I asked our wonderful volunteer/website developer, Francis, Wanjiku. She replied: Most Kenyans are Christian (78%). About 10% are Islam and the remaining 12% practice indigenous religions. This is how we celebrate Christmas and New Year in the places I have been.
Those of us in cities travel upcountry to be with family members and celebrate together. From 20th Dec, most people start leaving for Christmas festivities. They return on 26th unless they plan on being upcountry for New Year. As for the actual celebrations, Christians go for worship, 24th evening, 25th, and 26th. Afterwards, feasts are held at home or restaurants and we enjoy the rest of the period together having fun, go out etc. Those left in towns, enjoy the process of preparing chicken, from slaughtering – roasted or fried. Majority prefer chicken if only few people are around. Slaughtering goats, or cows depends on the size of the family. Majority go for the goats since they are cheaper to buy if they don’t have one at their farms. And also with goats, no left overs as there are no fridges there. I mostly enjoy this part! ‘Chinja mbuzi tule’ means, slaughter the goat we eat. Ribs are roasted on an open charcoal fireplace. We place a wire mesh to grill if an actual griller is missing which is in most cases. The blood is cooked, and the men will enjoy it the following day or later in the night when it is solid-like. The Maasai love it and just like in their community, anyone is allowed to have the blood, even kids. But, most women and children in my community (and other Bantus) do not enjoy the taste hence why we just leave it to the men. The men enjoy the blood over other "stuff" (local beer/booze, miraa, etc), especially in the families where more than two family members drink alcohol or enjoy 'miraa'. So, somewhere just outside the house, away from the children, they set a fireplace after 7 pm, bring in their stuff, and celebrations continue. Men take the responsibility of cooking the head of the goat and roasting the ribs (traditionally, women are accused of under cooking these). Everyone will enjoy a piece of the roasted meat. Once the roasting is done, the head is prepared and cooked by boiling overnight mostly so that in the morning, it’s part of the breakfast. The following meals never miss in all families during the festive seasons: - Chapati, Pilau and beef stew (chapatti is more like traditional as it is also considered part of the festivities in towns whether there is meat or not. The rest are additional). The meat remaining after roasting is shared to cover the ingredients for beef stew and pilau. Women and children might be treated to other beverages, nothing specific, could be sodas, coffee, tea, bone soup, etc.
The story is repeated new year’s.
Chapati
Pilau
You can make a difference. Here is a story of what education is like in rural Kenya William, Maktau Primary School in Taita Taveta
"During my days in primary school, we used to have crowded classes of at least 40-60 pupils. This made us strain when using the available reading materials like textbooks and storybooks. I remember one day, one of the pupils in my class had an excellent storybook, and so most of us would all scramble for it to take a glimpse of it. So I finally got a chance to read a few pages before it was snatched from me by the owner as another friend of hers had asked for the book. I never had a chance to finish the story I had started reading. It made me not to bother finding some more storybooks as I was discouraged. But as I joined a secondary school, that’s where I had a proper chance to read storybooks to the end as the school library had adequate not only the course books but also novels.
MEET THE BOARD
Libraries For Kids, Int'l. is blessed to have a great Board of Directors. Each month we will profile a member of our board so you can get to know them. Meet Tamela Maxim. I was born in Savannah, Georgia and as a military brat have lived in GA, NC, HI, VA and eleven years in Germany. I have an Associate in Arts from the University of Maryland (Munich Campus), Bachelor of Science in Education from Georgia Southern University (minors in Art and German) and one year of study at the University of Stuttgart in Germany studying drama, literature and history. I live with my husband, Nicholas Maxim in Bluffton, SC and have been a professional freelance writer and editor since 1979. This project is important to me because I love books and I love learning and I cannot rest easy knowing that there are children who want books and don’t have them.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Please help us help these kids to the gift of knowledge by donating to this cause. You can donate on our website or GoFundMe Page.
LEARN MORE
For more information about Libraries For Kids please visit our website. You can donate on the website.
Pass it On
Please share this e-newsletter with your friends. To subscribe, please click HERE.
Corporate Sponsor/Celebrity Spokesperson
Even though we strive to minimize shipping costs, it is still expensive to ship books so raising money is critical. If you know a corporation or celebrity that could help us, please email us at books@libraries4kids.org
MEDIA
Click HERE for a link to a story on WHHI-TV, Hilton Head, SC
WAITING LIST
We have a waiting list of 12 more schools to help in Kenya. We are also looking at opportunities in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi.
Library Named For You?
Would you like a library named for you? Setting up a library and supplying money for new textbooks costs about $2,500. Donate $2,500 and we will have the school name the library for you and send you pictures of your library. Sponsor a school today with a donation on GoFundMe or our website.
GoFundMe
We have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money. No donation is too small and each helps in two ways. The more activity on the GoFundMe page, the higher its visibility, and also every little bit helps. Please click here to donate.
BOOKS FOR SALE: I have a set of 45 Alexandar Dumas books in very good to excellent condition published in 1895. The collection has been appraised at $2,500 We also have other old books for sale that are do not fit the criteria set by the schools in Kenya. See the left side panel. Copy & paste the list into Word and enlarge it.
If you or a collector you know would like to buy these books, please contact us at 843-597- 4826.
Opportunities to Assist Libraries For Kids
Speaking: We are looking for opportunities to present the Libraries For Kids Int’l story, such as civic clubs, churches, Chambers of Commerce, book clubs, professional associations, etc. Contact Roy Austin for information.
PARTNER RECOGNITION
Many thanks to our partners who have supplied free services. Please support them.
Paul Uhls
BNC Graphics
19 Seventh Ave, Bluffton, South Carolina 29910
Supplied business cards and rack cards
Dan Russin Store Manager
Morningstar Storage 1110 Fording Island Rd Bluffton, SC 29910
Donated a 10ft x 10ft space for us to store books.
Allison Debs Lewis
Territory Account Manager
Staples Advantage
Staples has donated shipping boxes and packing tape.
Libraries For Kids is an IRS tax- exempt 501 (c) (3) organization, so donations of books and money are tax-deductible.
Mission: The mission of Libraries For Kids is: “Help schools with limited or no access to the internet, establish libraries for their students, and enhance learning opportunities.”
Vision: Libraries For Kids envisions helping rural schools in developing countries around the world.
Website: https://libraries4kids.org/ Thanks for your support and prayers for Libraries For Kids, Int’l. For more information, please contact Roy Austin at 843-597-4826.
Please visit and like our Facebook page. At the moment, Facebook will not allow us to put a donate button on the page because we cannot send them a utility bill for Libraries For Kids, Int'l. Since we don't rent any office space we don't have any utility bill to send them.
Coach Roy Austin Founder/Chair
