Africa? I thought you were joking: Kaddy Getuh’s Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and want to learn how to do other things good too

The new headmaster and I are making strides at the new library and resource center. When talking to another volunteer, she informed me of a woman here in the Gambia who likes to help Gambia schools and has a long history of working with Peace Corps volunteers. So I headed up to our school and the headmaster and I came up with a plan to turn an old building into a library and resource center. We wrote down our ideas and I called this woman up. She discussed our idea and told me to compile more information on the exact costs it would require for the building and resources. The next day I went back to the headmaster and we got these details and I headed into town to meet with Sally to discuss the feasibility and funding. The meeting went very well and Sally gave me tips and asked me to go back to the head master and hash out a couple more details we were missing. She said to email her all the information and she was sure we’d be able to get funding from her charity in the UK. Her charity is called ‘Friends of Gambian Schools’ and here is a link to their website: http://www.friendsofgambianschools.co.uk/. She also told me she would help me get resources to put inside the library! Yay!

The headmaster was very excited to hear this news on Monday when I returned, and he excitedly told me they would never forget me here and I’m guessing by the look on my face he determined that this was not enough, so he went further on to say that they would name the building after me. Which raises some questions…..Is this the real reason we moved to Africa? It may be. Do I deserve the honor to name a mut hut with cement plastered on the outside, fashioned in this sense, a library? Yes. And, lastly, is the title of this blog appropriate for me to have painted above the door of the library and resource center? Absolutely. This vision alone is what will get me through the tough times on this project, for sure.