2022 Newsletters
December - What a Fantastic Year
Thanks so much to all of you who have supported Libraries For Kids, Int'l in 2022. It has been an amazing year. Your generosity is impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in Kenya. Last December I reported that we had established libraries in 1,363 schools impacting about 300,000 children. This December I can report that we've established libraries in 3,021 schools impacting about 680,000 children. But wait, there's more (;>). Two more containers arrived in Kenya at the end of November with 70,000 books. They will be delivered to schools in January, 2023 when they return from summer break. We estimate this will create libraries in another 300 schools impacting about 67,000 more children. Another container shipped at the end of November and should arrive in January. AND, two more containers have been loaded and will be shipped as soon as they are inspected. As we prepare for the holiday season, I want you to know that you are heroes. Since our inception on May 10, 2019, 473 people or organizations have donated to Libraries For Kids, Int'l. You are heroes who are bringing hope and opportunity to children in Kenya and are on our honor roll (scroll down for the honor roll). Like kids everywhere, they have hopes and dreams for the future. They just need the resources to reach their goals..
November - 2 More Containers - ETA Nov 18
As we prepare for Thanksgiving I want you to know that you are my heros. So far 441 people or organizations have donated to Libraries For Kids, Int'l. You are heros who are bring hope and opportunity to children in Kenya. Like kids everywhere, they have hopes and dreams for the future. They just need the resources to reach their goals.
On September 9, 2022, two more containers started their journey to Kenya with over 70,000 books. This will create libraries in approximately 300 more schools impacting the lives of approximately 67,000 more children. These containers were made possible by the matching grant from doTERRA Corporation. They are scheduled to arrive November 7 18 2022.
Laura Winkel named Vice Chair/Chair Elect Laura has been a dedicated Board member and brings unique skills and experience to Libraries For Kids, Int'l. We are excited to announce that she has been named Vice Chair/Chair Elect. Our Founder Roy Austin will be mentoring her for the next couple of years. Roy has no plans to step aside just yet but at age 78, he realizes that he has more years behind him than ahead of him so having a qualified successor in place is critical to the long term success of Libraries For Kids, Int'l.
October - 2 More Containers - ETA Nov 7
I'm an accountant and I like numbers. But while it is fun to talk about putting books in 3,021 schools impacting 680,000 children plus their families and teachers, it is really all about the children. My granddaughter and I have had the pleasure and privilege of talking with students and teachers in Kenya. Our Board member, Jean-Marie Cote' has compiled some videos from those discussions so you can see and hear the children. Like kids everywhere, they have hopes and dreams for the future. They just need the resources to reach their goals.
2 More Containers - ETA Nov 7 On September 9, 2022, two more containers started their journey to Kenya with over 70,000 books. This will create libraries in approximately 300 more schools impacting the lives of approximately 67,000 more children. These containers were made possible by the matching grant from doTERRA Corporation. They are scheduled to arrive November 7 2022.
The rural schools are run by college trained teachers. They are dedicated, underpaid, and have limited funds. While they are familiar with libraries, most weren't trained on how to get the most utilization out of a libraries. Our team in Kenya led by Wanjiku Francis has received training to introduce them to Librarianship and activities of bringing books to life, promotion of a reading culture, and training teachers to see the value of the books as part of primary and secondary school curriculum, and as part of the current CBC (Career Based Curriculum) curriculum in Kenya. Pictured here are Gladys Ndina (standing), and seated are Wanjiku Francis, Cosmos Kilonzi, and Jeremiah Kyai. The training included preparation of a workplan that we are to start executing on Monday at a rural school in Kitui, Kwa Ngindu Primary school, that has received books from Libraries For Kids, Int'l. It will be an outreach program to train the teachers and promote reading to the learners in that school.
It isn't practical to get teachers to get teachers together for training because of the distance and expense so our team has been trained to train the teachers when they deliver books.
September - 2 More Containers
2 More Containers On September 9, 2022, two more containers started their journey to Kenya with over 70,000 books. This will create libraries in approximately 300 more schools impacting the lives of approximately 67,000 more children. These containers were made possible by the matching grant from doTERRA Corporation.
100% of donations go towards getting books to children in rural Kenya unless the donor specifies that we can use their donation for administrative or marketing expenses.
We strive to keep administration costs very low so that donations go towards our primary purpose of putting books in the hands of children. For the first 8 months of 2022 our admin expenses were 1 % of revenues. We are all volunteers here in the United States and we have no paid staff in the US. We spend another 1% on marketing and fundraising. So, 98% of all donations are devoted to getting books to Kenya and getting them delivered to schools and 100% of donations go towards operations unless the donor specifies that it can be used for admin or fundraising.
August - New Website
I hope you have had a great summer. It has been a busy and exciting time for Libraries For Kids, Int'l as we visited schools in Kenya. Talking with the children is such a pleasure. They are really smart and have great hopes and ambitions when they grow up. They just need more resources to achieve their dreams.
With few books and little or no electricity, the rural schools in Kenya are at a real disadvantage relative to the urban schools. They get very little funding from the goverment. The teachers I've met are dedicated professionals and are doing the best they can with the resources they have. They don't need a hand out. They just need a hand up.
We are excited to roll out our new website. Our dedicated volunteer and Board member, Caitlyn Kasper has done a great job on the new site. Please take a look and give us some feedback.
July - Africa Adventure
Greetings! How about an adventure next June - July? Join me for the trip of a lifetime to Kenya & Tanzania. There is nothing comparable to seeing the animals in the wild! Every person I've met who has been Africa has said it was the trip of a lifetime. We will visit national parks and cultural sites in Kenya and Tanzania. Here are links to a couple of videos to whet your appetite.
I am going to Kenya and Tanzania in September and October 2021 to scout out places to go, visit schools we've been working with, and visit national parks.
June - 3,021 Schools
On July 1st I leave for Kenya accompanied by my daughter Debby, and granddaughter Anna (19). I can't wait to get back there and visit schools and see the animals in the many national parks in Kenya. It will also be nice to escape the heat here in Bluffton, SC. It is winter in Kenya and the average temperatures this time of year are 50-75 F. You can follow our journey on my Facebook page. I'm excited to report that with the distribution of books in container number 9, we have now created libraries in 3,021 Schools in rural Kenya impacting the lives of approximately 680,000 children. We are so thankful for the 405 different people or organizations who have donated to make this possible. The impact doesn't stop with the students because teachers, parents, families, and communities are being impacted so the total number of people impacted is probably over 2 million.
There are approximately 6,753 rural schools in Kenya with little or no electricity or internet access. The 3,021 schools established so far constitute about 45% of these schools. Bottom line, we have more work to do to reach all of them which would be about 1.5 million children.
More Containers Container #10 is scheduled to ship in August 2 containers enabled by the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation matching grant have been ordered 5 more - we've applied for a grant from the Department of Defense to subsidize funding 5 containers in late 2022 or 2023. We've been told that it will be approved when it gets to the top of the queue. 2 containers have been ordered for shipment in 2023
May - 2,568 Schools
We have now created libraries in 2,470 schools in rural Kenya impacting the lives of approximately 577,000 children. We've shipped over 356,000 books to Kenya. I know, I too find it hard to believe and way beyond my wildest imagination when we started on May 10th three years ago. God has truly blessed this project and what we've achieved so far can be attributed to the dedication and commitment of our Board (team USA) and our amazing team in Kenya led by our Operations Coordinator, Wanjiku Francis. The challenges Wanjiku has overcome to get books delivered to the rural schools is truly inspiring.
April - US Olmypic Tam Member Supporting Libraries For Kids, Int’l
We are pleased to announce that Aliphine Tuliamuk, United States Olympic team long distance runner, is supporting Libraries For Kids, Int’l. Aliphine, is a Kenyan-born American long distance runner. She grew up in a tiny village in Northwest Kenya in West Pokot County near the border with Uganda. She knows first hand the challenges that rural schools have in providing education for their children when you have no electricity or internet access and minimal resources for books and supplies. She is the first woman from her village to graduate from college, with a major in Public Health from Wichita State University. Click HERE to hear why she decided to support Libraries For Kids, Int'. Aliphine was an All-American at Wichita State University and became a First Team NCAA Division I All-American in cross country in 2013. She placed first at the 2020 Olympic Marathon trials in Atlanta and represented the United States at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Tuliamuk has been a world class athlete since placing 9th in 21:09 at 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior women's race. Tuliamuk ran 33:43 to place 15th at the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Tuliamuk placed 3rd at 2019 Rotterdam Marathon in 2:26:50. Aliphine is endorsing Libraries For Kids, Int’l because she grew up in rural Kenya and know first hand how challenging it is to get an education when you don’t have books. Aliphine lives in Arizona with her husband and daughter Zoe. She is sponsored by Hoka shoes.
March - US Olmypic Tam Member Supporting Libraries For Kids, Int’l
We are pleased to announce that Aliphine Tuliamuk, United States Olympic team long distance runner, is supporting Libraries For Kids, Int’l. Aliphine, is a Kenyan-born American long distance runner. She grew up in a tiny village in Northwest Kenya in West Pokot County near the border with Uganda. She knows first hand the challenges that rural schools have in providing education for their children when you have no electricity or internet access and minimal resources for books and supplies. She is the first woman from her village to graduate from college, with a major in Public Health from Wichita State University.
Aliphine was an All-American at Wichita State University and became a First Team NCAA Division I All-American in cross country in 2013.
She placed first at the 2020 Olympic Marathon trials in Atlanta and represented the United States at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Tuliamuk has been a world class athlete since placing 9th in 21:09 at 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior women's race. Tuliamuk ran 33:43 to place 15th at the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Tuliamuk placed 3rd at 2019 Rotterdam Marathon in 2:26:50.
Aliphine is endorsing Libraries For Kids, Int’l because she grew up in rural Kenya and know first hand how challenging it is to get an education when you don’t have books.
Aliphine lives in Arizona with her husband and daughter Zoe. She is sponsored by Hoka shoes.
We are blessed to have some amazing volunteers and board members. One of our board members, photographer Jean-Marie Cote has been working on a documentary for us. The short version is finished so click HERE to watch. The video begins with the children at Kongoni Primary School (pictured below) chanting their school motto "I Believe I Can." I loved hearing them recite their motto. Visiting their school was one of the highlights of my trip to Kenya last September.
February - 500 More Schools
Greetings! Here is the February 2022 issue of the Libraries For Kids, Int'l monthly e-newsletter. OK, I'm late this month but February has been an exciting and busy month. 500 More Schools Two more containers holding 92,000 books arrived in Mombasa on February 27 and they are in the process of being cleared through Customs. The books in these containers will create libraries in approximately 500 more schools impacting approximately 56,000 children More Containers on the Way Two more containers are scheduled to ship in May and then five more in December. These will put us about half way to the goal of supplying books to all 6,700+ rural schools in Kenya (1.5 million children). in addition to the 1,600 schools (360,000 children) that have already received books. Getting Books Distributed Receiving , processing and distributing books is no easy task. When the containers arrive the boxes are unloaded and every single books is stamped in several places "Libraries For Kids - Not for Sale." This is a very manual process and takes a team of people to stamp that many books as you can see in the above picture. The books are sorted by subject and grade level and reboxed. We focus on one county at a time. Keep in mind that Kenya is almost as big as Texas. The books are taken by truck to a central location in a county. The next county on our radar is West Pokot in the far North West part of Kenya. It may take a week to get all the books delivered so they are stored temporarily in that county. These schools are very remote so often the only way to get books to them is to use motorcycles. Sometimes even the motorcycles can't get to the school so boxes are hand carried. Our Operations Coordinator in Kenya, Wanjiku Francis, aka "Ciku" has done an amazing job and overcome daunting challenges to get books delivered. When Ciku was asked why she is so dedicated to Libraries For Kids, Int'l she said "When I was in school there were 30-40 kids in a class but we only had one text book for each subject so we had to share that book. I will do anything I can to improve that situation." Wanjiku Francis, (Ciku) our Inside our warehouse in Kitui, Operations Coordinator unloading a container Delivery When the books are finally delivered the kids are thrilled and dive right in. As one boy, Branmuu, told me, the books have opened up the world to him. Now he can see beyond just his rural village. January - I Believe I Can
Greetings! Here is the January 2022 issue of the Libraries For Kids, Int'l monthly e-newsletter. From all of us, we wish you a very happy new year. Thanks for your interest and support. QUOTE OF THE MONTH I believe I can
The Smile That Launched Libraries For Kids, Int'l When I visited Amboseli Primary School in rural Kenya in September 2018 someone in the tour group asked the teacher, Anna Tayiai if they had a library? Her face lit up and she smiled and said "No, but we'd love to have a library." I couldn't stop thinking about her remark. I thought, how hard can this be. We just get some books donated and ship them to Kenya. So in many ways Anna is our Founder. Last September I visited 9 schools, one of which is Isnet Primary School where Anna now teaches. I'm aware of some of her trials and tribulations so her beautiful smile and positive attitude are not only infectious but also inspirational. She is an amazing lady and totally devoted to teaching.
SHORT TERM GOAL: 1.5 MILLION CHILDREN 6 Containers have been delivered to schools. Containers 7 & 8 were shipped December 16, 2021, and are scheduled to arrive at the end of January 2022. Containers 9 & 10 are due to ship around the end of March. When these 10 containers are all delivered they will create libraries in with approximately 2,500 schools impacting approximately 500,000 children. But, there are over 6,700 rural schools in Kenya, approximately 1.5 million students. We need to fund another 20 containers. Due to higher costs and Kenyan customs duties (we keep applying to get those duties waived) it now costs $19,000 to ship a container and another $6,000 to process, stamp, sort, and distribute the books after they arrive at our warehouse in Kitui Kenya. So, roughly $25,000 to ship a container holding 40,000 to 50,000 books. Each container supplies 250 to 300 schools. Kenya is a large country about 85% the size of Texas. As we supply schools in the more remote counties the costs go up.