Philanthropy has had a presence in literature since ancient times, from as far back as the chaotic era of the ancient Roman philosopher Cicero. It is no wonder that there are projects dedicated to ensuring people living in areas lacking books have access to them. After all, books can empower people to achieve goals they may have initially thought they couldn’t achieve.
Books for Africa
Books for Africa plans to “create a literacy-driven culture” for Africa by providing resources that can empower all. They launched their project in 1988, immediately beginning to ship books to children and adults. Their consideration to provide books for all is exactly the type of philanthropic empowerment needed in the world of literature. The organisation is still active today, having delivered close to 50 million books in early 2020, to people who desperately needed them.
As of July 2023, the organisation earned its 12th consecutive top rating by Charity Navigator. Charity Navigator analyses non-profit performance and has rated Books for Africa as an organisation who operates with excellence. With such a positive validation from Charity Navigator, Books for Africa stands as a trustworthy and transparent project committed to their cause.
Books for Africa operates due to the kindness and dedication of others, including philanthropists. They encourage people from all backgrounds to donate funds, books, or volunteer. Alternatively, if you are looking for a project dedicated to a specific region in Africa, you can find a whole retinue of committed projects on their website, from the Botswana Book Project to the Phumulani Minnesota African Women Against Violence. The choice is in your hands.
Volunteering in the organisation is not forgotten. The summer newsletter Books for Africa released in 2023 puts one of their volunteers, Perry Mitchell, in the spotlight, showing that the organisation understands it cannot operate in an honest philanthropic way without volunteers. Check out their online newsletter, or, if you’re feeling daring, consider attending one of their events, which you can find advertised on their website.
To Fail is to Learn
We are conditioned to show only our successes, with failures often being pushed aside. Books for Africa seem to only showcase their successes, and although they are backed by Charity Navigator, it is sometimes comforting to know when a project stumbles. After all, to err is human.
Books2Africa
Books2Africa, another literature-based organisation dedicated to delivering books to Africa, provide data on their website that indicates how their objectives are going. This project was founded in 2012 and focuses on distributing educational materials to “enable individuals to achieve their full potential, regardless of age, gender, economic status, or nationality”. The project relies on others to donate books and computers, donate to sponsor shipments, volunteers, and selling merchandise to achieve their objective. They operate using a ‘readcycle’ mentality, an idea that you ‘recycle’ any books and computers gathering dust on your shelves and donate them to others.
Their strategic objective is to ‘readcycle’ 1 million books and 1,000 computers within the UK every year, and distribute them to “individuals, institutions, and communities across Africa’s 54 countries”. In 2023, Books2Africa received 0 books and 3 computers in April 2023, and 2,200 books and 2 computers in May 2023. The project was far from achieving their strategic objective last year, and given we are now in a brand new year, Books2Africa must rely on the generosity of others to reach their goal. But to give credit when credit is due, Books2Africa, since being founded in 2012, have ‘readcycled’ an impressive 3,108,010 books as of August 2023.
Conclusion
In the words of Cicero in ad Atticum IV.8, “A home without a library is like a body without a mind”. If books, in both electronic and physical forms, can empower people and enrich their lives, consider donating that book that has sat on your shelf for far too long, or perhaps that pile of old schoolbooks you no longer need. The power of the written word is infinite.
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