Literate Earth Project

Our project is to build another library in Uganda. This time it will be in the Matugga District. The main costs are construction, book transport and shelves.

Indirectly, every member of the local population is positively impacted by the addition of a library to the community. Not only do studies show the direct correlation between literacy and rising out of poverty, a direct impact of our library for visitors and members, but a citizenry with access to more ideas and education will make better decisions in many areas. From selecting leaders to caring for their community to raising children, arguably there is an unending list of similar improvements from reading and literacy, that create a continual positive cycle.

As our libraries are built on the property of schools with a large student population, we expect the library to be extremely busy outside of school hours. Many students are taught from handwritten/copied books. When I (Jeff Fonda) went to Uganda with Soccer Without Boarders four years ago, the school I volunteered at had about 50 books and all were under lock and key. When we took them out for students to use, the wonder, amazement and enthusiasm in response was phenomenal.

After our libraries are running smoothly, likely six months after they open, we will begin accepting college students focused in literacy to spend time working in our libraries. There will be outreach with older members of the community who want to learn to read but were never taught.

Lastly, we plan to use the library as a community center when possible and appropriate. Our current plan is to show family friendly (and culturally universal) movies one night a week. This will be an additional way to introduce community members to our organization and library. This fits into our overall mission by creating a positive impact on the community, and our relationship will likely be very high in regards to the cost as most Ugandans have never seen a movie.