The defining moment in my life that shifted the way I was thinking...and brought me to ubuntu.
Great question. Tough to answer.
In the sense of living and breathing and working and playing.
Okay, here's a story that Tricia from UNICEF also brought to my attention and WOWed me! It's so similar to what I want to do that when I get back, I will also try my best to contribute to her existing project.
Her incredible story goes something like this...she was a schoolteacher that went to live in Accra, Ghana with her family. One day, she picked up a book and went into the garden to read to her children. When she looked up, her audience had grown: children from the neighbourhood had quietly come closer and were listening raptly. Word about the storyteller spread, and soon more than 70 children came every day to listen.
In 1990, operating out of Kathy's garage, the Osu Avenue Library—named after her street—opened twice a week for two hours. Within three months there were 150 members and a waiting list. Kathy soon realized the need for a larger space. In 1992 she secured land on police property and after raising $1,400, she bought a shipping container, laid a concrete base, raised the roof, and cut out windows. The structure was painted, shelves installed, and books moved; there was even a small garden, and a bright pink bougainvillea bush that framed the entrance of the new Osu Library. Today, thanks to Kathy there are more than 100 libraries in Ghana. She has developed literacy programs and trained librarians. She has created books with pictures of the children from the villages there. She is incredible, and though I've yet to meet her (I will, I know I will!) her story takes a deeeeep place in my heart.
Check out the Osu Library Fund -- a registered charity in Ghana & Canada.
And -- was just on their website and realized that she came out to Virden to talk once. There's a testimonial from a Virdenite on the website. How much of a "coincidence" is that?
Her incredible story goes something like this...she was a schoolteacher that went to live in Accra, Ghana with her family. One day, she picked up a book and went into the garden to read to her children. When she looked up, her audience had grown: children from the neighbourhood had quietly come closer and were listening raptly. Word about the storyteller spread, and soon more than 70 children came every day to listen.
In 1990, operating out of Kathy's garage, the Osu Avenue Library—named after her street—opened twice a week for two hours. Within three months there were 150 members and a waiting list. Kathy soon realized the need for a larger space. In 1992 she secured land on police property and after raising $1,400, she bought a shipping container, laid a concrete base, raised the roof, and cut out windows. The structure was painted, shelves installed, and books moved; there was even a small garden, and a bright pink bougainvillea bush that framed the entrance of the new Osu Library. Today, thanks to Kathy there are more than 100 libraries in Ghana. She has developed literacy programs and trained librarians. She has created books with pictures of the children from the villages there. She is incredible, and though I've yet to meet her (I will, I know I will!) her story takes a deeeeep place in my heart.
Check out the Osu Library Fund -- a registered charity in Ghana & Canada.
And -- was just on their website and realized that she came out to Virden to talk once. There's a testimonial from a Virdenite on the website. How much of a "coincidence" is that?
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