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BUILD ON BOOKS BUILDING A FOUNDATION FOR DEVELOPMENT IN SIERRA LEONE |
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Build on Books is a Registered Charity Number 1158201 Registered address 38 Oak Tree Road, Marlow, Bucks,SL7 3EE Contact: info@buildonbooks.com +44 (0)1628 476 041
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Build on Books is a Registered Charity Number 1158201 |
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Please donate through PayPal in all currencies & CAF cheques. Cheques made payable to Build on Books can be sent to Build on Books, 38 Oak Tree Road, Marlow, Bucks SL7 3EE Our Bank details are Build on Books 20-40-71 13757374 Please email info@buildonbooks.com for further information
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About Build on Books Build on Books began in 2009, as a project to send huge quantities of books to schools and libraries in Sierra Leone, bringing the gift of knowledge to tens of thousands of children. We have provided books for over 170 libraries so far. However, Build on Books has also become: Build a Borehole, Build a School Farm, Build a Toilet, Build a School Science Lab & more We are helping schools and communities in one of the world’s poorest countries to help themselves overcome the devastating effects of poverty. Build on Books provides the resources while Sierra Leonean communities provide hard work and dedication. Together we save lives through clean water, sanitation, and food production. The books and science equipment we send provide the tools for future prosperity while goats & seed help feed children now. Build on Books is small organization but we achieve BIG THINGS by combining forces with other like minded organizations & individuals, all around the world. Why Sierra Leone? The world is not a fair place. Where I live children never go to sleep hungry in their comfy beds surrounded by their favourite toys and books. They feel safe and cosy, knowing as parents we are there to protect them. If they wake up thirsty, water is always close at hand. A school full of books is just a short walk or drive away, and every child has a place at school. Peace and prosperity have given us so much to be thankful for. Civil war and neglect have taken so much from Sierra Leone and it is the children who still suffer a decade after peace was restored. Sierra Leone was once a British crown colony and at the time of independence from the UK in 1961 it was prosperous nation. People lived comfortably and their children went to school. The education system was the envy of Africa. 30 years later an 11 year civil war decimated the entire country. People sought refuge from terrible atrocities, while their homes and schools went up flames. Survivors were left with nothing. Those hardworking dedicated survivors are rebuilding their country. The are establishing communities and building homes, schools & libraries. However, they lack the resources to fill those libraries with books. There is no infrastructure to bring water to their communities, even though there is water beneath the ground. Children become ill and die all the time from drinking filthy water from a contaminated stream. Such water may be all a mother can provide to sustain her children until the next meal can be found. These children must become educated and take up professions and trades if there is to be any future for their country. But how? Rote learning is not the answer but often that is all there is. Schools simply do not have the resources to provide pupils with a well rounded education. Many parents are illiterate and poor, so even if they can afford to send their child to school they cannot help them to learn, or buy them schoolbooks. If children don’t learn to read well enough to graduate primary school they cannot go on to secondary school. Such children are the most vulnerable to exploitation. We believe that libraries are the key to development and are a foundation for prosperity. Even with basic reading skills, any child sitting on the floor of a library engrossed in a book is furthering their education, soaking up knowledge and becoming inspired. Every child needs a library. Millions of spare books are being given away in this country, every year, enough for thousands of libraries. It has not been difficult to fill more than hundred 170 libraries with books given to us for free in the UK. A terrible tragedy this year, forced us to do even more. When a local Deputy Head Teacher, who was devoted to his pupils and to books, died of from drinking contaminated water we were asked by the community of Ibo Town to please build a borehole , in their community, as a matter of urgency to prevent more people from becoming ill and dying. So, we rose to the challenge and did what we do best, we found a partner charity with the expertise and the equipment to help. Willamette Medical Teams, were already working in Sierra Leone. We only had to raise the funds and find the land! Fortunately, the women of Ibo town were only to happy to give land, so in less than three months two boreholes have been completed. Miraculously we raised enough money in only a few months. We are now working independently once more, but we still pack books every Tuesday afternoon, and send pallets to remote schools in the poorest rural areas. We have also helped to raise funds to support a farming project spearheaded by a UK midwife to provide food stability and would like to do more of this. The Build on Books Team will find partners to help us take on any challenge. We know we can count on the support of so many people for help. Like us they are grateful for the prosperity we all enjoy (even in tough economic times) and are willing to do their bit to redress the injustice done to the children of Sierra Leone. Please help us by making a financial contribution. We take no salaries, or admin fees and use all donations wisely and prudently.
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