Inquiry Blog Post 4: A Case for Libraries in Places Where Rights and Food is Scarce

 Words are Powerful, Grammar is Sexy, and Literature is Revolution

 Inquiry Blog Post 4: A Case for Libraries in Places Where Rights and Food is Scarce

(Books; That is exactly how they work – Bilingual Librarian)

When I was twenty-five I volunteered in a community centre in a small village outside of Cusco, Peru.  Mostly, I followed toddlers and caught their colds, but on one rare occasion I was invited to join the village in an ancient tradition where we ran or hiked up steep hills to find ancient Incan ruins.  Once discovered, our rag tag group would join hands and dance around the rubble in what I imagined was an ancient fertility dance.  We would then drink Chicha (potato liquor) from reclaimed gas cans.  This was the most authentically Peruvian experience I had while volunteering. 

Most of the time, however, I stayed in a beautiful European style mansion, foraying into the local village daily to childmind.  While there, I watched the aid organization construct a single flush toilet in the village.  Within a few weeks, the toilet was clogged, and no one could use it.  This is a good analogy for how aid is often provided in marginalized communities; a wealthy, white person decides unilaterally what the group needs without first researching and speaking to the locals.  As a result, the project fails.  

Every day I participated in the weird volunteer scheme, and every  night I took the doorless overstuffed nine passenger van back to my rap video house--The European mansion-- and thought “next time I will do this differently.”

As a result, my search for specific library projects in developing nations focused on well researched organizations that take into account the culture and unique needs of the local inhabitants.  Three organizations that I found interesting include Farm Radio International, CODE, and Libraries Without Borders.  While these organizations originate in Canada, the United States, and France, their programs are well researched, and take into account the particular struggles of the regions where they operate.  

On creating new literacy opportunities and expanding access to information

“CODE: promoting every child’s right to learn” is an international organization that furthers literacy through teacher training, education, and the provision of relevant reading material for students.  One of their projects is in Moçambique and it is a twofold approach that involves relevant literature and teacher training.  In the article, “Mentoring in Transformative Hybrid Spaces: Preservice Teacher Preparation and Literacy Learning in Moçambique,” Misty Sailors and James V. Hoffman identifies that there are more than 40 languages spoken in Moçambique, and although only 50% of the population speaks Portuguese, almost all educational resources and teaching is in Portuguese (128).  To compound the issue, the majority of Portuguese is spoken in Urban centres, meaning that less than 50% of people speak Portuguese in rural areas.  This means that students are taught to read in languages that they do not understand, contributing to low literacy rates in the country.

In response to this issue, Code is creating relevant reading material in the local languages and they are providing immersive teacher education.  In service teachers work one-to-one with students, both inside and outside of the classroom.  The video below provides a brief overview of the programs that Code offers:

Supporting local communities

All three organizations support local communities; however, my favourite is Farm Radio International (FRI), which disseminates information via local radio stations throughout rural Africa. Having once hosted my own radio program on CHLY 101.7 Malaspina Radio, a campus-community radio station, I jumped for joy when I came across the FRI webpage.  According to FRI, radio is “widespread, accessible, convenient, nimble, interactive, and inexpensive,” and it is a completely brilliant way to broadcast reliable, timely, and educative information.  It does not require reading skills, or internet access, and yet, radio programs can be easily published on the internet for use with cell phones.

While Farm Radio International focuses on farming, stating that “up to 40% of farmers who learn about a new practice through a radio program supported by FRI end up applying it on their farm,” they also produce programs on sexual health education, vaccines, and gender equity.  You can find a list of their projects here: Projects Archive - Farm Radio International.

Democracy and Censorship

According to Neil Gaiman in his speech, “Why our future depends on libraries, reading, and daydreaming," "libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication.”  This is why international aid organizations fund library initiatives in war torn countries.  Literacy is powerful.  It is the single most effective tool people can use to escape poverty, abuse and violence.  This is true everywhere in the world.   When you grow up with abuse, violence, and oppression, awful can seem normal, and through reading and access to information you can learn that things can be different and you can also gain the tools to change your situation.

Gaiman goes on to state that “libraries are also, for example, places that people, who may not have computers, who may not have internet connections, can go online without paying anything: hugely important when the way you find out about jobs, apply for jobs or apply for benefits is increasingly migrating exclusively online.”  This idea has greater implications and importance in countries under oppressive regimes, particularly for women and girls.  For these marginalized populations, access to information and the ability to read means that they can advocate for themselves, complete immigration forms, apply for jobs, and advocate for their rights.

Libraries Without Borders (LWB) is an example of an organization that is attempting to provide access to information in impoverished nations. Like Gaiman, who connects libraries to freedom, LWB states,

“Whether virtual or physical, fixed or mobile, libraries provide everyone with the tools to comprehend and grasp the world. They provide free access to new instruments of education, culture, and digital information. In doing so, they play a fundamental role for equal rights as places of discovery, social class intermingling, cultural diversity and freedom. They are the foundation of a society open to the world, and inspire the ability to imagine the future.”

In the pursuit of cultural preservation and equal rights LWB developed an ideas box, which is a multimedia, durable popup with immediate satellite access.  The boxes include a “digital server, a power generator, 25 tablets and laptops, 6 HD cameras, 1 large HD screen, board games, arts and crafts materials, hardcover and paperback books, and a stage for music and theatre” (Ideas Box - Libraries Without Borders).  LWB deploys these idea boxes in refugee and internationally displaced persons camps, as well as in marginalized and underserved communities throughout the world.

Works Cited:

"Farm Radio International | It’S Amazing What Good Radio Can Do.". Farm Radio International, 2022, 

https://farmradio.org/.

Gaimon, Neil. "Neil Gaiman: Why Our Future Depends On Libraries, Reading And Daydreaming". The 

Guardian, 2012,  

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming.

"Libraries Without Borders". Libraries Without Borders, 2022, https://www.librarieswithoutborders.org/.

"Promoting Every Child's Right To Read - CODE". CODE, 2022, https://code.ngo/.

Sailors, Misty, and James V. Hoffman. "Mentoring In Transformative Hybrid Spaces: Preservice Teacher 

Preparation And Literacy Learning In Moçambique". Journal Of Adolescent And Adult Literacy, vol 63, no. 2, 2019, pp. 127-133., https://code.ngo/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Mentoring-in-Transformative-Hybrid-Spaces-Preservice-Teacher-Preparation-and-Literacy-Learning-in-Mo%C3%A7ambique.pdf. Accessed 13 June 2022.