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| Building a Library for the Brain Tree Primary School |
Imagine walking into a library for the first time. Imagine seeing books stacking the shelves from floor to ceiling. Imagine being allowed to sign a book out and take it home—for the first time. Imagine following the letters on the page with your finger while you read it—for the first time. Books are an incredible gift to a culture without and will enrich lives in ways that we can only begin to comprehend. And the Shipley community helped to make it possible.
By now all of Shipley has heard of The Brain Tree Primary School in Kyanja, Uganda. Many parents, teachers, and students have made a contribution to the school in one way or another, in a donation to the scholarship fund, 
in money brought in for dress down days, in the tracing of hands for the friendship quilt, or in the books given to the school for their new library. The Brain Tree partnership, once a Lower School effort, is now an all-school effort.
As the year draws to a close, it is time to reflect on all that has been accomplished with the partnership. This year we can say that the whole school helped to build a library and fill its shelves with books. Now to us, having books in our lives is pretty common. We don’t think twice about stopping at Borders or Barnes & Noble for that just-released hardback, but in Uganda, the teachers don’t even have a textbook to teach from. They teach from memory.
Over the course of a week in March, families contributed over 2,500 books which were cataloged, boxed (42 total), and transported to Boston for loading on a container ship bound for Africa. Anticipated arrival is June when the boxes will be transported to Brain Tree. A library is a novelty, so with the help of donated catalogue equipment, the books will be shelved and available. In addition, just over $6,500 was raised to cover shipping, and applied to the balance of the library construction. Overall, since June 2005 money contributed to the Brain Tree Fund, from outside contributors and members of the Shipley community has exceeded $13,681.
In the words of Lori DiGuardi, a Shipley parent who has spearheaded this effort, “Shipley’s efforts for Brain Tree are like that of the pipes that were laid bringing water to the school—it has injected life in the community.” Like the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child,” the Shipley community has come together to help educate the children of Brain Tree. The future is brighter for these children and for our community, knowing that we have a made an enormous difference in their future.
Learn more about the Brain Tree Partnership.
Posted May 10, 2006
Copyright © 2008 The Shipley School, www.shipleyschool.org