Another rural library to be established
Thanks to a generous donation from Mrs May Tam of Hong Kong, FOCHTA is planning to build a rural library in Mikombe. This will make a total of five libraries, including the one in our office, that we have established.
That a school can be without a library may seem strange to people overseas, however 90% of schools in Thyolo district are indeed lacking any form of library. Many in fact even lack textbooks. Due to a lack of public transport, students may need to walk for hours to reach a library and with this in mind FOCHTA has built and resourced small libraries around Thyolo’s rural districts.
The newest library will be a small building 12.5 metres by 12 metres, set in the grounds of Mikombe Community Day school, which is 15 km from Luchenza township. The library, like the others, will be open to the public as well as to students. FOCHTA believes that this library will benefit countless students for years to come. Cost of construction is estimated at US$8000.00.
Like the other libraries, it will be staffed by a librarian funded by FOCHTA. We have employed Mr Nakutepa, a retired librarian from the National Library. His will be a part-time position, with the task of training our school-leavers to manage each of the libraries, and he will be visiting each of these libraries regularly. At the same time, a teacher from each school where a library is located will be responsible for seeing that the library is in good running order. The entire library program will be overseen by our program officer.