The youth center in Oruchinga refugee settlement is looking good. There’s paint on the walls, and tables and chairs sit on the new concrete floors. But there’s one more thing that the youth group asked us for help with.
One of the groups’ goals is to learn and practice English. They’re hoping to bring a teacher in to help. But they also wanted a few books so that they could practice on their own. Well, we were able to do them one better.
It just so happened we had several boxes of books in the ARC office, shipped to Uganda by Books for Africa. The books were on an assortment of topics and included a lot of fiction. But there were so many that they would definitely need a bookshelf to keep them all. So, Jen – ARC’s team lead in Oruchinga – commissioned a carpenter to build and paint a large book shelf (canary yellow to match the youth center walls).
When the bookshelf and books were delivered, the youth group was over-the-moon. They went through the books right away and picked out the ones they wanted to read first. A Hannah Montana book was a particular favorite!
“Now we can take a book from the shelf and sit in one of our new chairs and read,” said youth group leader Issa Cubaka. “We even have a separate room in the youth center that can now be like our little library. We’re sure this will help us with our English skills and reading.”
