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More information about Schools for Salone's container of books:
* Solar Flashlights donated to Sierra Leone School Children
* Book Packing Party in New Hampshire
* ABA sends Law Books to Sierra Leone
* Early Delivery of Books to SfS Schools
Flutter Tunnel Flashlights Donated
Created for the annual Burning Man Festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, Flutter Tunnel was a 1,000 foot long sculpture illuminated by 200 SunLight solar powered flashlights.
Bland Hoke and the Flutter Tunnel crew purchased the 200 SunLight flashlights for 2 purposes:
1. To illuminate Flutter Tunnel for 7 days at Burning Man, then - - -
2. To send the 200 solar powered flashlights to Schools for Salone for inclusion in our container of books. We will distribute them to schools along with the books, so the children can read and study at night.
Thank you Bland Hoke for making this happen.
See the solar flashlights delivered and in use at Maforeka School.
"I believe art is a catalyst for change," he said. "Up-cycling is the process of converting waste into a product of greater value. The term was coined in the book, 'Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things' by William McDonough & Michael Braungart. I stumbled across this concept in the midst of questioning the purpose and function of art in society. Up-cycling has provided a moral and practical outlook on material use and sculpture."
Book Packing Party - August 2009
For a year, Betsy Small Campbell has collected and stored over 1000 books in her garage, pending shipment to a small children's library in Yonibana, Sierra Leone, the home village of Madam Zainab Bangura, Minister of Foreign Affairs. On August 22, 2009, fifteen helpers arrived at Betsy's home to sort the books - one more time - to make sure the collection of books for Zainab were appropriately chosen. Over the last few months, each book has been given a personal note along with a signature and on August 22nd, they completed the effort.
Some examples of the inscriptions were:
"From our home to your school"
"I hope I see your country one day, I hear it is beautiful."
"This is one of my favorite books. I hope it becomes yours."
The 12 boxes of books are a composite of fiction and non-fiction with an eye to all ages and stages from early readers to literary works by African authors.
Betsy's daughter's 6th grade classmates (the same ones who in second grade made nametags for the stuffed animals that accompanied Cindy Nofziger for a school opening when Schools for Salone was War Child USA affiliated) along with their parents and Rochelle Jaffe worked to carefully to prepare the books for shipment to Books for Africa in Atlanta, Georgia.
Rochelle was very generous of her time and expertise. She also brought with her an additional collection of small stuffed animals, coloring books, crayons, pencils, fiction and non-fiction books for adult readers.
Together, Rochelle and Betsy presented the Schools for Salone DVD so that the kids and parents could have a baseline understanding of the the crisis in education that Sierra Leone faces - within the context of my Peace Corps Volunteer days and Rochelle's most recent visit to open Buma and Sahn schools in 2008. The two made cookies, homemade lemonade, took pictures for Madam Zainab Bangura and emphasized the value of books for children everywhere in the world.
In all, it was a fun community building day and Betsy thinks each person went away feeling they had contributed in a small way to something meaningful.
The boxes were shipped to the Atlanta BFA warehouse the next Monday. More 
Thank you, Betsy, for all you have done to make this first container of books possible.
American Bar Association Sends Law Books to Sierra Leone
Bob Alsdorf, a Seattle attorney and former Sierra Leone Peace Corps Volunteer, and Lane Ayres, Director, Jack Mason Law and Democracy Initiative of Books For Africa, have worked with West, the law book publishing arm of Thomson Reuters, and the American Bar Association to include 2 pallets of law books, out of the 20 pallets in Schools for Salone's first shipment, for the law school in Freetown.
Thank you both for this wonderful coordinated effort.
Early Delivery of Books to SfS Schools
In October 2008, Cindy attended the “Books for Africa” 20th year gala event in Minnesota. She met Mr. Demeke Berhanu-Haile of DBH & Associates Architects Inc., who was in charge of raising money for a BFA shipment to the Every Nations Academy, a private school in Bo, Sierra Leone. Mr. Haile expected their container to ship very soon and they discussed the possibilities of giving some of their excess books to Schools for Salone. He wrote to the school principal, Mr. Mohammed Sheriff, "Please see the opportunity of extending blessings to other needy children in your region. Ms. Nofziger has been a blessing to many in Sierra Leone. I am sure she will share experiences when you get together."
When Cindy contacted Mr. Sheriff, he had already talked to Leslie MBoka, our on-site coordinator in Junctional, and was very excited to share their books.
In March 2009, Cindy and Joseph toured the Every Nations Academy and picked up several boxes of BFA books, which they distributed to the Schools for Salone schools they visited after attending the opening of the Calaba Town School near Freetown.
They were very excited to distribute a small sample of the many many books Schools for Salone hopes to send to Sierra Leone with the help of Books for Africa.
You can help build a promising future for Sierra Leone's children.
