President Obama’s inauguration symbolized the beginning of change, hope and renewal to people who had grown weary of the staid status quo in a world that has been gripped by the fear of terrorism, an economic system on the verge of collapse and a growing sense of inequality between the well-to-do and have-nots.

One of the pledges made by Obama made during his election campaign was a commitment to help less fortunate countries in the world such as those found in Africa. ABP attended the Obama inauguration party held at the Mile One Urban Tavern in Calgary with the hope that he will honour his promise for increased aid to Africa in the future.

It has been nine months since President Obama first took office and whether or not he will live up to the gargantuan expectations placed on his shoulders has yet to be seen. It is incredible to think that one man can serve as a type of metaphorical ‘mirror’ that reflects our own desires and dreams for the world back at us yet this is exactly what Barack Obama, whether through luck or design, has done.

As a part of ABP for almost one year, I know what I see when I look at President Barack Obama. I don’t see a black man. I don’t see a man whose mother was white. I don’t see hope or change or renewal (can anyone really see those things?). The only thing I see is a man. Yes, merely a man. A man who seems to be willing to work hard for a better tomorrow. I see a man who is willing to believe things can be better.

I too want to be that type of man and I have no doubt that the rest of the ABP team wants to be that type of man (or woman) as well.

1. Books are donated to the ABP by school libraries, and individuals, in Calgary and surrounding areas.

2. Books are then reviewed by local volunteers to make sure they’re in good enough condition to be sent overseas. If not, they are donated elsewhere or recycled – nothing ends up in the garbage. If they’re good to go, they’re sorted, packed and stored until they can be sent.

3. When the ABP has enough funding to send a shipment to Africa, the books are put on a train to Vancouver or Montreal, and from there, shipped on to Kenya or Tanzania, via Europe, or somewhere in the Middle East. Shipping takes anywhere between 6 weeks and 3 months.

4. Some books arrive at the port in Mombasa, Kenya, where they must clear customs, which can take up to a few weeks. Then, local volunteers and staff collect them and move them to a storage facility, where they’re unpacked and sorted.

Other books arrive at one of two ports in the two ports in Ethiopia – Aseb or Mitsiwa. From there, books are distributed by local people working with Ethiopia Reads, our American counterpart

5. The books finally arrive in their new homes – government, public and community school libraries, where they’ll be read by schoolkids from preschool to Grade 12.

In the future, the ABP wants to start sending books to western Kenya and the Nairobi area as well.

Here’s the why and how:

When I was younger, I dreamed of doing something someday that would change the world.

Now that I’m older, I realize that changing the world is kind of a big undertaking. When the realities of everyday life set in – jobs, mortgages, car repairs, concern over calorie intake, etc. – I don’t have much time left over to think about saving the world, much less anything else.

And when I do have some free time, I don’t even know where, or how, to start.

Until recently, when I met with Barb Briggs, president of the Africa Book Project (ABP) — a small Calgary-based charity that provides books to schools and libraries in Africa – and she explained to me a little bit about why she does the work she does.

Barb is realistic about the impacts of aid and development. In fact, she acknowledges that shipping books overseas brings up several questionable issues, including the environmental concerns involved with sending books by boat; the imposition of western culture and values on African cultures; the appropriateness and usefulness of the materials; the potential creation of dependency; the possibility of putting a local book owner out of business due to flooding of the market with free books, and so forth.

But despite these issues, she continues her work with the project because she believes that change can happen in small steps, and it starts with becoming aware of what’s going on around you — locally and internationally. To date, the ABP has sent nearly 100,000 books to Africa, to remote areas where schools have little funding, and few resources, but Barb told me the project is about doing more than just shipping books – it’s about getting people educated and talking about related

And so we came up with the idea for this blog, based on the idea that you can have an impact by just doing small things and being aware of what’s going on in the world. So check back here for upcoming events, and other news, issues and conversation related to the project.

Please visit regularly for the latest in ABP’s activities, ideas and just random ramblings

Thank you for reading.

We appreciate your concern and interest in our organization’s interests.