Cape High collects books to help start new library in Kenya, Africa
Two teachers from Cape Coral High School have initiated a book drive to help fill up the shelves of a new library in the city of Najile, Kenya.
Now through April 25, the school will collect used and new books, magazines and teaching aids that will later be shipped to Africa.
Students at the school were visited Tuesday by Solomon Matura, a native of Najile, which is located 53 kilometers from Nairobi.
Matura serves on the town’s library board and is working diligently to organize the project. Overall construction of the library will cost $20,000, and the board is counting on students in the Cape to collect materials.
“The library will be an enormous boost to education and will be remembered for generations to come,” he said.
Matura was invited to the United States by Bob Plageman, athletic director at Cape High, and his wife, Mary, who volunteered in Najile last summer. They saw the need for a library in the town and began organizing the book drive.
“We took a trip to Africa to see what life was like away from ours,” said Plageman. “We volunteered there last summer and saw the striving need by the people for library. They’ve never had a library before.”
As Matura talked with the students, he described how difficult it is for Najile residents to earn an education. Public education is paid for until the eighth grade, then families must shoulder the expense of high school. Furthermore, classes have one teacher for every 60 students, who share textbooks.
“Many Maasai men and women aren’t able to finish their studies because of school fees,” he said.
Curriculum at schools in Kenya focus on language where students learn Swahili, the most spoken language in the country, and English. Most schools have no electricity, and none of the students have seen a computer, he said.
In Najile, Matura is a member of the Maasai tribe — one of 42 throughout the country — known for being nomadic warriors. President Barack Obama’s family are descendants of the Luo tribe, which is located near the Maasai, which Matura estimates number half a million in Kenya.
Books collected during the drive will be stored at Cape Coral High School until late April. Organizers recommend that donations include the classics, adventure stories, non-fiction, older National Geographic magazines, dictionaries and other reference items.
Some Cape students involved in the drive are also enrolled in the school’s international baccalaureate program. In order to graduate, IB students have to fulfill a series of requirements, including involvement in an issue of global importance.
This project will afford some IB students the chance to become involved in a global issue.
“Students have a difficult time finding a global issue for CAS (student thesis),” said Plageman.
Any of the participants in Tuesday’s assembly could purchase traditional Maasai jewelry on display at the back of the auditorium. Different colored bracelets and necklaces cost between $2 and $22.
On April 25, the school will celebrate the end of book drive with a Frisbee event.
Cape High collects books to help start new library in Kenya, Africa
Two teachers from Cape Coral High School have initiated a book drive to help fill up the shelves of a new library in the city of Najile, Kenya.
Now through April 25, the school will collect used and new books, magazines and teaching aids that will later be shipped to Africa.
Students at the school were visited Tuesday by Solomon Matura, a native of Najile, which is located 53 kilometers from Nairobi.
Matura serves on the town’s library board and is working diligently to organize the project. Overall construction of the library will cost $20,000, and the board is counting on students in the Cape to collect materials.
“The library will be an enormous boost to education and will be remembered for generations to come,” he said.
Matura was invited to the United States by Bob Plageman, athletic director at Cape High, and his wife, Mary, who volunteered in Najile last summer. They saw the need for a library in the town and began organizing the book drive.
“We took a trip to Africa to see what life was like away from ours,” said Plageman. “We volunteered there last summer and saw the striving need by the people for library. They’ve never had a library before.”
As Matura talked with the students, he described how difficult it is for Najile residents to earn an education. Public education is paid for until the eighth grade, then families must shoulder the expense of high school. Furthermore, classes have one teacher for every 60 students, who share textbooks.
“Many Maasai men and women aren’t able to finish their studies because of school fees,” he said.
Curriculum at schools in Kenya focus on language where students learn Swahili, the most spoken language in the country, and English. Most schools have no electricity, and none of the students have seen a computer, he said.
In Najile, Matura is a member of the Maasai tribe — one of 42 throughout the country — known for being nomadic warriors. President Barack Obama’s family are descendants of the Luo tribe, which is located near the Maasai, which Matura estimates number half a million in Kenya.
Books collected during the drive will be stored at Cape Coral High School until late April. Organizers recommend that donations include the classics, adventure stories, non-fiction, older National Geographic magazines, dictionaries and other reference items.
Some Cape students involved in the drive are also enrolled in the school’s international baccalaureate program. In order to graduate, IB students have to fulfill a series of requirements, including involvement in an issue of global importance.
This project will afford some IB students the chance to become involved in a global issue.
“Students have a difficult time finding a global issue for CAS (student thesis),” said Plageman.
Any of the participants in Tuesday’s assembly could purchase traditional Maasai jewelry on display at the back of the auditorium. Different colored bracelets and necklaces cost between $2 and $22.
On April 25, the school will celebrate the end of book drive with a Frisbee event.
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