ALP Expands to Ghana
Last spring, Ernest Ankomah called ALP Founder Chris Bradshaw daily…from Ghana. Will you please partner with us to start libraries in Ghana? We will be your best partner ever! Ernest is the Executive Director of the Michael Lapsley Foundation and his persistence paid off.
We’re delighted to announce a new partnership with the Michael Lapsley Foundation (MLF) in Ghana, West Africa. The Foundation is named after Father Michael Lapsley, an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa who lost both hands and an eye as the target of a letter bomb. MLF is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO/nonprofit) that focuses its efforts on rural library development and advocacy for the disabled. Their unique model creates partnerships between Ghanaian Members of Parliament and traditional chiefs to champion the development of libraries in their district. They provide both financial support and leadership.
The Michael Lapsley Foundation has already vetted 31 applications and submitted them to ALP for library projects from villages and schools in the resource-poor central and northern parts of Ghana. Each wannabe library will provide space for the library, a working library committee, and staff eager to be trained in library skills. MLF will provide the librarian training with the support of ALP’s technical manuals and best practices gathered from our other work in Africa. We still need a few book drives to fill the Ghana container, so if you can collect 1,000 gently used books and raise $500 by April 30th, let us know. Through your bookdrive, you will change the lives and opportunities of a Ghanaian village forever.
March, 2011
