Most volunteers pay their way, but some receive financial aid from a scholarship fund maintained by donors, Wendell said. The group went to Zimbabwe on its first trip, in 1999, and South Africa last year. This year, because of unrest in Zimbabwe, the group once again will head for South Africa. The trip is full, but volunteers will be sought again next year. One goal is to provide books that are relevant to the communities where they will circulate, because South Africans and Zimbabweans often receive books from foreign donors on subjects that don t exist in their cultures, Hite said.
People mean well.
I think one of the missions of our organization is to show people that there is an alternative to that traditional book donation. To better serve the communities, Hite said, the program asks for money, which it converts into book coupons people can use to buy materials written and published by people in their own countries. Hite said watching South Africans and Zimbabweans discover stories about their own home is a touching experience. Smiling, she remembered the story of a man who was skeptical about a library Wendell helped create in West Africa. I thought only white people wrote books.