Every time you buy a book, you make an impact. This time, it was all the way in Ghana!

We were approached by BooksForAfrica who were working with schools in Ghana to help them get the books they need to support their students.

Currently over 20% of the Ghanian population struggles to read or write, and even though literacy rates across the country have improved significantly in recent years, there is more that can be done. We hope this donation will contribute towards shrinking the gap even further, because we believe literacy is the key to empowerment, and having access to a well-stocked library is the first step towards experiencing the life-changing power of books.

Unfortunately, many schools don’t count with the resources necessary to meet their students’ needs. In the Ashanti region, almost 30% of children in school age have no books at home, and have never taken a book home from school. What’s more, overall, just over 20% of children are read books on a regular basis. We think children having access to books shouldn’t be a privilege but a right, so we prepared a container of 50,000 books to cover the school’s requirements.

This included some of the following categories:

• 0-5 year children books to encourage early reading habits. Sensory simulating books are especially sought after as texture and touch are universal languages.
• Teen fiction titles for older children (secondary school)
• Encyclopedias to provide reference material to help with studies and general learning.
• Secondary school textbooks/exam guides to help school specific topics.
• Popular Fiction for older students and adults who access school or community libraries.

The project took several weeks of careful planning to coordinate the operation on both ends, not to mention the manpower needed to select and carefully pack the books so they arrived in top condition to their destination. The shipment had to travel by sea, so a container was loaded into a cargo vessel that set sail from the South East coast of the UK.

It’s hearing that our books have found a home where they can make an impact which energises us, as literacy is at the core of everything we do.

Thanks to our wonderful customers for making this possible, when you choose AwesomeBooks, you make an impact with every book you buy!