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To the Editor:
I wanted to thank you sincerely for your support of our library project and share updates. How have you been? Also, I will be at Town Day on June 7 with a booth for our library! Hope to see you there.
Since we last spoke, there are now two libraries in two refugee settlements, run by eight full-time staff who are part of the local refugee and Ugandan communities. We’ve transported 1,500 books, been running seven weekly activities, and served 353 unique individuals last month. We did this all for under $8,000.
We’re already seeing a change in the reading culture: In May, school was on break, but students still came to the library right as it opened, ready to read. We know their love for learning will shape the futures of countries like South Sudan (the youngest and poorest nation in the world) and Uganda (the nation with the largest refugee population in Africa).
However, just this month, 70% of refugees in Rhino and Imvepi began receiving no rations at all. Because of large-scale funding cuts, 1 million refugees in Uganda (out of 1.8 million) were cut from receiving rations.
Single mothers and widows are the most affected by this. School enrollment may drop due to some students having to work on the farm.
In this next year, CLH hopes to reduce the impacts of these ration cuts by: 1. providing income-generating opportunities, and 2. increasing educational support.
We have programs that generate income: we are teaching women to knit, develop business skills, and sell their products. We also have a team trained in photography, videography, and video editing, which they can do for hire for NGOs. For increased educational support, we plan to start mobile libraries to reach remote parts of the settlements, women’s literacy classes, and financial literacy training.
Our fundraising goal for May 2025-April 2026 is $20,000, which will support the two libraries, seven existing activities, and new critical activities responding to the situation in the settlements. We rely 100% on crowdfunding, and we are currently only at 18% of our goal.
If you are able to make a one-time or monthly contribution, every penny will go a long way.
• $10 / month: Provides weekly literacy classes for kids
• $36 / month: Provides Wifi to one library, which allows visitors to learn digitally
• $80 / month: Funds mobile libraries for four remote locations and two primary schools.
We know there is so much going on in the world, and we don’t take any donation for granted. We promise our supporters that our operations are efficient and community-centered. Our team has a true passion for helping the communities because they are part of them.
We don’t have unnecessary overheads and we collaborate with schools and other organizations to maximize our resources. I (Lulu) spent January-early May in Uganda, training and working with the teams. I am now back in Boston, but still working with the teams almost every day.
Hope to see you at Town Day, and would love to have a follow-up chat whenever you’re available.
Lulu Tian, Winchester
