From Bricks to Books - Sagam Village Builds a Library!

"At the moment that we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold, that magic threshold into a library, we change their lives forever, for the better."

President Barack Obama, Chicago, 2005


The brand-new library at Sagam Primary School is really starting to take shape! In an earlier post (November 2011) we described the origins and first steps of this wonderful project, which is a collaborative effort between the Sagam Village community and the Bowman School community. It is exciting to see the walls in place, with spaces for windows and doorways, and to know that Sagam students, parents, and teachers will soon experience that "magic threshold" that leads to a world of discovery, reflection, and new understandings.

Construction is now in Stage II - the "Walling" stage - and progress is evident through the pictures posted here. What materials are required to build a new library in a village in Kenya? For this stage of the project, the community has gathered, constructed, or used:

• 70 bags of cement
• 6000 bricks (made in the village)
• 15 kg of ordinary nails
• 400 ft of timber
• 4 lorries full of sand
• 2 lorries full of ballast

along with a variety of other materials, and the labor is being completed be members of the village community. We look forward to receiving more updates as the progress continues!