Help Modernise a Rural School Library in Malawi
Hello, my name is George Mwika Kayange. After 20+ years of advocating for the rights and welfare of children in Malawi and other countries, I have created the “Tales of Little Heroes” brand. I’m fundraising for £12,000 through this brand by December 2024. I’m raising funds through selling my books and other resources and through various crowdfunding platforms. The funds raised aim to modernise a rural school library in Malawi.
The origins
In 2001, I first self-published Gone for a Walk with a highly competitive small grant award from the Malawi Writers Union (MAWU), using a local printing house called Montfort Press. This was long before the online revolution of Amazon KDP began.
Later, my short story “Meaningless Adventure” was featured in an anthology titled Modern Stories from Malawi, published in 2003, and several others were published in local newspapers.
The Resource Centre
In 2006, I took the initiative to establish “The Child Rights Information and Documentation Centre (CRIDOC)” in Malawi, aiming to produce information and resources to support child education development. Duly registered as a local NGO, CRIDOC sought to create access to information on child rights or related issues through Research, Documentation, ICT, and other communication channels.
As part of this endeavour, as the organisation’s founder, I led the process of setting up a resource centre in Lilongwe, the capital of the City of Malawi, targeted at kids and teens. This was against the backdrop of the unprecedented need and demand for educational resources in an entire city with only a single public library owned and managed by the National Library Services (NLS). Aside from the private primary schools, almost all public primary schools could hardly afford basic libraries.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports in Lilongwe donated CRIDOC’s first offices, and it was within these premises that my volunteers and I established our first resource centre, which complemented NLS’s public library. The resource centre received generous book donations from various organisations within and outside the country, including the National Library Services, Save the Children UK, the Bishop Mackenzie International School, and individual well-wishers.
Library & Teachers’ Office
In 2011, I spearheaded the construction of a library and teachers’ office at Chimvite Primary School in Lilongwe Rural Southwest, with financial support from USAID under the Ambassador’s Self-Help Project.
The community members also contributed by providing locally sourced materials such as sand, burnt bricks, quarry stones, and poles. At the same time, USAID covered other expenses like procuring iron sheets, timber, windowpanes, door frames, paint, cement, and lime.
My Commitment to Refurbish & Modernise
Fast-forward 13 years, and I remain deeply committed to supporting the community. Through my Tales of Little Heroes brand, I aim to fundraise £12,000 by December 2024 to assist the school community in modernising the library.
The refurbishment and modernisation project will involve installing solar power, accessible computers with internet access, a library retrieval system, interactive computer games, and e-resources that can be accessed offline.
To achieve my goal, I pledge to contribute some of my profits I make from selling my books and other materials on Amazon KDP and other platforms to the library modernisation project by December 2024.
Additionally, I am crowdfunding through various crowdfunding platforms.
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