Success Stories & Recent News

What happens to a container of Books For Africa books once it arrives in Africa? What kind of impact will your donation have on the lives of children in Africa?

Here are some photos and stories about BFA shipments as well as recent news about our organization. 

New Research Illustrates the Tremendous Power of Books

African student reading a textbook provided by BFA.

A recent New York Times editorial cites new research showing that kids who grow up in homes with many books receive the equivalent of three years more schooling than kids without books—yet another reason to help BFA put books in the hands of African children.

Read the editorial.

Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi (RKMC) Law Firm Hosts Event Introducing BFA to Atlanta Community

Guests at the reception included new BFA board members Sabrina Jackson (Coca Cola North America) and Donna Ford (Johnson Controls), pictured here on the right.

Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi (RKMC) Law Firm in Atlanta hosted an extraordinary evening on June 25, 2010, presenting Books For Africa to members of the Atlanta community. Lisa Heller, a managing partner at RKMC, hosted the event, and Nina Sharpe and Joshua Navarro with RKMC organized a beautiful event at the City Club of Buckhead. In attendance were Vince Farley, Honorary Counsel of the Republic of Mali, and well as the Honorary Counsel of the Republic of Botswana and other dignitaries.

Attendees at the reception. BFA founder Tom Warth is kneeling at center right.A focus of the event was the Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative of Books For Africa, which sends books to African law schools. The Initiative is a partnership with Thomson Reuters, which donates new, latest-edition legal textbooks and treatises. Books For Africa recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the opening of a large warehouse in the greater Atlanta area.

At the event, Nancy Stafford, Co-Chair of the American Bar Association International Section Africa Committee, and Lane Ayres, Director of the Law & Democracy initiative at Books For Africa, spoke about the Initiative. Ms. Stafford, an attorney at King & Spalding, thanked Thomson Reuters for their commitment. She noted that the ABA has sponsored West law book shipments to Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia, and hopes to do so again soon with shipments to law schools in Ghana and Zimbabwe. RKMC also stated their continued support of the Law & Democracy Initiative of Books For Africa by providing a grant for $10,000. This is RKMC's second $10,000 grant toward the Law and Democracy Initiative of Books For Africa. RKMC is headquartered in the Twin Cities and has a major office in Atlanta.

Minnesota Monthly Posts Slideshow of BFA Fundraising Luncheon with Ambassador Agyekum of Ghana

At the Eastcliff reception: Andrea Cossetta (Dave Cossetta's daughter), Ambassador Daniel Ohene Agyekum of Ghana, and Dave Cossetta (owner of Cossetta Italian Market & Pizzeria).

Minnesota Monthly recently posted a slideshow of the annual Books For Africa fundraising luncheon and reception that was held on April 28, 2010. His Excellency Daniel Ohene Agyekum, Ghana's Ambassador to the U.S., was our special guest and keynote speaker. Check out the great photos courtesy of photographer Lance Lundstrom (www.lancelundstrom.com).

View Minnesota Monthly slideshow.

Warehouse Party in Atlanta a Big Hit

BFA board members Sabrina Jackson (Coca Cola North America) and Henry Bromelkamp (Bromelkamp Company) at the Atlanta warehouse volunteer appreciation party.

Books For Africa celebrated the one-year anniversary of its warehouse in Atlanta, Georgia, with a volunteer appreciation party on May 8, 2010. The event featured musical entertainment by the Books For Africa warehouse band. Tom Gitaa, BFA board president, thanked everyone in the Atlanta area for the tremendous support provided over the past year, noting that the thousands of warehouse volunteers have exceeded our wildest expectations. Thank you, Atlanta!

View slideshow of party.BFA board member Sabrina Jackson (second from left) with a group of volunteers at the BFA warehouse party.

The Honorable Ombeni Sefue, Tanzanian Ambassador to the U.S., Hosts BFA’s Summit Society Members

The Honorable Ombeni Sefue, Tanzanian Ambassador to the U.S., introduces Dr. Sarah Moten (on left), former Chief of the Education Division of the United States Agency for International Development.

The Honorable Ombeni Sefue, Tanzanian Ambassador to the U.S., hosted a reception in honor of Books For Africa’s Summit Society members on May 10, 2010, at the Tanzanian Embassy in Washington D.C. Ambassador Sefue is honorary chairman of BFA’s Summit Society, which is made up of BFA’s top-tier donors. The Washington D.C. reception at the Tanzanian Embassy was attended by BFA donors, board of directors members, diplomatic representatives from other African embassies in Washington, and representatives of the USAID Africa Education Initiative. Ambassador Sefue thanked all BFA donors for their generous financial support and noted to the group, “Without a book, how can any learning occur?”

View slideshow of reception.

From left: Henry Bromelkamp (BFA board member), Val Stokes (BFA Summit Society member), Tom Warth (BFA founder), and Asratie Teferra (BFA board member).

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Books For Africa helps alleviate poverty of the imagination where imagination is most needed—where war and hunger, corruption and injustice seek to crush inspiration.

— Alexandra Fuller, author of the bestselling book Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight