British Airways is looking for British talent

Help Marys Library, a project first opened in the autumn of 2005 by my partner Lina and Homa bay resident Mary Ojijo.

Conceived as a result of a course in sustainable development, this small direct action charity has been supported single handedly by Lina and our family, and has grown into a center for the community of Homa bay and its 50,000 inhabitants. As the first and only public library in the area, Marys library has grown steadily, already upgrading premises early in 2007 and with a new development planed for this year. Within this new development Marys library will be able to provide even more access to education with more books and computers for its 1500 members.

We don’t have much funding, the library is run entirely by local people with every single Penney raised goes straight into books and buildings. As such, we would love to win these tickets from British Airways so that we can get to Homa bay, deliver much needed resources and oversee the next stage in this project. We will be bringing with us an architect to help in the construction of the new building and an IT professional to help in the purchasing and setup of new computers. This will help thousands of people gain free access to education.

There are no administration costs and everyone involved gives up there time for nothing, so costs of the flight tickets are one of the biggest expenses for us. If we can save this money we can use it to keep the library open and help more people.

We are always overwhelmed by the charity of the British public and there desire to help people less fortunate than themselves, and we only hope that you feel Mary’s Library is deserving of that kindness. We feel that providing access to education is the most sustainable longterm investment for some of the poorest people in the world, and that any help for our library will provide a better future for the children of Homa bay, Kenya.

My interest in world culture and travel started quite early, and by the age of 16 I was in the Middle East helping local projects in Jordan. Since then, as well as receiving a degree in international relations, I have helped out in charities and local family run enterprises in such places as Siberia, Taiwan, Mongolia and the Philippines.
The project I am trying to help is very close to my heart as it was founded and built by my partner 5 years ago. We are now simply trying to get out there, give them money and help them build the new Library. The cost of the tickets is massive; it’s the same as keeping the whole project running for the next 2 years. Please help.