Library and Computer Center
From Peace Corps Wiki
Info about the Library and Computer Center
Two volunteers and he Director of the CEG (high school) propose to build a library and computer room there. This will give students access to previously donated books and computers that are not available to the students due to lack of space. The community is a remote town in the north of Bénin inhabited by 18,000 individuals, almost all are involved in subsistence cotton and corn farming with little hope of advancement outside of education. Literacy is rare and the few people who have seen a computer have seen them on the laps of foreigners. Thirteen hundred of these people’s children are students at the CEG. The sole source of reading materials for these students are notes laboriously copied of the blackboard in class. Even with these materials they have no place to study; at home they have countless distractions or are put to work. The nearest public computers are a two hour trip by motorcycle to the north on a dirt road. The Catholic Mission has generously promised to present the CEG with five computers on the condition that they are made available to the student body but there is currently no place for them either. This is a unique opportunity to give the students the independence to substantially improve their education.