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As part of Eritreans’ in the UK effort to contribute to the ongoing drive for economic development in Eritrea, AGE in collaboration with the Eritrean Relief Association and the Eritrean Youth Association in the UK collected and shipped 20ft container full of books (total number of books 18919) to Eritrea today.

The books that were acquired from UK universities, colleges, schools, libraries and individuals, include text books on a variety of subjects from elementary to university level such as Medicine, Construction and Engineering, Economics, Law, Information Technology, Computer Science and book on Hobbies, Fiction and Non-fiction. In addition to educational text books, an effort was made in collecting a large amount of books for children so as to promote and encourage reading among the younger Eritrean generation.

Wider participation and involvement of many Eritreans particularly the youth was witnessed on all stages of the project from collecting the books to sorting and packing. The Chairman of AGE, Simon Marcus told meadna: “It is great to see so many people, the young and old, getting involved in the campaign while creating a sense of community spirit with a strong will to complete what appeared to be a daunting task in such a short period of time.”

Sending thousands of books to Eritrea demanded vast amount of resources and work, which was equally supplied by the dedication and sacrifice of Eritreans. The sorting and packing of the books was carried out during weekends, in which several people took part.

The books were also collected from many parts of the UK using vehicles of many Eritreans for free. “The logistical challenge of collecting, sorting and packaging such amount of books in a short period of time has not been easy, but our achievement is a manifestation of how we can make tangible contribution to the development of our country if we put our hands together,” said, Simon Marcus speaking to meadna.

The majority of the books collected will go to Ministry of Education for distribution to schools and libraries. Part of the collection will be given to the new Edaga Hamus, Embagaliano and Hazhaz (EHEC) Library and Barentu Library. The rest will go to Mai Nefhi Institute of Science and Technology and different ministries.