How It All Began

In 2002, Jodi Facette attended a wedding in Kenya. During her visit, she toured the area around Mombasa, including schools. She was appalled at the state of affairs in the schools: teachers writing and rewriting lessons on the blackboards (if they were lucky enough to have chalk); no teaching materials like textbooks, atlases or encyclopedias; no books to practice reading, study from or learn from; children sharing tattered and worn books amongst each other; schools in poor condition with broken desks and chairs; and much more.

When Jodi returned home she wondered how she could assist the children of Kenya. Her mother had been a librarian for years and mentioned that many books that are perfectly useful, end up unused in storage, or worse, in landfills. She decided to collect these books and distribute them to some of the poorest parts of Kenya.

Africa Book Project is Jodi's passion and vehicle for assisting. We are a registered charity and to date, completely operated by volunteers.

Each year we collect thousands of books from schools, libraries and individuals in Alberta and BC. Funding for our projects has come primarily from individual donors and corporate sponsorships.