MALeBooks: eBooks for Timbuktu, Mali
When I was in Mali in 2005 I worked with Geekcorps on giving Malians access to knowledge and also creating knowledge (such as the Bambara Wikipedia). I really only did that for 4,5 months.
My friend Renaud though has been more persistent continued this work up until today. I think he’s doing very important work and now he’s running a fundraiser to get books to Timbuktu, a very poor town in the Sahara that was overrun by Muslim militants recently, and there’s a great story about how a Dutch NGO rescued many books from an ancient Timbuktu library (which are now being digitized!) right before it was burned down to the ground.
I really hope MALeBooks will manage to complete their fundraiser. I feel it can make a big difference for Mali in the long run. And it will make it more likely I’ll complete my dream of bringing knowledge to all Malians one day.