Farage made these remarks during a presentation ceremony at the University of The Gambia Digital Campus in Brikama were her organisation received dozens of boxes of books from Million Books to The Gambia in collaboration with Books for Africa, an organisation that collects, sorts, ships and distributes books to students of all ages in the continent with the aim of ending book famine in Africa.
She said: “The founder of Books for Africa, Tom Warth, has done a lot of unusual things to promote charity and education including walking across Minnesota and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. But according to Huffington Post, nothing has been as important to him as his “African Book Walk: A Hike Across The Gambia to End Book Famine”.
He led a group of about 20 Minnesotans who joined with Gambian officials, educators and hundreds of school children who trekked the 20 miles across The Gambia to raise awareness about the need for books and education.”
She disclosed that a year into the project, organisers have shipped more than 198,000 books to students in The Gambia. “That is 20 percent towards their one million book goal. The books ranged from elementary and secondary school science books to university –level books to professional law books supplied by Thomson Reuters.
“I am humbled to report that Million Books to The Gambia has so far sent over 550,000 books to children and adult learners in The Gambia. The GBA has been recognised as contributors to our society and as such we are standing here privileged to be part of the beneficiaries of such prized possessions – books.
“Therefore, in support of these Million Books to The Gambia effort, we wish to express even more gratitude to the passionate and driven persons who have been part and parcel of the initiative. With these books, the GBA will launch a GBA launch library at its current head office in Banjul. We envision a time when our own head office will be constructed in the near future and an even bigger library made available to legal practitioners and students alike,” she said.
President Farage added that books are “the most important tools for a lawyer and perhaps our biggest expense and I would add – our intellectual capital. Without knowledge of the law, we cannot competently serve our community. We are therefore grateful for this kind gesture, which is not only beneficial to the lawyers but the people we serve on a daily basis. A legal mind needs nourishment and access to relevant knowledge is the only way to do so.”
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