Community Library: Empowerment. Access. Education.

The Collective for Orphan Care and Education (COCE) team is excited to provide an update on the community library project. Our Executive Director, Dr. Eusebius Small, spent much of the December and early January in Busia County, Kenya. He met with the Funyula Constituency member of parliament and representative of the National Assembly of the Republic of Kenya, Hon. Wilberforce Ojiambo Oundo. Together, they discussed the opportunity for the Collective for Orphan Care and Education's partnership with the County government to improve educational opportunities for youth.

Academic progress is at the core of Kenya’s strategy to achieve universal education. That means the country must increase access to education, particularly in rural areas, to meet this goal of education for all. For education to reach its full potential, it is critical that policymakers support the infrastructures for learning, such as the proposed library in Busia County. Honorable Oundo indicated that as a County, Busia welcomes the idea of bringing the much-needed library facility to the county and will partner in getting the resources to achieve this goal and Dr. Small will continue these important conversations.

Currently, The Collective for Orphan Care and Education team is working with the contractor for this project -- Uppercrust Constructors Ltd -- to procure building materials and also working on grant proposals to secure funding for the last phases of constructions and library furnishings.

Thank you for your continued interest and support. We hope that in our next report, we will be able to share photos of the first phase of construction!

All our Gratitude --

The Collective for Orphan Care and Education team

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