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Copeland leads effort to get books to Gambia

By Shannon Burkey

In a high-tech world filled with iPods and BlackBerries, sometimes the simplest things--like books--are taken for granted.

But thousands of miles from the Silicon Valley, to the children of the Western African country Gambia, the thought of having even one book to read can be life-changing.

So when Saratoga resident Lesley Copeland arrived in Gambia in January 2006 for a Peace Corp assignment, she decided bringing a functioning library to the people of the small village of Mandinaba was a project she wanted to take on.

"I am so excited about the library, and the more I talk about it, the more the people here get excited about it," Copeland said. "Some of the children here go to school, but they don't have the resources or books to continue learning if they want to."

After graduating from Occidental College in Los Angeles in 2003, the 25-year-old Saratoga High School graduate said she was unsure of what to do next. Despite being a college graduate, she didn't feel there were a lot of options for her. But she had always had a passion for travel and wanted to incorporate that passion into her post-college life. After researching a few options, the Peace Corp sounded like exactly what she was looking for.

"The idea of travelling abroad and exploring another culture, in addition to helping people at the grassroots level and trying to make a difference, really appealed to me," Copeland said.

Copeland arrived in Mandinaba in April 2006 and began working with the Foundation for Research on Women's Health, Productivity and the Environment. The foundation was established 12 years ago in Mandinaba to offer services and preventive care to all members of the community, not just women.

"One of the projects it wanted to develop was a library in the community," Copeland said. "They had the facility but didn't have the resources."

Because the foundation has been in the village for a long time, it had a building with space in it that could be used as a library. Now it needed the books.

Copeland jumped right in and made finding the books to fill the library her own personal project.

Eventually she was led to Wings of the Dawn International Institute for Children, a nonprofit organization out of Fort Worth, Texas. Wings of the Dawn works to help improve the educational systems throughout Africa by bringing books and school supplies to African schools and through adopt-a-school programs and exchange student programs.

"Education is a tool that we would rather people have than deprive them of," said executive director of Wings of the Dawn, Ade Otenaike. "Brining a library to these people will help build a stronger community and a better society. We want to help children have access to the information they have been deprived of."

Wings of the Dawn found the books to help fill the library through donations, but the money to send the 20-foot container to Gambia is another problem.

"They know the kinds of books they need and getting them is no problem," said Copeland's mother, Holly Copeland. "It is the shipping cost that is a problem."

Shipping the container to Gambia costs $3,800, and while Wings of the Dawn is able to get organizations and schools to donate books, it must raise the money for shipping costs. So while the container sits in Fort Worth, Lesley Copeland is looking to friends, family and the community where she grew up to help in her efforts to bring a library to the African village that is now her home.

When Copeland's childhood friend Elena Kwei heard about the project, she knew she had to get involved.

"What she is doing over there is such a worthy cause," Kwei said. "I can't even imagine not having books. These children and villagers don't have access to what we take for granted."

With Holly Copeland leading the charge, the local group is working on fundraising efforts in Saratoga and hopes the community will help get the books to their new home in Mandinaba.

"We are starting with a fundraising letter to family and friends, and we also want to see if any of the schools in the area would be willing to help out," Holly Copeland said. "This is a wonderful way for the people of Saratoga, who have a belief in education, to help a member of their community extend that opportunity to others less fortunate."

As the group works here, Copeland said the villagers are growing more excited each day as they wait for their crate of books, and people of all ages ask daily if there will be books for them.

"They are so grateful and thankful to know that anyone, especially people all the way in California, are working to help them," Holly Copeland said.

Although the process has been slow, Copeland said that she feels good about what she is achieving in Africa. In a place where she had no idea of what to expect, she said Mandinaba and its people have quickly exceeded her expectations.

"I go to bed every night feeling I have accomplished something," Copeland said. "It may not be what we define as productivity in the United States, but it is fulfilling. Nothing here is dependable and change happens very slowly, so every little accomplishment is big."

For information on making a donation, contact Holly Copeland at holly@ copelandfamily.com.