An Indian on a Book Safari in Africa

Somy Solomon, from Kollam district in Kerala, arrived in Tanzania in 2012 after her marriage. A post-graduate in History, she had been planning to do a doctorate and decided to pursue it in Tanzania. But her priorities changed when she saw the poverty, illiteracy and the extreme backwardness in her new home country. A year ago, she shared her concern on Facebook with a post: ‘Why it is that India has not been able to productively engage in the issues of the people in Eastern Africa, in spite of having a long standing relationship with it.’ A friend responded to this status asking, ‘Why not start now?’

That set off the idea of setting up a learning centre there. Somy shared her idea on Facebook, a page called ‘Kichankani Library’, with an appeal to donate books. The response was unexpected. “So far I have received 2,000 books from across India and abroad. Majority of the contributors are Malayalees. I have also received guidance on how to catalogue books,” she says. Somy met the village head of Kichankani, a remote village in Tanzania, who took the initiative to construct a small building for the library.

“Kichankani has only one primary school and students have to travel long distances to study at the higher level. It is expensive too. Hence most of the children drop their education by the primary level,” says Somy. The library will have a television set and a computer with internet connection. “Our intention is to make children proficient in English and Swahili (the local language) and to teach them how to use the internet. The whole idea is to make them equipped to negotiate with those who exploit them,” she says. Somy sometimes has to confront caustic questions on Facebook demanding why she is not doing something like this in Kerala’s tribal belts. “I live here, my husband works here. We earn a living by making use of the resources of Tanzania. I think it is my duty to give something back to them.”

AfricaBook SafariEnglishKeralaSomy SolomonSwahiliTanzanian village