Book donation wins friends in Africa
An Internet search by the Kampala, Ugandan-based Rubaga Youth Development Association (RYDA) found Avondale College held a book the non-government organisation needed for its automotive mechanics class. RYDA’s mission is to help the disadvantaged by equipping them with skills and providing opportunities to increase their socio-economic independence. Head librarian Marilyn Gane responded to the request, removing Motor Vehicle Technology and Practical Work by J A Dolan from the collection and posting it with another, Basic Auto Mechanics by Peter Lynch, also from the collection. The gesture impressed RYDA, which included this in its August newsletter: “Avondale College has been offering excellence in Christian tertiary education since 1897. Clearly, the strength of its founding principles has not diminished in over a century.”
Book giveaway may save students’ lives
Brad Watson and Siggy and Flori. Credit: Ann Stafford.
Morisset Public and St John Vianney Primary School students have received a gift from an Avondale College lecturer that may eventually save their lives. About 40 kindergarten students from Morisset and about half that many Year 2 and 3 students from St John Vianney listened to Brad Watson read Siggy and Flori during an author visit at Morisset Public Library. Brad, a lecturer in the Faculty of Arts, feels so strongly about the illustrated storybook’s antismoking message, he gave each student a copy, funding the giveaway himself.
Tags: Avondale Library, Brad Watson