About Ile, Mozambique
The library is in Mozambique. Moz a country which sits on the southeast coastline of Africa sharing a southern boarder with South Africa and Tanzania to the north.
Ile is a medium-small town with a population of approximately 15,000 people. Ile has 5 elementary schools, 1 high school, a soccer field, a hospital, several stores, and an open-air market. The coordinates of the library are 16”02”15”S and 37”10”35”E.
See Ile for yourself in the Peace Corps Hospitality Video Challenge below made by Courtney and Anthony in 2017:
Building The Library
In September of 2017, after many months of formalizing construction plans with the government’s Infrastructure Department, we broke ground. Metals poles were dug in deep around the perimeter to protect the building during the cyclone season. Mason workers drove 3k to get "the good sand" to form bricks. The handmade bricks were put in place and covered in cement for reinforcement. The aluminum roof was installed to keep out the elements and a local carpenter was commissioned to build the windows and doors. We installed electricity, built two bathrooms, and tiled the floor. Lastly, we put a nice fresh coat of paint on it and a local artist painted murals on the interior walls.
Driven by the goal to create a safe space for learning in the community and with the incredible work of our volunteers, the building was completed in April of 2021. Watch Courtney walk you through some of the construction below:
The Value of Literacy
Learning how to read and write can change lives. Literacy increases employment opportunities. Literate individuals earn 64% more than their illiterate counterparts. Literacy has been linked to increasing lifespans. A child born to a mother who can read in a developing country is 50% more likely to survive past the age of 5 years old. Literacy is also linked to public health. Individuals with little or no education are 2.2 times more likely to contract HIV as those who have completed primary education.
Our Curriculum
The Moz Library Curriculum Team, made up of career professionals from the Greater Cleveland school network, developed the Moz Library literacy curriculum. They developed a curriculum with tiered instructional lesson plans and corresponding activities that are simple, repeatable, and interactive as well as leveraging scaffolding framework, phenetic awareness, word play and other innovative techniques to establish fluency and comprehension.
The heart of the program are our Teachers and Librarian. They are trained elementary school teachers with experience working in the local public school systems. They are proficient in the Moz Library Curriculum, offering lessons in Portuguese literacy. In addition, some specialized teachers offer lessons in English and math. The Moz Library Project is open 4 days a week, in coordination with the schedule of the public schools.
