UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND DONATES BOOKS TO SOUTH AFRICAN STUDENTS
Press Release
POP/690
UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND DONATES BOOKS TO SOUTH AFRICAN STUDENTS
19981118 NEW YORK, 18 November (UNFPA) -- The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has donated 900 books and periodicals from the Fund's library to an international book drive: "Collaborative Education with South Africa" (CEWSA), based in the United States. The books will be sent to students and school libraries in rural regions of South Africa where educational materials are scarce and extremely costly.The CEWSA, a grass-roots movement founded by Julius Wayne Dudley of Salem State College in Salem, Massachusetts, has so far sent 1 million educational books to South African students and 1 million more are still waiting to go. Mr. Dudley, who recently met with South Africa's President, Nelson Mandela, hopes to reach a goal of 3 million books by the year 2000, as schools are still in dire need of books. Initially, in 1993, Mr. Dudley had hoped to collect 6,000 books, but after an article about the drive was published in a local newspaper, he received hundreds of telephone calls from people pledging support.
"The Population Fund's contribution and support is essential to making the South African book drive truly international", said Mr. Dudley, as he thanked the UNFPA Deputy Executive Director, Hirofumi Ando, and Librarian, David P. Rose, for the Fund's second round of contributions. Mr. Dudley said that he had received more than 500 letters of gratitude from South Africa. Also, calls keep coming in to Mr. Dudley from American teachers and students across the country. "They want to do their share of giving", he said.
"It is a great joy in my life to be able to pass on the gift of education, to be of service to people in need", Mr. Dudley said. "I was given this opportunity as a child in segregated southern United States. I want to see that teachers and students in post-apartheid South Africa also enjoy the gift of good books and education. It is essential to enjoying life "
Mr. Dudley said that he has paid $25,000 himself for the transportation of the textbooks -- shipping one book costs approximately five cents.
Mr. Rose of the UNFPA noted that the effects of the extreme hardship imposed by the former apartheid regime were still being felt in many rural areas, making it difficult for teachers to get the needed materials.
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"Most of these books are post-secondary school material, and although it troubles me that some of it is old, journals like the Washington Quarterly are still up to date", Mr. Rose said. "We have cleared out a lot of our duplicate material on development, much of it is current, and I believe that it is exactly what a lot of students would be looking for."
Also present at the informal ceremony at the UNFPA headquarters was a representative of the Rotary Club of Wakefield, Massachusetts, Ronald E. Masiello, whose trucking company is picking up the books free of charge throughout the New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts area.
For more information, contact Jespen Juul Jenson, telephone: (212) 297- 5040; or Corrie Shanahan, telephone: (212) 297-5023.
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