I am going to one of the poorest parts of Zambia called Chipulukusu. This area has been destroyed by the Aids epidemic. Children are directly affected in a number of ways. They may live themselves with HIV; they often live with a chronically ill parent or parents and be required to work or put their education on hold as they take on household and caregiving responsibilities; their households may experience greater poverty because of the disease; and they can be subject to stigma and discrimination because of their association with a person living with HIV. Children can also become orphans, having lost one or both parents to AIDS-related illnesses.

My good friend Michael Nugent with his family and friends have been coming to this area for over ten years. He has completed many life changing projects, sinking wells, setting up micro financing, building schools and most recently he has become heavily involved with literacy projects (which is where I come in !!!!!!!!).

For the past few years he has been using steel shipping containers in which tons of books were delivered to Zambia and they use the container itself as public libraries. The books have been kindly donated from schools all over Ireland and a container is currently being filled in our lockup in Drumcondra.

I am going over to teach the teachers how to sort the books into school libraries. I’m also helping the teachers on how best to use the books most effectively to teach their children how to read.