(11 Jun 2020) In Ethiopia, 13-year-old Mahadiya is worried. Coronavirus restrictions have forced schools and businesses to close, and there is little to do in the dusty village but wait for school to re-open. She’s seen the consequences that has had on some of her classmates.
But Mahadiya has dreams of being an engineer. A dream that will only be achieved if she can continue learning. And thanks to Save the Children’s unique mobile camel library she can. So even though schools are closed, each week she eagerly awaits the arrival of the ‘library on four legs’.
In the Somali region of Ethiopia, camels are traditionally used to transport goods across the hot deserts. There’s often little other transportation in these remote regions. Save the Children’s mobile library program employs 21 camels. Each camel carries up to 200 books at a time in wooden boxes strapped to their back. These amazing animals travel vast distances to deliver their precious cargo of learning to over 22,000 children in 33 inaccessible villages.
Read more from the sharing of Save the Children Australia here.
