__________________________________________________________________www.pearlsofafrica.org

September 2, 2003 For Immediate Release

SCRANTON ORGANIZATION CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY
Pearls of Africa to send books to disabled children in Uganda.

SCRANTON – Pearls of Africa’s Executive Director Laurie Moy will be at the downtown Scranton Post Office at 235 N Washington Avenue at 9:30 on the morning of Monday, September 8 to celebrate International Literacy Day by sending a large shipment of books to a disabled children’s resource library in Kampala, Uganda. The library was officially launched in November 2001 by Pearls of Africa’s (POA) sister organization, People With Disabilities-Uganda (PWD) with a small initial collection of books and resources. Pearls of Africa has collected an additional 200 books to be sent to the library in Kampala.

The materials being sent were donated by both individuals and corporations. The shipment includes both fiction and nonfiction books for children, dealing with disability in some way. Resources are also available for parents and caretakers, providing them with much needed information about raising their child and helping them to lead full and independent lives. Shipment of the books is made possible by a grant from the African Studies Association’s Africana Librarians Council.

Pearls of Africa aims to assist all people with disabilities in Uganda through a variety of programs and services. In their opinion, the way to make a difference is to “Inform! Involve! Inspire!” and the best means of accomplishing this goal is by sharing with disabled people the importance of literacy and reading. For this reason, Pearls of Africa continues to promote the book drive as its present primary goal.

By combining their efforts with those of People With Disabilities-Uganda, Pearls of Africa hopes to firmly establish the library as a place where children with disabilities and their families can go to acquire information to share with others in similar situations, and to hopefully discover their dreams and desires, along with a means of achieving them.

“The library is a place where children and their families can find books which show that they are not alone in their plight and that their disability does not mean inability,” said Moy. “Our goal is to give children with disabilities and their families the means to build confidence and self esteem, and with that, the skills to achieve self-sufficiency and gain acceptance and integration into their communities.”

Pearls of Africa, Inc. (www.pearlsofafrica.org) is an American 501(c)3 registered nonprofit and is based in Scranton. POA is a member of NetAid, a group of non-profit organizations who benefit from the involvement of online volunteers from around the world. NetAid’s Online Volunteering program is powered by United Nations Volunteers. Many of the books that are being sent were collected thanks to the research and support of POA’s online volunteers.

International Literacy Day has been observed every September 8 since 1967. It is estimated that 860 million of the world’s adults do not know how to read or write, and that more that 100 million children lack access to education. Children with disabilities are especially vulnerable to this lack of access.

“Pearls of Africa strives to give opportunity and hope to those who otherwise might not have it and to Make a Difference in the lives of those that need it most.”

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For more information, please contact:

Laurie Moy, Executive Director
Pearls of Africa www.pearlsofafrica.org
1740 Wyoming Avenue, Scranton, Pennsylvania - 18509
(570) 815-1319
Lmoy@pearlsofafrica.org