News

BFA Executive Director Patrick Plonski met recently with His Excellency Howard Jeter, former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, and His Excellency Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye, Nigeria's Ambassador to the U.S., in the Ambassador’s office to discuss strategies to get more BFA books in the hands of Nigerian students.

Books For Africa was honored to host two African ambassadors on April 21, 2011, at a morning reception at Eastcliff on the University of Minnesota campus and at the annual BFA fundraising luncheon at the Town & Country Club of Saint Paul. At the events, His Excellency James Kimonyo, Rwanda's Ambassador to the U.S., and His Excellency Girma Birru Geda, Ethiopia's Ambassador to the U.S., both spoke about the importance of access to education and books in their countries. Click on the link above for more info and view slideshow...

Books For Africa was honored to host His Excellency Girma Birru Geda, Ethiopia's Ambassador to the United States, at an evening reception at the University Club of Saint Paul, Minnesota, on April 20, 2011. The Ambassador spoke to the crowd of BFA supporters about the importance of getting even more books into the hands of Ethiopian students of all ages. Click on the link to view slideshow...

Libraries at 41 of Gusii Kenya's rural schools are being created or enhanced with the 20,000+ BFA books sent thanks to Minnesota Kenyans International Development Agency (MKIDA) and MoneyGram International. Anton Luttig, MoneyGram's regional director for East and Southern Africa, said: "We're proud to help make the dream of these libraries possible and to be part of introducing 20,000 young people to the knowledge that these books offer." Click on the link above for more info and photos...

BFA Executive Director Patrick Plonski recently toured the Follett Educational Services warehouse in Illinois. Plonski met with the Consul General of Liberia and senior Follett executives to discuss how to get even more books into the hands of African children. Follett has provided millions of books for BFA shipments.

At a March 4th reception honoring Books For Africa at the Embassy of the Republic of Ghana in Washington D.C., Jeff LeBlanc and Todd Lawton (at right) announced the funding of a 40-foot shipment of BFA books to Ghana in honor of His Excellency Daniel Ohene Agyekum, Ghana’s Ambassador to the U.S. (at left). LeBlanc and Lawton are co-founders of Out of Print (www.outofprintclothing.com), a company in New York that sells T-shirts and e-reader jackets featuring iconic book covers. Click on the link above for more info...