Providing Medical and School Books Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic

In the midst of a global coronavirus epidemic, Books For Africa is continuing to do its part to support students facing school shutdowns and medical personnel in need of medical resource books. In fact, 2020 is now a record year in BFA's 32-year history, with 3.3 million books and counting shipped to African students this fiscal year.

With a recently approved $150,000 grant from the Merck Foundation, BFA is providing thousands of medical resource books in print and medical e-books to doctors, nurses and medical students across the African continent. These educational materials in the hands of medical personnel will help make people in Africa safer, now and in the event of future medical emergencies.

"We believe that medical books in the hands of the people fighting the coronavirus in African countries will make a difference, now and in the future," said Executive Director Patrick Plonski.

BFA is also working to support the needs of students, who are coping with school closures affecting over half the world's student population, according to UNESCO. Knowing that a generation of children will need to catch up on lost learning in order to have a better future, BFA is committed to providing the resources to keep those children learning.

While the Covid-19 pandemic has created new obstacles, including port closures in both North America and Africa, and new remote work systems, BFA staff in Minnesota and in Georgia are working hard to overcome these barriers to provide much-needed resources. Later this year, BFA plans to ship its 50 millionth book since the organization's founding in 1988.

The spread of the coronavirus across the globe and in the U.S. has clearly demonstrated how interconnected the international community has become. The coronavirus knows no boundaries, which is why working across borders has become so critical.