Loy Zabasajja's Story

In 1987 our Founder Tom Warth met Loy Zabasajja while Loy was visiting her son Alexander, who was studying at the University of Minnesota. The friendship developed and when Tom made his first visit to Africa in 1988 to visit relatives in Zimbabwe and climb Kilimanjaro, Tom stopped to catch up with Loy in her hometown of Jinja, Uganda, the source of the Nile.

Loy showed Tom around the town and in the course of the visit showed him the city library. This visit was the seed from which Books For Africa grew.

Tom had just retired from his bookselling and publishing business, and knew many folks in the bookselling, publishing and library world in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Twin Cities area. Seeing a dire need for books in the Jinja library, he got together with friends and sent a couple of mail bags of books to Uganda - specifically the Jinja Library.

Loy visited the Twin Cities from time to time and was honored at the tenth anniversary.

The late Loy Zabasajja is a key figure in the history of Books For Africa, and Tom has fond memories of her support and friendship over the years.  In her memory, her family continues to support Books for Africa through book and cash donations. It is hoped that with her story, more mothers and fathers in Africa will be inspired to work with people all over the world to improve the education and wellbeing of their children, villages, cities and towns throughout Africa.