U.S. Army Soldiers Deliver Over 1,000 Books to Rural Schools Near Tanga, Tanzania

September 1st, 2009

Students from the Usagara Secondary School carry boxes of donated books into the schools library during a book drop in Tanga, Tanzania, on August 24, 2009. The books were provided to the school by members of the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion of the U.S. Army.

Soldiers assigned to the U.S. Army's 4-414th Civil Affairs Battalion delivered more than 1,000 books to two primary schools and a secondary school near Tanga, Tanzania, on August 24, 2009. The U.S. Embassy in Tanzania provided the books, which were donated by various entities including Books For Africa.

According to U.S. Army Capt. Bernice Logan, it is common for a rural Tanzanian school of 1,300 children to have only 22 teachers, which equates to more than 59 students per classroom. "They are lucky if they get one book per classroom, and the teacher writes everything on the board and then they [students] copy that. Being able to provide these books allows the teacher the time to do more teaching instead of writing."

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View a slideshow of the book drop. A schoolgirl watches from her classroom as members of the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion, Civil Affairs Team Four, unload books to be given to a local primary school in Tanga, Tanzania. More than 1,000 donated books were given to local schools during the book drop.

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