James Sears, Staff Writer
Student organization Sowers of Knowledge helped students create books for children in Africa during an event held in the Social Sciences Building Feb. 17.
Sowers of Knowledge is run under parent non-profit organization called Seeds of
Knowledge. The event, “Books for Africa”, allowed participants to use arts and crafts supplies to create books that will be shipped to rural areas in Africa for under-privileged children with no access to books.
“I wanted to make a difference in their world and, being from Benin originally, I saw the
needs, and I also saw the students and how willing they were to learn,” Dr. Lucie Viakinnou-Brinson, the founder of Seeds of Knowledge, said.
The event had a table set with supplies such as colored paper, pencils, markers, glue and
scissors laid out for students to use as they saw fit. Pages for two books describing fruit and shapes respectively were set aside and featured sentences in French that described an object on each page. English translation guides for both books were provided. After a student finished creating each page according to the text, he or she could take a picture with the completed pages.
“Every semester, we invite students to come help and make books in French, and then
every year we send those books to different schools in West Africa in Benin and the Ivory Coast,” Sowers of Knowledge Vice President Marie-Dominique Ahebee said.
Sowers of Knowledge President Elise WIlliard said the event started at the University of
Georgia. After it proved successful, they brought it to KSU. Presently, they are trying to incorporate the event at more schools and colleges in the Atlanta area and have been talking with Georgia State University.
Ahebee said students may participate in Books for Africa for credit in French courses as well as to earn community service hours at Volunteer Kennesaw.
Williard said that Sowers of Knowledge only holds the Books for Africa event at the moment, but they do fundraising activities to purchase the needed supplies. They have a bake sale scheduled for March 10 to help raise money.
In the future, they hope to hold school supply drives for Books for Africa and even raise money to help students visit Benin and the Ivory Coast.
Viakinnou-Brinson said the goal for Seeds of Knowledge is to build more libraries for
children in rural areas of Africa.
“Books for Africa” has had positive feedback. Students, such as senior English major
Scarlett Peterson, enjoy the personalized aspect of making books.
“I like that the students have a hands-on approach here where we’re not just putting the
books together; we’re also drawing them and putting our names on them,” Peterson said. “It’s very personal for the students who receive them.”
Students also said that events such as “Books for Africa” are a great cause.
“I think it’s a great event,” said freshman biochemistry major Nicole Lippelt. “I think it’s
something I have a lot of interest in because anything that will help the less-fortunate children with education or any type of help or aid is a great cause.”
Freshman art history major Jillian Girardeau who is a member of Sowers of Knowledge
spoke about providing education for children in Africa.
“We’ve all, as children, had our education provided for us,” said Girardeau “It’s a great
opportunity to kind of give that to under-privileged children who have a passion for learning, but don’t have the materials.”
Seeds of Knowledge is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing education for
less-fortunate children in Africa. According to their website, www.seedsofknowledge.org, they have impacted more than 5,000 children in six elementary schools.
