A thank you note from the librarians to donors

(Andrick, one of the refugee youth at the camp, during the library's official opening)

Dear Donors - 

I wanted to pass along a note that librarian Jean Bosco sent to me concerning your 2013 donations to Heligator Records. The purpose of this e-mail is to express our gratitude as well as give you an idea as to where your money is going. The maintenance of the library is 100 % funded by Heligator Records. At the refugee camp, unless you are a child or infirm, food is not provided. Water is available but often scarce due to poor maintenance of pipes bringing the water in from a nearby town. Most refugees struggle to find employment in a country with 60 % unemployment and most lack the necessary documents to work in country. Your donation goes a long way here to provide some income to two librarians, Jean Bosco and Mudu, who volunteer day-in-and-day-out to help the camp become a more hospitable place and to help spread the empowering gift of literacy and education. Thanks again for donating in 2013 and making this possible! Another big shout out to the musicians who graciously donated their music for this project.

Donate to Heligator Records/get awesome music at:http://heligatorrecords.bandcamp.com/

Dear Donors -

Thanks and thanks again for the donation to Malindza Library and two librarians. 80 % of the money you sent was shared among librarians for food and 20 % helped in buying one mop, soap, broom, and two padlocks for the library. We wish later to buy curtain as the sun disturbs our clients while reading. May God help you for every effort you make to make our library the best and helpful. We appreciate the good job you did for us.

Jean Bosco

(Jean Bosco, Amnesty, Peace Corps Volunteer Ryan Hall (Heligator founder), Qibho, Sandizo, Andrick during the library's official opening)

December Updates

Big news! Heligator Records has pulled in over 120 $ since it began in late September. In the following day I will send over a disbursement of 50$ (E500) to the Malindza Refugee Camp. I will keep the disbursements around E500 for the time being to make sure we are covered over lean times. This will increase as time goes on. After the funds are received I will start updating this blog to show you pictures of where that money goes. Thanks so much for everyone who has donated thus far. Also, a HUUUGE thanks to the artists who have contributed their singles thus far. Thanks to Lake Mary & Nathan Wheeler (Denver, CO), J. Torena (LA, CA), Problems That Fix Themselves (Chicago, IL), Quantum Creep (Denver, CO), Kurva Choir (St. Louis/Alaska) and Dura (Brooklyn, NY).

To all those reading. Feel free to donate. It only takes a few minutes but has long-reaching impact.

Ryan

Library Updates - November

Hey everyone -

Jean Bosco Birgimana, head volunteer librarian, sent over some new pics of the library as well as a request. He said the Malindza Refugee Camp library has, "no chairs, the kids sit on that small carpet. We librarians can't even afford a duster, broom and soap to clean the library." Plus, the computer has stopped working.

The good news is you can help. Every dollar you spend at Heligator Records goes directly to help maintain the Malindza Refugee Camp library. Please visit and check out the great list of singles we have up. New music from Lake Mary (Denver, CO), J. Torena (Santa Cruz, CA) and Problems that Fix Themselves (Chicago, IL) with lots more to come.

Heligator Records: http://heligatorrecords.bandcamp.com/

Thanks,

Ryan and Jean Bosco

Malindza Refugee Camp Library/Heligator Records Partnership

Welcome to the Malindza Refugee Camp Library Blog. The purpose of this blog is to keep you updated with what is happening at the Malindza Refugee Camp Library and all associated fund raising activities.

History:

The Malindza Refugee Camp is home to approximately 400 refugees from Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and Mozambique who fled their homes due to war, genocide and political unrest. Many have fled to Swaziland from South Africa due to Xenophobic attacks against refugees from 2008-onward.

The library at the camp is now housed in what used to be a row of derelict buildings. Thanks to help from the residents of the camp, Peace Corps Volunteers Ryan and Adelyn Hall, private donations, a grant from the U.S Government and cash and in-kind assistance from UNHCR, CARITAS and Swaziland's Department of Home Affairs, that block of buildings have been completely renovated and now house a library and two pre-schools.

The books in the library were procured by a Peace Corps grant and were donated by Books for Africa. The books range from fiction to non-fiction, adult to children's, self-help to reference. The library also contains a teacher's resource library, a computer and holds english language classes. The library is run by volunteer librarian Jean Bosco Birigimana and assistant librarian Muhamud Shukri. Both librarians are volunteers and have been trained by the National Library Association of Swaziland and Peace Corps Volunteers.

These two men agreed to run the library without expectation of financial compensation. While these men do an incredible job we believe that to ensure the longevity of the library, there needs to be some sort of financial incentive for these men to continue working at the library.

Cause:

This is where you come in.

Heligator Records was formed by Ryan Hall shortly after he returned from the Peace Corps as a forum  to share new music digitally. Heligator Records releases monthly singles by artists ranging from a variety of disciplines. Each track is set a minimum of 1$. However, there is no cap on how much you can pay for the track. Every dollar spent on a Heligator release goes back to the refugees via the Malindza Refugee Camp Library Fund and will be used for maintenance and repairs to the library and some financial compensation to the volunteer librarians.



In order to keep transparency. This blog will publish a monthly budget tracking donations and expenses incurred by the library.

Due to a generous exchange rate of 1>10 your dollars go far.

Great music. Great cause. Win-win.

Ryan Hall, RPCV