On January 28, 2022, the Kids Educational Engagement Project in partnership with Dan McNaughton Foundation dedicated and officially turned over its first braille reading room to administration of the school for the blind in Mango, Town, Brewerville, Montserrado, Liberia. This project kicked off during the course of 2021 after the school for the blind engaged KEEP to consider refurbishing and restocking its existing reading space for its 41 visually impaired students.
An Overview of the project was given by the executive director of KEEP, “KEEP is an organization that champions promoting literacy and we have realized that reading is a problem in our school system because most of the students can’t read. KEEP has established 25 libraries in 9 counties in Liberia. After the school for the blind engaged KEEP, I wrote 10 libraries in the U.S.A. and only two responded. Furthermore, I contacted one of our sponsors Dan McNaughton to partner with us on this project and he immediately consented”.
The room was formally dedicated by the executive director of the National Commission on Disabilities, Hon. Daintowon Domah Pay-Bayee who stated “We’ve been working on other means to educate the visually impaired but to have a library that visually impaired students can use to make research is the first of its kind in Liberia”. She also encouraged the students to not see their disability as inability.
Excitedly receiving the room, the principal of the school for the blind Mr. Jackson Suah “this is the beginning of a partnership that will give students at this school the opportunity to read and the capability to explore the global village”. He then thanks KEEP Liberia and promises that the reading room will be used by the students and the facility will be kept intact.
The books stocked in the reading room is a combination of books purchased by KEEP and donated by our partner Dan McNaughton and the following libraries: Clear Vision, National Library Science, Maryland State Library for the Blind, and Hawaii Library Service.
The program closed up the presentation of 10 copies of KEEP’s published books to the school for the blind which will converted to braille using the donated braille engraver the school received from USAID in the weeks ahead.
This room marks the 26th reading room KEEP Liberia has dedicated.
