TUK TUK BOOKS!

A Mobile Library Bringing Books to Children Living in the Middle of Human Elephant Conflict

In remote villages of central Sri Lanka, subsistence farmers and their children have extremely limited access to books.  As steady work continues to turn a history of Human Elephant Conflict into one of Human Elephant Coexistence, outreach must also include education and humanitarian efforts to help create a different future for all.

Traveling by tuk-tuk, our 3-wheeled library has waterproof containers filled with books for all ages, and along with fun educational games and a simple checkout system, we reach out to the impoverished families living in critical HEC zones. It was when we first visited the distant village of Sulugone that the idea was borne, upon meeting the children and seeing them playing in front of the tuk tuk:

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There are over a dozen far-flung villages that need access to books, and although our focus is currently on the children, with additional funding we would love to also offer books to their parents, along with kerosene or candles for the homes that lack electricity (and thus lack light for reading).

 

Without books available to the rural communities scattered throughout mountainous jungle, how can we ask them to envision a different life from farming in elephant lands if they have no examples of what that different life may be?  How can we expect the children of impoverished subsistence farmers to be lifted out of poverty if they have never seen or been exposed to different ways of thinking, of learning, of dreaming?  Education is key, and especially in areas like these that have no access to the internet, books are the doorway to a kind and compassionate future for all.

 

This is a brand new project, and we would be so grateful for your support! There are many villages in need of Tuk Tuk Books, and your donation would help us: