[FPSPACE] A request for astronomy books from Western Uganda

[LARRY KLAES]

Mimi Burbank is a friend I was introduced to a few years ago via 
someone on the History of Astronomy e-mail list, for which I am
eternally grateful.
 
She is quite interested in astronomy and has been sharing her 
knowledge with those she lives and works with in Uganda.  
 
Mimi is now helping school-age children with their education and
wants to teach them astronomy.  Please read her request below
and thanks for all you can do.  And please pass the word!
 
Larry

 
> Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:21:01 +0300
> From: mburbank at fsu.edu
> To: ljk4 at msn.com
> Subject: Plea from Western Uganda 
> 
> A Plea from Western Uganda
> 
> My name is Mimi Burbank, and I've been living in Kasese, Uganda for the 
> past 3 1/2 years, working with South Rwenzori Diocese of the Church of 
> Uganda. During this time I have become involved with a small 
> organization established by a young man who saw the plight of 
> neighboring children and sought to find a way to help them. The web site 
> for this organization can be found at 
> http://www.southrd.org/BUFO/index.html. The bishop of the diocese, 
> The Rt. Rev. Jackson Nzerebende also started an organization to help the 
> people in the area. The web site for this organization can be found at 
> http://www.southrd.org/FIPHAI/index.html. (I maintain all of these web 
> sites.)
> 
> Information about this area of the world is available on the South 
> Rwenzori web site,
> http://www.southrd.org/ . The people here are very poor and there are 
> no resources for education, and so I have been asking my friends from 
> all around the world to send books and other things. I have received 
> almost a hundred books for children of all ages, and the little NGO that 
> I work with (BUFO) has achieved extremely high scores on their leaving 
> exams at the end of the school year. They have instituted a Saturday 
> reading hour, during which the older children who can read, read stories 
> out of the books to the younger children who can not yet read, and they 
> all love it. This is the beginning of a 'reading culture'. 
> 
> I have a lot of information on my journey and life here on my own web 
> site, http://www.saint-peters.net/mamamimi/ 
> 
> Now for the fun part. We live in a part of the world where electricity 
> is not in great demand, and therefore the night skies are absolutely 
> beautiful! There is nothing (except for clouds during the rainy 
> season) to prevent one from looking at the stars and planets, and with 
> some software that I have on my computer, I am able to recognize the 
> constellations that I see -- something I have never been able to do 
> before in my life. We are too poor to have a telescope (sad about 
> that) but teaching the children about the formation of the universe and 
> our relationship with the rest of the galaxy is something that I wish I 
> could do. 
> 
> Science is so sadly 'under-taught' - largely because of lack of material 
> and books, but I can assure you that the interest is there. Children 
> are the same the world around - they all want to know more. 
> 
> I would love to have books and teaching materials for astronomy - for 
> ages 3 on up to adult. If I could get the adults interested in this, we 
> could do more in the way of teaching. We just need resources! I 
> would share these with the two groups mentioned above, as well as the 
> local school systems. I plan on sharing the SkyMap Pro and Stellarium 
> software that I have on my own computer with the groups that have 
> computers. Am afraid that "free software" is all we can afford around 
> here.... 
> 
> Send to:
> 
> Mimi Burbank
> c/o South Rwenzori Diocese
> PO Box 142
> Kasese, Uganda
> East Africa
> 
> You don't need to ship a huge shipment (very expensive) - for small 
> packages the cost is minimal, and each and every gift is so very much 
> appreciated. Thank goodness, books have a flat rate and a cheaper rate!
> 
> and many thanks!
> 
> 
> Mimi Burbank

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