Addressing Questions From Our Global Alight Community For so many, the COVID-19 vaccines are the light at the end of the tunnel, a spark of hope amidst a truly devastating year. Yet there are also questions, concerns, and challenges being raised, too—including from our global staff, who want to return to normalcy with the people we serve after so many disruptions. … [Read more...] about The COVID-19 Vaccine
Archives for March 2021
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On the Fire in Balukhali Refugee Camp, Bangladesh
The hearts of Alight colleagues all over the world are with Rohingya refugees in Balukhali Refugee Camp right now as they contend with the impact of a devastating fire. … [Read more...] about On the Fire in Balukhali Refugee Camp, Bangladesh
Emergency Response: Ethiopia
As Ethiopian Refugees Flee, Alight Teams Mobilize to Do the Doable Since November 2020, our Alight team in Sudan and our team in Ethiopia have been responding to the devastating humanitarian crisis that continues unraveling in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. When war broke out in Tigray, hospitals shut down and there was widespread sexual violence. 2 million people in Ethiopia fled to other parts of the country and more than 60,000 refugees crossed into Sudan. … [Read more...] about Emergency Response: Ethiopia
Masking the Pandemic
Refugee tailors step up the fight against COVID-19 Kiziba is Rwanda’s oldest refugee camp. Situated in Rwanda’s Western Province, it was opened in 1996 after the start of civil war in neighboring DRC spilled over into Rwanda’s borders. The camp is a bit quieter these days, with 17,000 refugees—mostly Congolese—remaining there. … [Read more...] about Masking the Pandemic
Growing Smiles
The focus of today’s 365 idea is to beautify the library. Library staff wants to create an exciting space outside of the library to match the inside. A wonderful plan was hatched to make the outdoor space for learning as well! The idea was a kitchen garden! Kitchen gardening is something anyone can do and enjoy. It helps make the community greener and supplies delicious and nutritious food. This garden had herbs, vegetables, and fruits - and who doesn’t like a nice fresh piece of fruit?! "We will have lots of green vegetables to balance our diet. This had greatly inspired me to start up a small-scale vegetable gardening at home for self-reliance" says 36-year-old. Ivan Nyarimana Congolese security guard at the library The garden is now growing and so is the anticipation of the delicious food to come. … [Read more...] about Growing Smiles
The Library is for Everyone
Today the library is hosting an ideation session from the surrounding communities. Their goal is to learn what the community is looking for out of their library experience and what could be improved upon. They invited the neighboring community of Oruchinga to visit and share their ideas. Oruchinga had wonderful ideas! They suggested a sister library in Oruchinga to get more people in the community reading. They didn’t stop there. They came up with monthly debating competitions among the youth, a mobile library, and so much more. The ideas flowed for hours! At the end of the session, all the ideas were taken down by the library staff. They will consider what can be done now and what can be done in the future. The community members left feeling excited and inspired! … [Read more...] about The Library is for Everyone
Professional Development
Everyone can use a little professional development! There’s always room for improvement. Maybe it's brushing up on interview skills or learning new ways of managing people, no matter what skill are always ways to be improving. Today in the Nakivale library, the staff wanted to provide just that – a learning opportunity. The team offered training in a ton of different topics! The topics were teamwork, conflict resolution, time management, communication skills, ways of promoting the library, customer care, and handling, and general information on the management of the information resource Centre. The training was a great success! When asked about the experience, Obadiah associate librarian said that “This is very good for us as incentive workers because such workshops help us to acquire new knowledge concerning the library.” Carine Muhoza an incentive worker said that “this is a very good treat for library staff I feel thought about. Excellent idea library crew and way to … [Read more...] about Professional Development
Extra Extra, Hear All About It
The Nakivale community library is a hub of information and learning. The perfect place to visit and connect with others. Inside the building is a thriving community. But what about the outside? Today, our story is all about spreading information outside of the library. Our teams knew that there was a problem with the spread of information about what the library was. People see the building but didn’t know what it was or how to use it. Our teams wanted to spread the message and spread the message fast so we got right to work. Hiring a communication van, a large vehicle with a speaker on top of it that spreads a message like an audio billboard, the message was out! The van told about the services the library offered - art classes, reading classes, storytelling sessions, and much more. “I was seeing the big building in the fence and I didn’t know what was going on inside there, now that you have informed us. I will be a regular user of the library, thank you Alight for … [Read more...] about Extra Extra, Hear All About It
Keeping the Wheels Turning
A Book Bus, Sports Gear, and School Supplies for Kids in Pakistan For our Pakistan team, education has been the top priority for years. With one of the highest populations of out-of-school children in the world, Pakistan’s young people need more avenues to see and unleash their potential. … [Read more...] about Keeping the Wheels Turning