End of Year Report – June 2025
History and Description
Oasis Balbala Library was founded in autumn 2023 and has been open since March 2024. It is located in the Balbala suburbs of Djibouti City and is patterned on the long-established Tadjoura Library. Balbala parents tend to have many children but have low incomes so struggle to support their families.
Who comes to the library
During the day Oasis is open for boys and girls. It is mainly designed for primary school age but younger and older are welcome. Most of the kids attend public school, but some have no formal education at all. Most of the children have difficulties with reading since they are taught in French which is not their mother tongue. On a busy Saturday, up to 60 kids in four groups attend. There is a good number of regular attendees but almost every week someone attends for the first time. In the evening, adults are welcomed for communication learning or individual reading and older kids come for quiet reading.
Activities with the kids
Every child needs to do a minimum of ten minutes reading at the start of their session. This is assisted by staff, especially for the many beginners. After this they are free to play for about 40 minutes. We have a variety of educational games such as puzzles and memory tests. The kids are not used to such activities and we have undoubtedly seen skill developments since October 2024. At the most important local holiday, we give out cake and for the end of the year we celebrate with fruit.
Staff
Project leaders are a Swiss couple who have lived in the area since 2021. There are four more volunteers who help on a regular basis. All staff are learning the local language and culture.
Since October 2024 a young lady from the neighbourhood has been employed as security and teacher’s assistant. She is well motivated and is developing more patience and skills to support the kids.
Values
- The children discover that they can learn without pressure but with joy and while playing.
- The children see that they can reach standards and gain skills if they invest time, energy and attention and keep on trying.
- They see that we support and rejoice with them in that process.
- The children learn to take decisions and realize that decisions have consequences, negative or positive.
- Oasis library shows that learning, having fun and succeeding is possible even with few resources and in basic premises but with personal investment and endurance!
Growth
It has been encouraging during the last year to see the growth the children have made. The children who attended regularly were quick to learn the new games and puzzles and soon began to teach the new children. The workers could see the growth in the kids’ reading abilities as well as in character as they developed patience, learnt to share and persevered. The children took pride in the library and were often quick to help remind other kids of the rules or to help clean up at the end of a session. The growth in the children is very encouraging to the workers, who along with the children, are looking forward to the reopening of the library after the summer break.
Kerith Trust 