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Andy Lagassé stepped from his vehicle into the stifling heat of Ségou in Mali, West Africa, to a rock star's welcome: more than 1,600 chanting, waving youngsters. Andy waded into the crowd, shaking hands with the children and joining in the chanting.
But Andy's isn't a rock star. Far from it. He's a former Assistant Commissioner of the RCMP, now retired and living in Ottawa. The cause of all the excitement? Believe it or not, library books. Specifically, library books donated by CODE, the Canadian not-for-profit organization that promotes literacy among elementary school children in developing countries.
Outside their school, the 1,600 children were chanting "Ma-li, Ca-na-da." Says Andy: "The kids were so very animated - you could see the joy in their faces. They were ecstatic when we joined them in the crowd."
The scarcity of books and the impact that CODE is having explains the wildly enthusiastic welcome. "The need is so great," says Andy, emphasizing the word so.
"I visited one school where there were 80 to 100 children to a classroom with one teacher and in no school did I see fewer than 75 kids to a classroom. The rooms are very hot and lighting is low - not good learning conditions. In Canada we complain if there are more than 25 children in a class! Most schools and libraries have no electricity, so there are no computers and any reading at home or at the library can only be done in daylight. We complain about portable buildings at Canadian schools - there it would be heaven to have a portable!"
In Mali there are no tuition fees for public schools, he says, and education is compulsory between the ages of seven and 16. But Mali's actual primary school enrolment rate is low because families can't cover the additional cost of books, supplies and other fees. And the majority of students leave school by age 12. There is also a lack of schools in rural areas, as well as shortage of teachers and materials.
Andy spent 35 years in the RCMP and another six years as the training director of St. John Ambulance. He volunteered to help CODE in Ottawa, first with a fundraising reception, then "graduating" to putting lights on their outdoor Christmas tree. That led to a place in CODE's "Cabinet" - a small group of CODE "ambassadors" who have undertaken to raise thousands of dollars to promote literacy among schoolchildren in developing countries in the next five years. Their focus is stocking community libraries - usually set up in the local school - where books can be shared, and training teachers how to use them to promote literacy. The community supplies the structure and the people to run the library; CODE furnishes the facility, provides the books, and trains the staff.
The importance of literacy to developing countries cannot be overstated, says Andy. "It opens the door to a better life. When people can read and write, their ability to earn more money increases. With more cash and the ability to read material produced on health issues, people can protect themselves better." According to UNESCO, potential earnings in adulthood increase between 10 and 20 per cent for every year of schooling a child has.
To allow him to approach donors with credibility, Andy felt he needed to gain first-hand knowledge of CODE's programs. So recently, his volunteer efforts led him to Mali, one of the world's poorest countries. He spent several thousand dollars of his own money to make an eight-day visit in December to schools and community libraries supported by CODE.
Mali, a land-locked country bordering the Sahara desert, ranks 175 out of 177 on the 2006 United Nations' index that attempts to measure quality of life. Life expectancy is 45, and the rate of infant mortality is one of the highest in the world. Forty seven per cent of the population is under the age of 15 years, and the literacy rate among adults is believed to be around 30 per cent overall and as low as 12 per cent among females.
CODE has been working with its Malian non-profit partner organization, l'Association pour la lecture, l'education and le développement (ALED) since it was formed in 1997. Programs reaching more than 29,000 students in Mali's Ségou area, provide reading materials to school libraries, trains teachers in the teaching of reading and library management skills, promotes the fun of reading through reading weeks, and supplies library furniture such as tables, chairs, book shelves, and cabinets.
At one of the schools , Andy and Jeff Gilmour, a Calgary lawyer and CODE volunteer who is also Honorary Consul for Mali in Alberta, and CODE program officer Willy Rangira handed out gifts of Project Love kits. Each kit contains a pencil, eraser, ruler, and exercise book, along with a note from a school child in Canada. The kits are put together at schools across Canada, usually on Valentine's Day, and are delivered by CODE to schools in various developing countries.
CODE's Project Love began as a volunteer initiated project in 1987 in London, Ontario, to collect school supplies for schools in Dominica. It has continued every year since then and has spread to schools in every province and territory.
The CODE visitors also distributed pencils from Canada, T-shirts for reading competition prizes, and boxes of white chalk for the teachers. "You could see the delight in the eyes of the teachers as chalk isn't readily available," says Andy.
At another school the CODE visitors attended the official opening of a library.
"Again this was a sight we will always remember," says Andy. "More than 1,000 students were at the entrance to the school waving and chanting 'Canada'. The ceremony was very well organized and attended by a large number of parents, politicians and other dignitaries from school boards and other areas. There were many speeches, all stressing the importance of literacy and how crucial it is for CODE to continue its efforts in Mali."
Andy was impressed by how well-managed the schools were. But the crowding dismayed him, with three or more children to a desk and books that had to be shared because they are so expensive. "At one school we visited, the parents and students grow vegetables behind the school and sell these to provide for some of the school needs," he says.
Andy is not new to volunteer work. A modest man, he works quietly behind the scenes and has gained a reputation for tackling tough tasks. He has worked as a volunteer with the Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre Foundation and served on its board; headed the Alterna Savings "Do It For Dad" Run/Walk for Prostate Cancer; and worked with the Motorcycle Ride for Dad, another prostate cancer fundraiser. He has also volunteered at St. Mary's Home, a centre that gives hope to pregnant teenagers and young single-parent families, and with the United Nations Association in Canada.
A keen runner, he completed seven marathons. A recent hip replacement put an end to that activity but he has a new goal - raising money for more CODE-sponsored libraries in Mali.
He is determined to make a success of it. "I want to go back in a few years to see what progress has been made," he says. "The orientation visit was most successful and showed us that CODE is performing a tremendous service to the population of Mali. This was confirmed over and over by Malians. Teachers, parents, local dignitaries, and politicians were all full of praise for what CODE is doing. ALED is doing a very good job delivering CODE Ségou programs and adapting those programs to local conditions.
"But more libraries are desperately needed and local school officials were pleading with us to open libraries at their schools."
For more information on what CODE is doing, visit www.codecan.org
Note to editor: In 1993, Andy retired from the RCMP as Assistant Commissioner after 35 years' service. Between 1984-88, he was Commanding Officer of the RCMP's Basic Training Academy in Regina.
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