BOOKS FOR SOMALILAND

When we lived in Phoenix, Warren and I had a friend named Mohammed Al Sharmani. Mohammed was from Somalia, and one evening over a dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, Mohammed shared with us his experiences as an Ambassador in Somalia and his hopes for the future of his homeland. Since then I have followed the news coming out of Somalia, eager to see some sign of hope.

In remembrance of that dinner years ago with Mohammed--and the impact that it had on both Warren and myself--I have made our most recent donation to the "Educational Opportunities for Somaliland" program run by Books for Africa.

Right now college students in Somalia spend hours in the library copying their textbooks by hand just so that they can study. A class of 60 students typically has access to only a handful of books!

To remedy this, Books for Africa hopes to raise $9,000 to send a container of 25,000 textbooks to university students at Somalian universities. Our donation will pay for over 550 of those books. It's only a small portion, but it's one step closer.

And maybe, with greater educational opportunites, Somalia will be one step closer to peace.

(Books for Africa's Charity Navigator rating: 4 stars, the highest rating)