Local books find new home in Uganda

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

A number of Ugandan children have books to read today, thanks to a local couple, their granddaughter, and the Van Wert Solid Waste Management District.

It all started this past summer when Morgan “Mo” Hunsaker, an Otterbein College nursing student, told her grandparents, Harvey and Delores Thatcher of rural Van Wert County, that she was leaving for Uganda with a group of Otterbein students and professors to provide medical services in the war–torn and economically challenged country.

“At first, we were concerned for her safety, due to the recent kidnappings and unrest in Africa,” Harvey Thatcher said, adding, “Our concern was somewhat overcome when we realized her desire to help those less fortunate and her spirit of adventure.”

He also paid attention when his granddaughter mentioned the fact that Ugandan children in the areas they were going into were woefully short of books.

Thatcher immediately thought of George Brake at the Solid Waste Management District.

When the Solid Waste Management District’s recycling center was created in 1989 it took the normal items people would associate with a recycling center: mostly newsprint and other paper and cardboard.

It didn’t get a lot of business, either, since most area residents weren’t aware of the need to recycle 25 years ago. That changed around 1995, when Brake was hired to coordinate and manage the local recycling operation.

Over the years, the district added collection of metal cans, glass, paper, various types of plastic, tree waste, electronics, paint, used oil and many other items. As Thatcher knew, among of the many items the district accepted were books. In fact, the recycling center had thousands of books, all lined up on shelves by category, just like at a library. In fact, the local recycling center is one of only two such facilities in Ohio to offer such a wide-ranging number of items.

When his granddaughter mentioned the need for books, Thatcher contacted Brake and, with his and his staff’s assistance, sorted and loaded nearly 800 school texts, children’s books and novels appropriate for young kids through early teens.

“The Otterbein group was overwhelmed and extremely grateful,” Thatcher said when he presented the books. “They took them to Uganda, where they were received as treasure by the locals.”

The books went to a library in Mukono, a town in southern Uganda. Morgan, the daughter of the Thatchers’ daughter, Cindy, a Lincolnview High School graduate, and Tim Hunsaker, a Wayne Trace grad, also helped established several medical facilities and other libraries in the country.

Harvey Thatcher said his granddaughter also learned a lot about Uganda and its people.

“She (Morgan) says one can’t appreciate all the advantages and creature comforts we take for granted until you see how the less fortunate exist,” Thatcher said, while adding: “The group was in disbelief as to how a people could be so happy with so little, and how appreciative they were for the assistance they were given.”

Thatcher also said he was very pleased to see discarded books from Van Wert County go on to a new life in Uganda, while thanking Brake and his staff for their assistance in making the donation possible.

“I feel blessed to have observed this win-win situation,” Thatcher said. “Books unread are of little worth.”