Acholi Literacy Project

A Community to Community Solution

The Acholi Literacy Project (ALP) was created to provide books and learning materials to schools and communities in rural northern Uganda.

The ALP collects donations of books and resource materials from the US, then ships them to Uganda, where they are sorted and distributed to schools and teacher resource centers in the Acholi districts.

How ALP Started

As ERA founders Albert and Marcellina Otii traveled back and forth between the United States and Uganda, they witnessed a desperate need for the most basic learning materials in the communities where they grew up.

Stunned by the deterioration of the once thriving school system they’d been educated in, the Otii’s created the Acholi Literacy Project to support literacy and learning in the Acholi community, which at the time, was highly affected by a devastating war.

Raising funds and holding book drives with different groups and individuals within the Denver community, the Otii’s were able to successfully collect thousands of books and resource materials.

In the summer of 2002, the first shipment of books arrived in Gulu, Uganda to be enjoyed by thousands of children.

Thousands of Books Are Packed…

Currently we are raising money to ship a large shipment of books. Partnering with ChristAid, a Denver and Uganda-based non-profit, we have set a goal to ship the books out in early spring.

How Can You Support?

The most needed support for the book project is funding for the shipment and distribution of the thousands of books that have been collected.

We invite you to donate to the project or hold a fundraiser. Your support and participation are crucial to this project’s success.

Donate to the Project, We’re Ready to Ship

ERA has a shipment of books ready to go to Uganda, but we still have an additional $5,000 dollars to raise in order to send off the shipment.

The generosity of Coloradans has helped us get to about three-fourths of the way to our fundraising goals for the book project.

Please send your tax-deductible donation to:

ERA Book Project

St. Ignatius Loyola Church

2305 Gaylord Street

Denver, CO 80205-5627

Hold a Fundraiser

We’ve had a lot of very creative supporters hold some delightful events in order to raise money for the book project.

One group had a cultural meal night and sampled foods from Uganda, Italy and other parts of the world.

Another supporter was a home-schooled Boy Scout, who raised hundreds of dollars and also collected several boxes of books for the project.

Many people have helped in many different ways. The end result has been the same, happy children, thousands of miles away, finally with a book in hand.

Email us if you have questions or would like to hold a fundraiser!