ESL Books Arrive in Hadjer Hadid, Chad

Our second shipment of Headway ESL books has just arrived in Hadjer Hadid, Chad, the staging point for our partner CORD's relief efforts in the Bredjing, Treguine, and Gaga refugee camps. The books will soon be in the hands of hundreds of Darfur refugees hoping that learning English will be their "road to freedom." This real improvement in the lives of Darfuris is happening because of donations from you, the public, and the critical support of Oxford University Press and Air France.

Brian Godfrey and the Air France team prepare Headway English books for shipment from London to N'Djamena, Chad (PHOTO: Wendy Nelson)

The 270 books were shipped from London to Chad's capital N'Djamena at the end of October, with all freight charges waived by Air France. CORD's PR Officer, Wendy Nelson, who worked with Air France on the shipment, said that the airline had been remarkably helpful in ensuring the precious cargo was freighted immediately. "We are very grateful to them, and to Oxford University Press, for their support for these young people, who live in such dire circumstances but who are so keen to learn and to build genuine hope of a better future for themselves."

Oxford University Press, publisher of the Headway series, provided the books at cost, a huge discount allowing us to leverage donations by about a factor of seven. (This is why even a $5 or $10 donation will help us so much towards the next shipment.)

Now that the books have made the journey across Chad, we will soon be sharing photos and stories of their use in the camps. To receive updates, subscribe to our mailing list or grab our RSS feed. To receive inspiration, look at the refugees' reaction to the arrival of our first Headway shipment.