“I’m currently working in Casino at the public library as a Librarian. I was at Uni doing speech pathology but wasn’t happy and decided to change. I had always loved reading. Prior to that I was living in Dubbo and working 2 casual jobs. One at the public library and one at the Tafe library. I heard about this woman who grew up in Guyra. She was being interviewed on ABC radio and she’d started a school in Tanzania. The interview really inspired me. She’d gone over there as a volunteer and ended up meeting her future husband and as part of their wedding gift, his parents gave her this land to start a school. She started it all based on sponsorships from people in Australia.
At the time I wasn’t happy in my job and I had never travelled anywhere. I grew up in this tiny little village and so I decided to get in touch with her. First of all I asked for information to sponsor a student over there and I happened to mention that I was a librarian. She got back to me and said she was desperate for a librarian and would I consider going over there. It was a spur of the moment thing but everything happens for a reason so I went. I told her I would commit for 6 months so I was the school librarian over there. I absolutely loved it and ended up staying for 2 years. The kids loved the library and were ecstatic that they could take books home to read as they had nothing in their homes to read. The books helped them to learn English. I found it difficult when I was out visiting the kid’s homes and people would ask me to bring them some books which I couldn’t do being a school librarian. I got this idea that I wanted to build a public library as there was no such thing. There was one library in the city of Arusha but you need to pay to become a member and most can’t afford it and for many more it’s out of reach to get into the city.
When I came back to Australia which is almost 10 years ago I started collecting books and it’s been really hard to keep up the momentum with all the other stuff that has been happening in my life. I was in a relationship when I was living in Tanzania with a Tanzanian man. I had to come home because I had to earn money and it had run dry. We decided to get married over there. I came back and went straight back to work. We waited 6 months for my husband’s visa to come through. That was a difficult time. He had 2 children, Edward and Sandra living in Tanzania and he came by himself with the plan that the children came after. We went from 0 – 3 children in less than a year as I was pregnant. He had a tourism background but had trouble here finding work. He was working in the abbotoir and absolutely hated it. I was working full time, 3 kids, the cross culture thing we found very hard and the marriage didn’t last. We split up and we were sharing his 2 children so it was bit crazy.
My mum was in Lismore at the time so I quit my job and moved here. I found a job and a house and started feeling like things were getting back on track again. Last Christmas Eddie and Sandra came from Dubbo to stay with us here for the holidays. It was so lovely having them all here relaxed and happy to have the 3 of them together.
Eddie just finished year 12, the last 6 months being at Kadina High and went to the Gold Coast with some mates. At that stage he was in transition and didn’t know whether he was having a year off or going to uni. When he came back from the coast he was completely out of it. He was acting bizarrely and was very agitated. He didn’t know what he was doing and it was frightening to watch him. He was like that for a week and during that week we had him to the doctor and had tests done. We had him to a Psychiatrist. We asked his mates what he had taken but they said they only saw him have a few drinks. The Doctor in emergency said it was a drug induced psychosis and we just had to wait till he comes out it. It was getting to the point where a week passed and he wasn’t getting better. We had an appointment to go back to the Psychiatrist the following week and in that time he was only left alone here at home for half an hour. Mum went to the supermarket with the girls and when they returned the girls found him in the back yard. He had poured petrol on himself and lit it. He had burns to 85% of his body. He was flown to Brisbane on the Friday and he died on the Monday. It was so horrific. We are still trying to get on track. Sandy has stayed here as the girls are happier being together. We took his ashes back to Tanzania and buried them at his families place.
I’m at the point now where I have enough library books and a few computers and other bits and pieces. We have enough to fill a shipping container and I’ve raised $10,000 to send them but now we need the money to actually build the library. We’ve been given land in a little rural village, very isolated but next door to a high school and the village people are happy to provide the labour. We just need to get the materials and build it. I will be packing the crate in 3 weeks time and this Saturday (tomorrow) we are having a Garage Sale to raise money for the library. We have so many books that were dontaed but not suitable for the library so we are selling those. Lots of plants and toys, a cake stall and we are also doing “buy a brick for $10’ which will all go to the building. If everything falls into place I will be going back in May.”
The Garage sale is at 5 Mark Place, Goonellabah this Saturday the 24th Sept.
To make a donation or buy a brick.