A few years ago, someone knocked at my door and asked for my help. He held up a paper and explained that his daughter had a homework assignment to do. The assignment paper was a photocopy from their only textbook. He was wondering if I could get him "the information". About 20 minutes later, I had a stack of print-outs from an internet café. Had this man known how to do it himself, he could have easily helped his kid.
This disparity in access to information that you see even in a strong African economy is heart-breaking. Anything that can be done to help alleviate this issue - whether it's teaching information literacy skills or increasing access to information in whichever form - gives me hope.
