Charity puts politicians' favourite Scottish reading into a Haiti school library

Published on Monday 24 January 2011 13:47

PRIMARY school children in Haiti will soon be reading books by Robert Louis Stevenson, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Robert Burns and others as part of an initiative run by a Glasgow-based charity which has asked some of Scotland's leading politicians to select their favourite books to fill the library shelves of a rebuilt school.

Leaders of all major political parties at Holyrood have united to support the Burns Day book campaign which will see their Scottish literature donations filed in The Caledonian Room of a newly rebuilt Haitian primary school.

The Good Samaritan School in Cite Soleil was completely rebuilt by the Scottish children's charity Glasgow The Caring City last year, after it was badly damaged during the earthquake which struck and devastated the country 12 months ago, which destroyed much of Haiti's infrastructure and from which it is still recovering.

The reconstruction process led to the creation of The Caledonia Room, providing a link centre between the children of both countries and allowing Haitians to explore Scotland's language, culture and history - now helped by the Scottish book donations.

The country's leading politicians were joined by Glasgow The Caring City founder, Rev Neil Galbraith, to launch the initiative in Edinburgh yesterday.

Mr Galbraith said that the new library would help to "empower" the schoolchildren: "Scots have never been shy in their support of charity initiatives in far off lands. Glasgow The Caring City carries a message of friendship to the people of Haiti: we can help you to rebuild your lives after this devastating disaster and sustain our friendship through resources and materials which bring Scotland to life in Haiti.

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"To create a sustainable relationship between Haiti and Scotland we must empower people from both sides to know more about one another. Modern technology allows Scots to beam in on Haiti on-demand, but for the children of Haiti access to understanding and research is not so easy. The Caledonia Room will benefit this process."

First Minister Alex Salmond, who was among those choosing his favourite Scots work, said: "One year on from the Haitian earthquake, the scale of the disaster remains immense. The Scottish Government supported the work of charities such as Glasgow The Caring City in the aftermath of the disaster, as they provided shelter, food, water and medical care for those living in terrible conditions.

"However, there is still an enormous amount of work to be done. That's why the valuable contribution of charities such as Glasgow The Caring City and the support of the people of Scotland continues to remain so important."

Among the other MSPs who contributed were Tory leader Annabel Goldie, Bill Aitken, Fiona Hyslop, Robert Brown, Anne McLaughlin, Charlie Gordon, Lib-Dem leader Tavish Scott and Labour leader Iain Gray.Many other renowned Scots from the worlds of business, politics and sport are expected to contribute to the campaign over the next week and provide their own favourite Scottish books.