The Olive Branch for Children
cuidado de la salud
TOBFC’s KICKIT Mobile Libraries program transports books to remote Tanzanian communities each week on bicycles. The facilitators, chosen by their communities, attach trunks of books to the back of their bikes, bringing much needed textbooks and amazing storybooks for children to learn and read. The program provides access to reading material in remote communities and supports literacy and educational goals for young people.
Each facilitator spends two hours, twice per week, in each village served by their particular library. Our facilitators use either our Montessori Classroom structures or a local primary school classroom to ensure the participants have a safe place to read and study.
Facilitators are responsible for the books, bikes and co-ordination of the two-hour sessions. TOBFC continuously updates our book collection, providing the newest Swahili language storybooks for participants to enjoy.
In 2016, TOBFC established the first five KICKIT Mobile Libraries to promote literacy and reading, serving a total of 11 communities, 600 direct beneficiaries and 1,000 indirect beneficiaries on a weekly basis. The children are always very excited when the bicycle arrives with the books in the various villages.
The popularity of the libraries convinced us to expand the program. During 2024, the KICKIT Mobile Libraries program added three new villages to serve 23 communities and over 4,000 students with access to books twice per week. We have continued to expand – and as of 2026 the program serves all 28 communities that have a primary school in our catchment area. We now have 14 facilitators to provide library services to over 9,000 students a week.. This scalable model is another example of the innovative ways TOBFC provides much-needed services to remote communities.
Thank you to the Spirit of Generosity for supporting KICKIT!
On April 21, 2026 at Vaughan City Hall, Mayor Stephen Del Duca presented Deborah McCracken-Nangereke with a cheque for C$10,000 from the Spirit of Generosity. At TOBFC’s 2026 Annual Gala, Mayor Del Duca and Regional Councillors Mario Ferri and Gino Rosati announced their continued commitment to support the operation of TOBFC’s KICKIT Mobile Libraries again this year. In return, Deborah thanked them with a copy of the childen’s book set in Tanzania We All Went on Safari to be placed in circulation in the Vaughan Public Libraries. TOBFC is very grateful to the City of Vaughan and the Spirit of Generosity.
2026 KICKIT Program Sponsor
