Hatua Network on the 16th of November held its 13th Annual General Meeting at the Ushindi Baptist in Likoni, marking 13 amazing years of offering scholarships, mentoring, career guidance and professional networks links to academically promising and high need students in Mombasa, Kenya.
We kicked off the day with the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Ushindi Baptist Church to officially re-open the Likoni Central Library after relocation from The Likoni Youth Empowerment Center.
The event was graced by both local and international donors such as Edward Fondiller & Katherine Doran and local supporters represented by Robert Owuor and Helen from Freight Forwarders Kenya, and Moody Mwaniki from Mombasa Cement. Mr. and Mrs. Edward Fondiller were accompanied by a delegation from Brooklyn USA led by their friends Connie, Bonnie and Pete.
We later on in the afternoon held our AGM where our visiting guests were joined by our Kenyan Board, led by our current Chair, Retired Chief, Mr. Suleiman Babu, over 500 Hatua parents, beneficiary students, members of the public and well-wishers.
Our library network continues to grow; this year we expanded our programs to Mvita constituency where we currently manage 4 satellite libraries in Tudor, Ronald Ngala, Mbeheni Girls, and Sacred Heart primary schools. Our libraries serve as Hatua’s entry point into each community we serve and also serve as a hub for access to information, access to Hatua’s scholarship program and a point of connection between our alumni and youth throughout the community who seek career information. 
In combination, our Likoni, and Mvita libraries house over 10,000 books including a full collection of primary and secondary school curriculum books. Our libraries can accommodate over 450 students and our Likoni Central Library has a computer lab with 18 stations. Our libraries are commonly referred to as “Homework Hubs” because students are able to be assisted in their homework in the evenings after school and even over the weekend and holidays. Since October 2018, we have so far hosted over 80,000 repeated library users, 11,733 of whom came to utilize our computer lab.
We hope to open 2 more satellite libraries in Mvita to enable us to reach more children and youth in Mombasa County and promote education and employment among low-income households and transform the youth of Mombasa from poverty to professional careers. We are grateful to all our library supporters, including, but not limited to AMI Worldwide, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Fondiller, Freight Forwarders Kenya, Mombasa Cement, and Crown Paints, who have enabled us to provide access to library services in Mombasa County.