When Tyler Sommer, PA-C, visited Malawi in 2016 on a World of Difference Service Expedition, he led a group of Physician Assistant students from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in a clinical experience at a Malawi hospital.
While there, they were able to visit other students at the Malawi College of Health Sciences. It was here that Tyler discovered that the college had only a few hundred worn-out textbooks, mostly from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.
Tyler, seeing their need, coordinated with the African Library Project, a nonprofit that collects and ships textbooks to Africa. The university started collecting books and Tyler stored them in his office, stacking them where ever he could find space.
Tyler was able to send more than 500 textbooks to Malawi ahead of the 2017 August service trip. All of the books are newer than 1995 and are mainly based on basic sciences.
Read about the textbook donation in the Daily Herald.