Evans Boadi knows first-hand how difficult it can be to further your education when you don’t have access to the resources you need.

The Brock Mathematics and Statistics master’s student began his post-secondary career at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in his home nation of Ghana.

A frequent visitor to KNUST’s library, Boadi found out that some books recommended by lecturers were no where to be found.

CPI Resource Co-ordinator Wanda Gilmore, Mathematics and Statistics graduate student Evans Boadi and Campus Store Service Assistant Leah McBeaudry sort through some of the many textbooks donated by the store to be shipped to a school in Ghana.

When he began his studies at Brock in fall of 2016, he began wondering what students do with their textbooks once their classes have come to an end — and whether there was potential to give them a second life overseas.

Hearing many are sold or even donated, he started to inquire whether interest existed on campus to see some books shipped to Ghana for students in need.

Boadi’s vision was to offer a helping hand to students back home in gaining the best possible education available to them.

When the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation caught wind of the positive project, support was immediately offered.

“CPI is happy to contribute to initiatives that make a difference with respect to global education, and when this project was brought to us by a very motivated and persuasive graduate student, we were eager to help him succeed,” said CPI Director Jill Grose.

CPI began collecting books from staff and put Boadi in touch with the Campus Store, which supplied him with books no longer suitable for sale.

Between CPI and the store, more than 250 books have been collected on a range of topics such as math, business, health sciences, chemistry, political science and nursing.

All books provided by the Campus Store were editions that could no longer be sold for current Brock courses or returned by the store to the vendor.

“We recognized that we were in the unique position where our loss had the potential to be KNUST’s gain,” said Leah McBeaudry, Campus Store Service Assistant. “It would allow them the opportunity to attain quality academic material they wouldn’t otherwise have access to.”

Boadi was both touched and overwhelmed by the instant support he encountered on campus.

“Being at Brock, you have the chance to be a part of a community, to see the spirit of the community,” he said. “I’m inspired by that.”

His plan is to ship the books to KNUST by the end of the month, so they will arrive to the school in Africa prior to the start of the fall term.

He is paying out of his own pocket to ship the books, though donations to support those costs are welcomed.

“I’d like to collect more books, but it’s getting expensive,” Boadi said. He plans to first ship this collection before taking on any more book donations.

He hopes to ultimately provide both books and computers to aid students in Ghana in pursuing higher education.

For more information or to assist with Boadi’s initiative, e-mail eboadi@brocku.ca.