CINCINNATI / GAMBIA, AFRICA — An Ohio woman’s mission overseas turned into a move to help kids learn there. Then she opened a library. 

What You Need To Know

  • Hanna El Evans officially opened the doors to the Pan African Library of the Gambia last month 

  • After running a small school in Cincinnati, Evans wanted to use her experience to help in Gambia 

  • Evans has plans to expand her library to more villages in Africa 

Six months ago, Hanna El Evans packed her bags and moved her whole life from Cincinnati, halfway across the globe because she says she’s on a mission. 

“That kinda sparked an interest in me to want to know who we are, where we come from, what did we used to do, what did we used to eat, what traditions did we used to have,” said Evans.

Her quest to find culture turned into another mission to help.

She had experience running a small school, the Global Faith Academy, in Cincinnati. It shut down during the pandemic, but as an educator, that gave Evans an idea for Gambia. 

“I realized that I’m gonna pack up all of my school materials, all of these books, all of my curriculum materials, all of my puzzles, and maps and posters and everything and I’m gonna go there and open a library,” said Evans. 

The Pan African Library of the Gambia officially opened May and will help kids have better access to books and education. 

“They definitely do not have libraries like we have libraries here on every corner, in every community, in every classroom, people have libraries at home, so there certainly is a need," said Evans.

She raised money and dipped into her own savings to fill the shelves.

"We are going to be doing some programming and classes very similar to what a public library does there,” said Evans.

She said this is just the beginning. She wants to open libraries in more villages there.

“The biggest work for us is going to be trying to develop a culture of reading amongst the people,” said Evans. 

It's all an effort to help from Ohio to Africa. 

For more information or to donate books to the library, click here or reach out on social media here.