Most remote villages in the Gobi desert, Mongolia as described as dreary and uninviting. Children often get an education out of playing with dirt and pebbles in a place where books are almost entirely inaccessible.
Luckily, there is a hero to this fragile, way too familiar story. His name is Dashdondog Jamba, publisher and translator of books. He has traveled more than 50,000 miles through arid regions of the country, meeting children and sharing colorful books with them.
The Camelback Library is one of the many ways he transports books. He also uses horses and ox carts; depending on the projects or lectures he is attending, he may use a motorized vehicle.
Dashdondog Jamba relies on two helpers: his wife and his son. The books they travel with are translated from other languages, an effort Jamba makes without financial support. They are mostly vibrant children’s books, sometimes written by him.
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Each time the family is in a remote village, they make the most of the interaction with children, spending as much time as necessary to get them acquainted with books and reading in general.
“[It] is a little different from other libraries,” Jamba told the Trumpet. “The walls of this reading room are made of mountains covered with forest, the roof is blue sky, the floor is a flower-covered steppe, and the reading light bulb is the sun.”
Before asking for your opinion on this uplifting story, we would like to suggest a reading: “My Librarian is a Camel: How Books Are Brought to Children Around the World” is a book by Margriet Ruurs documenting similar projects. You can find it on Amazon here.
