SHARE, is a charitable organization which seeks to provide a literary environment to educate girls in East Africa[1]. SHARE, an acronym for SHannon’s After-school Reading Exchange, is a non-profit incorporated in the state of New Jersey. SHARE was founded in 2008 by Shannon McNamara, who created the first SHARE room in the Kiteyagwa Primary School in Bukoba, Tanzania for her Girl Scout Gold Award Project[2].
Girls who attend primary school in Tanzania struggle to become literate. They are expected to perform household chores, such as gathering firewood, hauling water, cooking, caring for siblings, and farming, instead of pursuing their studies[3]. SHARE addresses this problem by establishing after-school reading programs.[4] SHARE rooms are designed to increase reading and English language skills, with additional programs in health, nutrition, and recreation.
SHARE has raised $81,000 in its efforts to increase literacy for African girls. With these funds, SHARE has created three SHARE branches for 150 Tanzanian girls, ages 10 –17. SHARE has collected 22,000 donated items, including children’s books, school supplies, computer software games, and lap top computers, which have been shipped to the SHARE branches in Bukoba, Tanzania.[5] Most recently, SHARE has expanded into the Kagemo Secondary School and the Kangabusharo Primary School[6], located in rural villages in the Kagondo region of Tanzania. SHARE’s newest initiative is to bring electricity to the schools[7].
SHARE is headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey in the United States.