Mister Minister of Primary and Secondary Education
Mister Director of the School of Arafat
Honored Guests
Honored Parents
Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great pleasure for me to be here with you today on this occasion.  Today represents the continuation of a vast campaign to distribute books in English, Arabic, and French to school libraries throughout all Mauritania, which our Embassy began in September during International Literacy Day.  Our presence here firmly witnesses to our commitment to realize this objective, so important and so laudable.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

During our travels to the interior of the country, numerous teachers and students made us aware of their crying lack of books.  In response, seventy-six schools, especially those in the interior, will benefit from these planned distributions of books. These books cover various fields, from geography and history to literature and the sciences. I take this occasion to thank the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education with whom this operation is undertaken. My thanks go as well to the officials of the schools, whose cooperation has been indispensable.

We wish, through this donation, to contribute modestly to those important efforts that Mauritania is not ceasing to make in the fight against illiteracy and ignorance in the country.

In conclusion, I wish that cooperation between your important department and our Embassy can continue to develop and grow.

I thank you.

Ambassador Charles H. Twining
Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the United States in Mauritania

Nouakchott
December 21, 2006