Our annual book fair, held in our Jos headquarters charity shop mid-November, has generated funds and also raised awareness of our work.

Many hundreds of people came from all corners of the city, spending an average of 2,000 naira on books.

“People did come out to browse our books, despite the economic downturn impacting Jos and other parts of Nigeria,” said international coordinator Tassie Ghata. “Not only did they buy books, many heard about our work for the first time.

“Some were overjoyed to find books they have been looking for many years. We don’t have a reading culture in Nigeria; our book fairs are helping to change this in Jos.”

We have now sold half the books in the container from Book Aid that arrived in March. When people spent 2,000 naira they were able to choose five free books from an earlier Book Aid delivery.

The book fair has raised 920,000 naira (£2,000) towards construction of our training centre, test kits and salaries