When the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Tanzania on March 16, last year, Laurence Zerafa was halfway through a project aimed at updating school libraries. As in most other countries, students were sent home to help curb the pandemic, but the former MCAST head librarian decided to stay on to complete the project and return to Malta in August as planned. “The primary concern was that good hospital care was not available nearby and it would take a day’s journey to reach Dar es Salaam,” he told Times of Malta one year on, as he works on another project that could benefit some 35 schools in East Africa. “The last available opportunity to fly back to the island was around Easter Sunday. After careful thought and prayer, I decided to stay in Tanzania and finish my work,” he said. This was the second time that Zerafa had flown to the east African country as a volunteer with the Church NGO Voluntiera Lajċi Missjunarji to upgrade libraries at Salesians of Don Bosco church schools. Among others Zerafa installed an off-the-shelf software system to electronically catalogue library books. After introducing the system in Dodoma between 2017 and 2018, Zerafa, now retired, headed to...