The Azingo chapter started with a jersey: the one worn by the Gabon Panthers, the one you saw in the stadiums and on the streets of Libreville. When we remade it, we didn't just want to put out a retro piece. We wanted to pass on what's behind it: a story, a pride, a culture.
So we took part of what the jersey brought in, and turned it into books.
What we did
In May 2025, part of the Azingo jersey sales went on buying around twenty books and paying to ship them from France to Gabon. They went to Oyem, in the north of Gabon, into the hands of young orphans, boys and girls.
We didn't do it alone. The shipment was made in partnership with two charities, Hellavie and Solidaris For, who made the connection on the ground.
Twenty-odd books isn't a huge amount. But it's real: every one of them had a reader waiting for it.
The books
Heroes who look like them, folk tales, proverbs, African history, and the classics every kid reads.
Among them:
- Bouba et Zaza partagent la passion du football ! (Bouba and Zaza share a love of football): a football jersey paying for a book about football.
- La belle histoire de Leuk-le-Lièvre, by Léopold Sédar Senghor and Abdoulaye Sadji, a classic of African children's literature.
- Les contes de M'Boh (tales), by Mariame M'Boh, and L'Afrique en 200 proverbes (Africa in 200 proverbs), by Virginie Ehonian.
- Cheikh Anta le Pharaon and Bébé Isis Anta, by Kam Kama Sabas Makeda Makanda.
- Bulles, the magazine for kids who love Africa, with Empress Taitu Betul on the cover.
- La pêche à la marmite, by Dominique Mwankumi, SOS Animaux en danger ! Bienvenue en Afrique (animals in danger) and Mon abécédaire (an ABC book), for first readers.
- And a classic every kid knows: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Why books
Our line is “Culture breeds culture”. Here you can take it literally: a football jersey, sporting culture, paid for books, literary culture.
We wrote it when the books went out, and we still mean it:
“We did as the older ones did, the older ones did as the elders did, and now we hope the little ones will do as we did, by making these books their own.”
It's a chain: what we were given, we pass on.
What people told us
Under the post, the messages came in fast. Vicky R, who wears the Azingo jersey, summed it up in two words: “THE CULTURE 🤍 thank you”.
Others found their own words:
“Educate the young for a better future.”
“One person's fire warms every home!”
“One hand washes the other!”
What's next
Every LMTE chapter tells the story of a culture. This one also left something behind on the ground, and we'd like it not to be the last.
The Azingo chapter jerseys are still available in the collection.
