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IBP's Books as Bridges Program Celebrates Culture!
The celebration allowed students to showcase what they learned about their pen-pals’ countries and ended with a recognition ceremony for students who completed
Books as Bridges is finishing its third year as an international pen-pal program that encourages service projects in Central Kentucky classrooms. If you are a teacher and are interested in joining Books as Bridges or a parent that would like to get your child’s classroom involved, please contact Tracy Nearhoof, Books as Bridges Coordinator, at bab@intlbookproject.org. Books as Bridges would like to thank American Founders Bank for sponsoring Weird and Wonderful. This event would not have been possible without their support.
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Continues to Serve Village Schools
I didn’t know what “support” meant, so for a week I walked the dusty roads to each of the schools, visiting each classroom to see what life was like, quietly slipping into a desk alongside a 3rd grade boy, only to have all the children stare at me and not the teacher. It didn’t take me anytime to see needs: books, paper, pencils, chairs, chalk, as well as basic necessities such as water and electricity.
Because I was old, white, and male (the trifecta in South Africa) and from America to boot, I was respected and listened to in ways I had not experienced before or since. I did what I could in my two years of service, including buying books at flea markets and yard sales to tote home in my giant backpack to spread around among the five schools. We developed classroom libraries of a few appropriate books, in castoff hand baskets from the kind manager of a grocery store in the nearb In the seven years I’ve been back home I’ve continued to send books given to me by friends, family, and school systems. Sometimes there are multiple copies of school books and a teacher’s manual which can transform a classroom. IBP is sending over 20,000 books to classrooms in Mahlaba-Cross. Can you imagine what it will be like for each child to have his own book and be able to read along as the teacher reads aloud? To someday, when teachers have adjusted a bit, be able to take a book home to study and show his family what he’s learning in school? Maybe to teach at home, sharing with his parents what they never saw? This gift of books from IBP will do that for him and for many others. The five village primary schools, the two village secondary schools, and another primary school in neighboring Tzaneen will share in these riches. In all, about 4,500 children will benefit from these books in ways that none of us can imagine.
Strengthening Education in Post-Communist Albania
Central Kentucky Students Eat Their Way Into World Culture
Filipino Teachers Send Books Home
In August, six Balikbayan boxes were sent to the hometowns of six Filipino exchange teachers who currently reside and teach in Fayette County, Kentucky. Each teacher who received a Rotary grant personally selected and packed books to be sent to their home school, library, or church. The Philippine educational system closely mirrors that of the United States, making book donations from the US particularly useful. Over 89 million people live on the 7,000 islands that make up the Philippines. The country's difficult island geography limits the availability of educational materials in remote areas. Sahlee Ostil, a math teacher from Bolinao, Philippines was very excited about sending books home to her former students at the Bolinao School of Fisheries. "I thank the IBP for being a wonderful instrument to help needy countries in terms of books," remarks Ostil. "The school that will be receiving these books has very limited resources. Much more, a very strong typhoon hit the province where the school is and buildings were wrecked including the school library. The books will be a great help to the students as well as the teachers. Thank you so much."
Balikbayan Boxes More Efficient for Book Shipments to the Philippines
Balikbayan boxes are traditionally used by Filipino immigrants to send "pasalubong" or gifts back to their families at home. The word "Balikbayan" literally means "go back to hometown" in Filipino. Because this practice is such an important part of Filipino culture, entire shipping companies specialize in sending these boxes back to the Philippines from the United States. They are able to provide cheap shipping by combining To see more pictures of the Junior League packing IBP's first shipment of Balikbayan boxes, please visit our blog.
Gregg Grant Matches Contributions for ex-Soviet States
In 2009, IBP hopes to fortify this partnership with its new Gregg Matching Grant for ex-Soviet states and Eastern European countries. The grant will help schools and libraries in poor Eastern European and Central Asian countries, most of which used to be entirely reliant on the Soviet Union, to rebuild. The US has actively placed PCVs in most of the ex-Soviet states since the early 1990s. And while the Peace Corps is considered a grassroots movement and is not associated with the U.S. State Department, it has been a major source of diplomacy and goodwill towards Americans. Former Kazakhstan PCV recipient and IBP Board member Kevin Beiting says, "Receiving books from the IBP was one of the best things that happened to me as a Peace Corps Volunteer. To the people I was there to serve, I was the face of the United States, and for them to receive these books from the IBP really reinforced for them the goodwill and concern America has for the international community. It was a wonderful experience." IBP currently has many active files in ex-Soviet States and Eastern European countries. In 2009, IBP plans to make this region a priority. For Deanna Evans, this is good news. In her recent application for books, she says, "The Peace Corps has a small budget and unfortunately cannot afford to equip schools with English language books--the volunteers, ourselves, make our own visual aids or have books sent from home." If you are interested in donating money to help IBP with shipping costs for this PCV project, please donate here.
IBP Books Open Doors for Mayan Children
Most school teachers sent to teach in the Mayan villages only speak Spanish. Unfortunately, the students typically only speak their native Mayan language when entering school. Consequently, school is often a frustrating and demoralizing process for young Mayan children. Students routinely drop out of school as early as the first grade, never having the opportunity to learn to read or write. However, Child Aid, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, is implementing a program to reverse this trend. The Adventures in Reading Program sponsors bilingual Mayan girls training to be teachers to run reading programs during their traditional school recess between October and January. Each girl will go back to her village armed with over 30 books from IBP for her village's reading program. "When you see one of these programs in action, it is emotionally overwhelming. The children are so excited, engaged and proud of their increased ability to read," says Bob Vesely, Child Aid executive director. Reading is one of the best ways for students to gain skills in a new language. However, there are literally no books in most of these villages, so a reading program was beyond their imagination. Because of this program and the books provided by IBP, these students will have the opportunity to learn Spanish, continue their education, and have greater opportunities in the future. IBP is currently planning another shipment of books to Guatemala to help more Mayan children. To help IBP fund book shipments, please donate today.
International Book Project Creates Change in Ethiopia
Nearly all the subjects of Kana Academy are taught in English, including English Literacy and Character (Moral) Education, with the one exception of Amharic Literacy. Unfortunately, there is an extremely limited access to books, especially recent ones. With such a wide need for English books, Serawit and Mistru applied to IBP for help stocking the library in May 2008. IBP sent Kana Academy an M-Bag of 50 picture-story books, readers, and dictionaries for the primary and elementary school with the help of a grant from the Million Dollar Round Table Foundation. Colorful picture books like Clean Your Room, Harvey Moon now populate the primary and elementary-level library. By sending books, IBP is helping eliminate poverty through education. Lack of education plays a key role in poverty. Oftentimes, seeking prosperity means seeking education in other areas—and breaking up families. With IBP and Kana Academy’s partnership, education and prosperity are not limited to major urban areas in Ethiopia.
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May 2010- Central Kentucky students and their families gathered at the Explorium Children’s Museum to sample dishes and make crafts from around the world at the Books as Bridges year-end event, Weird and Wonderful. Six countries were featured with colorful maps and displays including South Africa, Ghana, Morocco, Ecuador, Uganda, and the Philippines.
Volunteers led the students in cultural activities, including members from the 
April 2010--Imagine a classroom with 70 or more children. They are seated in pairs at a double desk, if there are enough desks. The room’s five or six textbooks are spread out among the kids during a reading period. Each student must wait his turn as the precious books move around among them. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in that room, sent to support the five village primary schools of Mahlaba-Cross in Limpopo Province, South Africa’s poorest.
y town of Tzaneen.
March 2010--Over 1,500 students throughout Central Kentucky are learning more about life in developing countries thanks to Books as Bridges Coordinator, Tracy Nearhoof. Since January, Tracy has visited over 20 participant classrooms to facilitate Cultural Literacy Lessons based on life in their pen-pal countries. 
The lesson was topped off with a Filipino craft and authentic food tasting! Students constructed their own Filipino Festival Hat to commemorate personal milestones and special holidays and tried, "Maja Blanca", a traditional Filipino dessert pudding made of coconut and cornstarch. 
October 2009--Students and teachers in six Philippine cities will receive textbooks and teaching aids thanks to an international service grant from the Rotary Club of Lexington.
MARCH 2009--IBP is always looking for less expensive ways to ship books overseas. In March, we are sending our first Balikbayan boxes filled with books to the Philippines. IBP's Balikbayan boxes are approximately six times the size of an IBP M-bag. However, they are just two times the shipping cost of an M-bag, reducing the cost of shipping to the Philippines by more than 60%! Additionally, there is just a flat shipping charge per box regardless of weight, so these boxes are perfect for sending heavy items like books.
California and shipping them directly to Manila. From Manila they provide door-to-door service throughout the Philippines.
JANUARY 2009--Myrzake Village, Kyrgyzstan, like so many other areas where Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) work, has a school with three to four books per class of 20 and even those are British English books from the 1960s. But PCV Deanna Evans in Myrzake has turned to the International Book Project for help in the long tradition of a partnership between IBP and the U.S. Peace Corps.
NOVEMBER 2008--Hundreds of children in Mayan villages throughout Guatemala are holding books in their hands for the first time thanks to the International Book Project and the Adventures in Reading Program. Because IBP sent over 22,000 Spanish language books to Guatemala last year, these Mayan children will finally have books to learn and read Spanish.
SEPTEMBER 2008--In the small, poverty-stricken village of Mota, Ethiopia, only two out of every 10 residents can read. Serawit and Mistru, originally from the Mota area, have watched families struggle to find money for their children’s food, shelter, clothing, and education. They opened Kana Academy two years ago to break the cycle of poverty, knowing that better education leads to self-sufficiency.
