Confession. I promised myself before starting my Peace Corps service that I would not be one of those people who wrote emails home asking friends and family for money. I had spent 5 years studying International Development and one thing I took away from my studies was that you can’t just give people things in order to help them, they need to have some sort of ownership of the process and feel that they worked for what they have received. This makes work more sustainable in the long run. Well, twenty-one months later, and here I am writing a blog about how wonderful it would be if all of you who are reading this would consider buying one or two books for my community library…
I consider myself to be incredibly lucky because I am teaching English in a community where people see firsthand the benefits of learning the language. Living so close to the Zimbabwean border means that many people from my village work hard to attain jobs across the border-where they have access to a better education, medical care and a general higher standard of living OR they try to get hired by many of the foreign businesses working here who prefer their employees to speak English. In short they've recognized they can be something other than a substance-based farmer. I’ve also had the benefit of working with a few very dedicated, hard-working, English teachers who are truly invested in teaching their students how to speak English, and are ecstatic about the idea of helping create a literacy program. This brings me to my project.
When I arrived in Vanduzi I was honestly overwhelmed by the enthusiasm people had to learn English. Outside of teaching ninth grade, I tutor a number of students from grades 10-12, and have also helped to tutor some of my colleagues who want to master the language. I have created an English club, and English theatre group and have been working with my roommate, another PCV, Thelma, to improve our school library. MY DREAM is to have around 100 English-language children’s books donated to my school library. These books would be used for general lesson plans, in my English club meetings, and most importantly, in an English-language literacy program I am setting up with one of my fantastic colleagues. The only problem is, books in Mozambique are SO EXPENSIVE, and arguably worse, English books are almost impossible to come by…this little problem here made me change my mind about begging for help from home. After speaking with other teachers and community leaders, we agreed that if the community in Vanduzi worked to fix up the library (which is a bit dilapidated and over-run) and the director donated some new book shelves/promised to ensure the school librarian looked after the books, then it would be acceptable for me to have books donated because the community would feel ownership of the program.
So how can you help?
Through an organization called Better World Books (www.betterworldbooks.com)! Better World Books is a global bookstore that collects donated books and distributes them in areas in need to “Bring Literacy to the World.” This organization is incredible because you can essentially go on their website, search for a book (as you would on amazon) and then purchase it BUT Better World Books will pay the shipping costs. So you can go online and buy a book for under $10 (most listed below are around $7) and send it all the way to Mozambique for FREE, where I can then use this book to teach children how to read!
Here is how you can purchase the books:
1. Choose a book (or as many as you would like). I am ideally looking for children’s books because the level of literacy is so low those would be best…I’m including a list below of general suggestions but if you have a childhood favorite, please, send away!
2. Go to http://www.betterworldbooks.com and use the search bar to find the book of your choice. If applicable, choose the cheapest, used option. And please put the shipping address as…
Haleigh Duggan
Corpo da Paz
C.P. 311
Chimoio, Mozambique
3. I promise to send pictures and thank you notes from myself and my students as the project gets under way....
Thank you so much for your help and generosity!
HERE IS A LIST OF BOOKS I HAVE ALREADY RECIEVED...
Classic books that have already been purchased...
Baby Tiger Wants to Explore- Alice Greene
Beezus and Ramona- Beverly Cleary
Berstein Bears go to School
Berstein Bears Trouble with Friends
Brave Irene (Sunburst Books)
Bridge to Terabithia- Katherine Patterson
Brow Bear, Brown Bear- Eric Carle
Caps for Sale- Esphyr Slobodkvia
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- Roald Dahl
Charlotte’s Web- E. B. White
Cheer Up, Mouse- Jed Henry
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom- Bill Martin Jr
Children’s Visual Dictionary- Jane Bun
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Clifford, the Firehouse Dog
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs- Judi Barrett
Corduroy- Don Freeman
Curious George
Curious George and the Hot Air Ballon
Curious George Visits the Library
Danny and the Dinosaur- Sid Hoff
Dishey’s the Lion King
Disney’s Bambi
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast
Disney’s Cinderella
Disney’s Finding Nemo
Disney’s Jungle Book
Disney’s Lady and the Tramp
Disney’s Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs
Disney’s the Three Little Bigs
Ender’s Game- Orson Scott Card
Frindle- Andrew Clements
Frog and Toad are Friends- Arnold Lobby
Goalkeeper in Charge- Matt Christopher
Going Long- David Willey
Good Times- Kristen Hall
Goodnight Gorilla
Goodnight Moon
Grimm’s Fairy Tales- Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Harold and the Purple Crayon- Crocket Johnson
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes- Child’s Play
Henry And Mudge First Book
Higher than Hope- Fatima Meer
How to Eat Fried Worms- Thomas Rockwell
I Spy Letters
If You Give a Dog a Donut
If You Give a Moose a Muffin
Invictus- John Carlin
James and the Giant Peach- Roald Dahl
Madeline- Ludgwig Bemelmans
Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body- Joanna Cole
May I Please Have a Cookie- Jennifer Morris
Miss Nelson is Missing- James Marshall
Morris Goes to School (I Can Read Book 1)
Mr. Popper’s Penguins- Richard and Florence Atwater
Pickles to Pittsburg- Judi Barrett
Ramona the Brave- Beverly Cleary
Romana the Pest- Beverly Cleary
Sheep in a Jeep
The Absent Author (A to Z Mysteries)
Make way for ducklings
Amelia Bedelia (I Can Read Book 2)
The Alchemist- Michael Scott
The Amazing Spider Man
The BFG- Roald Dahl
The Boxcar Children- Gertrude Chandler Warner
The Bravest Dog Ever, the True Story of Balto- Natalie Standiford
The Cloud Book- Tomie de Paola
The Grouchy Ladybug
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe- C. L. Lewis
The Little Engine that Could
The Little Mouse, the Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear- Don and Audrey Wood
The Lucky Baseball Bat- Matt Christopher
The Magic Hat- Mem Fox
The Monster at the end of the Book- Sesame St.
The Phantom Tollbooth
The Rainbow Fish- Marcus Rfister
The Little Red Hen
The School Story- Andrew Clements
The Very Hungry Caterpillar- Eric Carle
The Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover- Lucille Colandro
The Widwife’s Apprentice- Karen Cushman
The Wizard of Oz- L. Frank Baum
Thomas the Tank Engines “Big Lift and Look Book”- Rev, W Audrey
To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee
Trucks- Slide and Find Book
Where the Red Fern Grows
Where the Wild Things Are
Where the Wild Things Are- Maurice Sendak
Yawn- Sally Symes
Dr. Seuss
ABC’S
Are You My Mother (P.D. Eastmen)
Green Eggs and Ham
Happy Birthday to You
Hop on Me
Hop on Pop
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now!
Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?
One fish, two fish, read fish, blue fish
Put Me in the Zoo (Robert Lopshire)
Sleep Book
The Cat in the Hat
The Foot Book
There’s a Wocket in my Pocket
Series:
Lemony Snicket’s a Series of Unfortunate Events (books 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12)
The Magic Treehouse (1, 2, 4, 5, 9 and 17)
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