Posted by: Geoff Schwarten, BetterWorld.com staff

Already BetterWorld.com material!

I’d like to weigh in briefly on the BWB trip to Santa Rosa School on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation in the Sonoran Desert. As stated in some of the previous blog posts, The National Center for Family literacy organized this trip, and we were checking out one of their programs called FACE that stands for Family and Child Education.

I could tell you a lot of good information about FACE and the National Center for Family Literacy, or about this incredible woman Sister Val, but I think that’s been pretty well covered. I’d just like to touch briefly on what the trip meant for me…

This guy was pumped about reading!

The highlight for me was spending time in the first grade classroom and on the basketball court at recess. The kids on the reservation were so excited about learning, having fun and preserving their heritage. The Santa Rosa school has a big challenge that they are facing – kids are dropping out and joining gangs at a young age – however their staff puts forth an amazing effort to provide an excellent place for learning. One teacher, Coach, was the school’s IT guy, gym teacher, athletic coach taking them to games against reservation schools hundreds of miles a way. You could hear kids enthusiasm in shouting “Coach!” just as they passed him in the hall. I am grateful for people like Coach and Sister Val.

I think that it is pretty awesome that an organization like Better World Books would undertake offering employees a program/benefit that would subsidize sending them to visit the literacy programs that we are all working so hard to support. It makes perfect sense, get employees together to visit a location and get energized about our mission. As an added benefit, employees get to know each other better and become a stronger team.

Thank you to Santa Rosa School! Although technically we were the volunteers, I think that BWB employees got the most out of being there and learning about the school, FACE, and Tohono O’odham culture.

And Coach – let me know if you need some help teaching basketball to the kids…

Geoff

Better World Books now has a dedicated Antiquarian, Rare, and Collectable Books (ARC) department at its Mishawaka, Indiana, Distribution Centre.

Posted by Abby Rae LaCombe, Rocky Mountain Regional Director

What an excellent trip! I’d never been to the Southwest before; I’d never seen any of the American deserts, or cacti growing like oak trees, or rattlesnakes (I still haven’t seen a rattlesnake) and it was all beautiful. Arizona is neat!

When we arrived at Santa Rosa Boarding School Tuesday morning, none of us had much of an idea of the sort of work we’d be doing. With students arriving the following day, we were just in time for the hustle and bustle of classroom set-up and campus preparation! We gathered in Sister Val’s room to delegate tasks and although I’m certainly not computer savvy, I somehow volunteered to set up classroom computers. Geoff and I started in Mrs. Roger’s room with a jumble of cords and computer parts and set to it. It wasn’t terribly long before another teacher stepped in to see if we could do hers as well! Only months earlier it had taken me the same amount of time to assemble my single desktop that it took us to assemble ten that day.

The downside of assembling computers is you have to play inside, and who wants that when outside looms an amazing desert sun and the possibility of critter sightings? With that in mind, Tuesday night I decided that each possible moment on Wednesday would be spent outside.  So naturally on Wednesday morning when Sister Val asked what we wanted to do and “play outside!” was my eager response.

Damara and I set to work picking up the early childhood playground and were disappointed to see graffiti painted on the equipment. We went to the office to ask if they had anything to clean it with and they sent us back out with an aerosol can of paint thinner and disposable sheets that are stored and removed like diaper wipes, but are covered with paint thinner -- AMAZING.

Once we set to it we saw little progress, which just fueled our need to remove it entirely. We scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed. Eventually, Sarah Lynne came out to join us and we scrubbed, and scrubbed, and scrubbed. After lunch Damara and I returned for more hours of scrubbing. Hot, sweaty, tired, and SICK of scrubbing Damara sighed, “I wonder what would happen if I threw some of my water on it.” *Splash.* “OMIGOODNESS!!” we yelped as the graffiti dripped away. We were able to clear everything we’d been scrubbing away at for hours in only a half-hour! Knowing the trick, I wandered through the rest of the playground to find all those sneaky places we wrote bad words when we were kids.

Thank you, Santa Rosa Boarding School and NCFL for this great opportunity. We had a wonderful time!

Posted by David Murphy, President and CEO

Martha Schouten, an English Language Fellow teacher at the University of Oran in Algeria, contacted Books For Africa (BFA), to see if BFA could help replenish their library with English language books after many years of neglect.   Currently, the University’s books in English are dated in the 1980’s or before. 

During the 1990’s Algeria experienced civil war and domestic terror.  Since 1999 little has changed - militant splinter groups continue their campaign against the government, and the army continues its own campaign against the rebels, amid accusations of corruption and brutality.  This has undeniably created an atmosphere of insecurity in the general population.   

As over half of Algeria’s population are young people, there are many issues for Algerian students.  These concern future job opportunities, information available (or unavailable) to them, and the extreme feeling of uncertainty in almost all domains of their lives.  In spite of this, Martha’s students are so very eager to know as much as possible about the outside world, and to travel and study in foreign countries.

To aid the beneficiaries of BFA donations, Better World Books has created a special Fund for Books For Africa.  This Fund is designed to pay for the shipping costs of these containers of books.   The Fund paid $9,000 in shipping costs for this one container.

 

The 40-foot container of books will be heading out today to the University.  It is the first shipment that Books For Africa has sent to Algeria!  The demand for university books in Africa remains enormous.

Posted by David Murphy, President and CEO

The health of the people of Somaliland is among the worst in Africa. This statement is supported by the fact that even before the civil war and the separation of the two Somali states, Somalia had one of the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the world. While recent valid data is not available, the mortality rates after the destruction that has taken place in country is frightening to consider.

One out of 8 babies dies before the age of 12 months Every year nearly 4,000 Somali women die in childbirth One out of 5 children dies before the age of five Life expectancy is only 48 years

In the Somaliland region of Somalia, an extraordinary woman named Edna Adan Ismail runs her own obstetric hospital and trains midwives, underscoring how women’s lives can be saved even in the most difficult environments.  The hospital site, once used as a mass killing field during the civil war for independence (1988-1990) under Siad Barre's reign, is now a haven for bringing new life into the world.  

Xavier Helgesen, co-founder of BWB, learned about this hospital in a New York Times article, and contacted the hospital after the announcement of the Better World Books Fund for Books For Africa, and a container of books was received in late July. 

The Better World Books Fund is designed to pay for the shipping costs of containers of books, donated through Books For Africa.   The Fund is important, because the shipping costs for this one container alone were over $5,000.

The donated books will be used for the hospital’s medical library for the Edna Adan Teaching Hospital.  While the library could not currently contain a whole container of books, any extra books with will be distributed to Universities in Somalia and governmental nursing facilities.

Posted by Jack Hanlon, Northeast Regional Director

 

I received this today from our partner, The National Center for Family Literacy, and wanted to share it with everyone.  NCFL is doing great work and this press release…..timed to coincide with the celebration of International Literacy Day (September 8^th)……is a great way to draw attention to the issue of illiteracy in our own country…...

David W. Murphy
President and CEO
Better World Books

Posted by: Jacob Fu, Sales Representative

As you have seen and read from my Better World Books colleagues, a few of us had the opportunity to visit the Santa Rosa School in Arizona.  I had the opportunity help teachers set up classrooms, set-up computers, inflate playground balls, and interact with the families of the FACE program.  It was amazing to see the impact that the teachers make on the children and more so, the dedication the teachers had for what they did is truly inspiring.  

David Murphy and I had the chance to help one of the teachers set up her classroom.  She had found out only a few days prior to our arrival that she would no longer be teaching 1st graders, but would actually have 5th grade students at the beginning of the school year.  As you can imagine, it is quite a daunting task to convert a 1st grade classroom to one appropriate for 5th graders in just a few days.  

      
David Murphy, CEO of BWB, adjusting desks.                     The classroom after the desks were adjusted.

At the start, David and I readjusted table heights for the new class.  With only a day until school started, we helped transform the classroom from piles of desks and stacked boxes to a functioning room.  But we definitely had the easy job.  It was now up to the teacher to prepare the curriculum and teach the kids the entire year.

The trip was definitely an unforgettable experience and helps me appreciate all that I have.  It also gives me some satisfaction that what we do here at Better World Books is at the very least able to help our organizations such as these.

Posted by Sarah Lynne Reul, Senior East Coast Director


Tomorrow, September 8th, is International Literacy Day! The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is dedicating this year to the vital relationship between literacy and health - including general health care, nutrition, family and reproductive health and health-related community development. The slogan for International Literacy Day 2007 is "Literacy, key to good health and well-being."

Posted by Natasha Harris, Senior West Coast Regional Director
____________________________________

Dear Friends of FORGE:
 
What a summer it has been!  Last time you heard from me, our teams were just arriving in Zambia.  Now, after a lot of hard work and inspiring results, FORGE closes its Project Implementation phase and turns things over to our 100+ refugee staff and FORGE Project Managers.
 
This has been, without question, the most successful season in the history of FORGE.  I have never had so many people - NGOs, community members, refugees - come to me and tell me what a success FORGE is.  We are truly making a massive positive impact on the lives of thousand of refugees.
 
From a huge refugee rights initiative in Meheba to a repatriation information center in Kala to a community-wide women's center in Meheba, this summer has been chalk full of success stories.  We've been inspired by our volunteers, our refugee staff, the communities in which we work, and everyone else in the FORGE family.
 
Sincerely yours,
 
Kjerstin Erickson
Founder and Executive Director
_______________________________________
To learn more about FORGE, visit www.forgenow.org
To sign up for the FORGE newsletter, click here

Posted by: Damara Catlett, Northern Mid-Atlantic Regional Director

Last month, I along with a group from Better World Books and the NationalCenter for Family Literacy visited the Santa Rosa School, located on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation. While there I cleaned graffiti, helped set up classrooms and did my best to act as a TA for a 1st grade class.

That experience in particular gave me a greater appreciation for the amazing work of teachers (their salaries should be quadrupled) as well as the importance of having quality educational resources such as books in classrooms (the children pored over the books and were anxious to have you read to them). Toward that end, Better World Books donated a few hundred books for students and parents to take home.

Another highlight was seeing the Family and Child Education Program (FACE) sponsored by the National Center for Family Literacy in action. The following excerpts by FACE participants explain better than I ever could the impact of this program on families. Your support of Better World Books and the NCFL makes stories like these possible. Please read their narratives below….                                      

ENDING THE CYCLE
Rachel had a hard time at school, always getting teased about her mixed heritage. In eleventh grade, she dropped out. She doesn’t want the same for her three young grandchildren.

“FACE is showing me how to help my family. I’ve learned things on the computer and about reading and writing. This is what FACE has done for me: it has helped me out in dealing with myself and my family. I’d like to thank the adult education class for giving me encouraging words.”

WHAT MATTERS MOST
Colleen’s long shifts at the hospital took away time from her family. While she enjoyed the steady paycheck, Colleen felt that she was giving up spending time with her children. With the FACE program, she can spend time with them and will soon further her own education in nursing.

“My children are what matter most, especially their education. What better place to start their education than with the FACE program. FACE is helping me too. I am learning parenting skills through the Love and Logic program. I plan to continue coming to FACE because it’s been so helpful to both my children and me.”

 

COURAGE TO TRY AGAIN 
Robert remembers a plaque he received at kindergarten graduation: “The higher you reach, the further you go.” His older siblings made fun of him, taunting he’d never go far. And Robert believed them. He dropped out of school and gave up every time he tried to go back.

But Robert got up the courage to complete his education and is now one credit away from receiving his GED. The plaque he remembers from kindergarten now stands for one thing: education.

“FACE has meant family, kindness and compassion. FACE has educated me in so many different ways and has enriched my life. I am so thankful for the program, which will be part of my life for a long time to come.”

Posted By: Damara Catlett, Northern Mid-Atlantic Regional Director

This past year Villanova University’s Habitat for Humanity in conjunction with the Villanova bookstore collected the surplus books on their campus to support Books for Africa.

The word spread so completely on campus that Villanova staff later dropped off books at our collection center over the summer while in Indiana.

Read their impressions of Better World Books in action:

“I wanted to let you know that I did end up stopping by Better World Books on my way to Chicago. The organization is wonderful and they were very helpful taking my books and asked for the organization who informed me of them.  I would definitely encourage Villanova to use them for a book drive in the future - they were very efficient and organized.  I feel like it's so cool seeing a place you donate to, up close and personal, so I am passing along these photos!”   

          

“My club adviser for Habitat sent me pictures of your center in Indiana from a colleague of hers who also went to drop off boxes. She returned boasting about the large scale organization and incredible mission statement of Better World Books-and the pictures were really something to see. I was surprised at just how many books you had! I just wanted to send that back to you and let you know again how happy we are to be working with you and how everyone who learns more about BWB is only that much more impressed with it."