A call to read!

March 15, 2010

My primary focus here is teaching English, but I have just begun a secondary project that I am extremely excited with and that you can even help with! I am working with Cindia and another teacher named Lovenia to get the school library functioning again. Rumor has is that one of the last Peace Corps Volunteers out here got a bunch of books from the states and labeled all of the books like a real library. Over time the organization was lost and the library is in dire need of reorganization and new books. At the moment our “library” is a small plain room attached to the main office. There are a bunch of old books all jumbled up and stacked with text books on shelves just waiting for someone sort them out. Some of them are torn or completely missing covers and are extremely out dated. About half of the books are from the 70’s and there are even books from the 50’s on the shelves! One of them is actually a McCall’s Craft book from 1953 that I have been using to make little crafts in my free time. J Even though the books are outdated, the students still enjoy reading them. I can tell the students are eager to read and learn from the books, so I am very excited that things are moving towards a functioning library again.
I want to involve the students in this project as much as possible because it is their library. If I involve them and get them investing their time and energy into building up their library, then they will be more likely to keep it organized and orderly in the future. I have already gotten a library committee together with students and teachers and a library club is in the works. The students in the library club are actually going to be in charge of running the library so that they keep each other accountable for respecting the books and their shared space.

Here is the part where you can help! If you happen to have any books you do not want or know someone that has books that they don’t want or if you need a service project for an organization, I know of a few students and teachers here would be incredibly grateful for your donations!! We could use anything from little kiddie books to young adult to novels to dictionaries. Whatever you do not want we can use! Just imagine, the books that you send will stay here for years and be read by many students on the other side of the world. They will help to promote literacy and English learning, which will help these students go to high school and college. English is a key component to their success in school here. In Micronesia there are about twenty languages spoken, so English is a common language that they use in high schools, colleges, and even some elementary schools. These outer island students have a harder time understanding that because everyone on their island speaks the same language. They do not feel the need to learn English when their teacher parents, friends, and teachers speak to them in Woleaian. However, many of the students here are eager to learn English and read books about the world outside of their world. I believe that having new books in their library would encourage them even further to see the importance of learning English and help them to succeed in their future schooling. I wish you all could see what I see and feel what I feel when I work with these students. They are bright and fun and want to help their people. When I ask them what they want to do in the future, many of them say they want to go to college and get a degree so that they can return and help the people in Woleai. And the do it!! People who have gone to the United States for college have returned to teach or work for the government or something else that directly benefits their home island. I think it is an absolutely beautiful thing that they have such a strong connection with their home that they return to improve the lives of their families and friends.