Books for Africa

Books for Africa is the largest shipper of donated text and library books to the African continent. 

When it began, in 1988, Books for Africa had a simple name and a simple mission: to collect, sort, ship, and distribute books to children in Africa. The goal was to end the book famine in the continent. Since its inception, Books for Africa has shipped more than 23 million books to 45 countries across Africa. In 2009, they shipped approximately 1.6 million books to 20 African countries. 

To add to that phenomenal number, children's book publisher Capstone, donated $5 million worth of books to the effort. Nearly 300,000 overstock books have been shipped from the publisher's warehouse in Mankato, MN, to the Books for Africa offices in St. Paul, MN. The books are now being sorted and packaged for shipment to Africa. It is the largest donation ever received, and will supply hundreds of school libraries across Africa, helping to increase levels of education and literacy across the continent. In 2009, the publisher donated more than 37,000 books to the organization.

Revisionist Social Studies

Texas is the country's second-largest textbook buyer, behind California, which has more than 6.2 million public school students in grades K-12.

I love Texas, don't get me wrong -- especially the BBQ. But ever since I heard that the Texas Board of Education approved a revised social studies curriculum to include adding language saying the country's Founding Fathers were guided by Christian principles and a new section on "the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s," I got a little frightened. The revisions also include positive references to the Moral Majority, the National Rifle Association and the Contract with America, the congressional GOP manifesto from the 1990s.

Critics say if the changes are incorporated into textbooks, they will be historically inaccurate and dismissive of the contributions of minorities. The Texas recommendations face a final vote by the Republican-dominated board on May 21. The amendments to the state's curriculum standards also minimize Thomas Jefferson's role in world and U.S. history because he advocated the separation of church and state, and require that students learn about "the unintended consequences" of affirmative action and Title IX, the landmark federal law that bans gender discrimination in education programs and activities. 

 California may soon take a stand against proposed changes to social studies textbook sas a way to prevent them from being incorporated in California texts. Legislation by Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, seeks to protect the nation's largest public school population. "While some Texas politicians may want to set their educational standards back 50 years, California should not be subject to their backward curriculum changes," Yee said (Amen)

Golden not Dark

Dark Ages -- a. The period in Europe from the fall of Rome in the fifth century a.d. to the restoration of relative political stability around the year 1000; the early part of the Middle Ages. b. The entire Middle Ages, especially when viewed as a troubled period marked by the loss of classical learning. No longer in use by historians -

The following clip has a few of my favorite things... history, a library and Sir Ben Kingsley. It also addresses what mainstream history has taught to be the Dark Ages -- it was for some, but for others it was quite Golden.

Kids With Cameras

1.2 million prostituted children are believed to be currently enslaved throughout India, that's roughly the entire population of Dallas - Indian Government statistic, 2009

Born into Brothels is a documentary that follows the lives of several unforgettable children who live in the red light district of Calcutta, where their mothers are part of the over 10,000 women and girls who live and work as prostitutes. In the documentary, Zana Briski, a New York-based photographer, gives each of the children a camera and teaches them to look at the world with new eyes.

Her program, called Kids with Cameras was based on the belief that photography was an effective tool for igniting children's imagination and building self-esteem. The children's photographs were seen around the world and sold, allowing many to go to school and leave the brothels behind.
Kids with Cameras has supported the education of several children from the original photography workshop. One of the children completed his secondary schooling in Utah and is now studying film at NYU Tisch School for the Arts. Another arrived in the USA one year ago to finish her secondary schooling and expects to graduate from a private boarding school in 2011. Many of the other children are excelling in private schools in India.

I watched the documentary when it first came out in 2005 and it had a lasting impression on me -- how terrible and beautiful life could be for children trapped in situation beyond their control. It went onto to win a well deserved academy award that year. Kids with Cameras believes that education provides a way for children to leave the red-light district ad are currently raising funds to develop Hope House, a safe haven specifically for the children of prostitutes to provide an opportunity for them to learn, thrive and lead future generations.

Afghan Friends Network

Even though, student enrollment in Afghanistan increased 500% (from 900,000 to over 6.4 million) since 2002, still more than half of the school-age children are still out of school and majority of them are girls - School is Open

Yesterday I volunteered at a fundraising event for a wonderful organization called the Afghan Friends Network (AFN). We had wonderful Afghan food, an auction and guest speaker, author Tamim Ansary. AFN, founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2002, is a nonprofit that facilitates humanitarian, economic and educational collaborations between Americans and Afghans and delivers programs in two primary categories: education and cultural/community awareness. Their work is primarily focused in the province of Ghazni, the second largest province in Afghanistan located sixty miles southwest of Kabul.

At first they focused on women and girls, but their latest project focuses on boys. The President of AFN is a good friend and has been telling me about the wonderful work the organization does. And trully, after meeting the founder, other volunteers and supporters, I was impressed by their dedication and committment to improving the lives of children in Ghazni.

Hearing Books

The UNESCO Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted in Paris on November 16, 1972. By signing the Convention, 187 nations pledged to protect World Heritage Sites and their own national heritage.

Twenty-eight audio books for visually impaired children were released by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) office in Beirut and Al-Hadi Foundation for Audio, Visual, and Language and Communication Disorders. The project was part of the Beirut World Book Capital 2009 and consisted of children’s stories registered on CDs and accompanied by sound effects. It is the second of its kind, as last year about 50 similar books were published all over Lebanon.

The representative of UNESCO, Suleiman Suleiman, stressed the importance of book stores in spreading information and added that UNESCO has always been ready to support member states in developing cultural programs. The project was especially important because not only did it provide information to the visually impaired but also helped them get integrated in their society.

Publishers with Heart

Just in from Publishers Lunch: Publishers Donate to Haiti

On Friday Random House, Inc. announced a $100,000 corporate contribution to be shared by the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund and Haitian health-care provider Partners in Health (led by Paul Farmer, the subject of Tracy Kidder's MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS). The publisher told employees they will match their donations, dollar for dollar up to $1,000, to any tax-qualifying Haitian earthquake relief organization until June 1.

Parent company Bertelsmann has also announced a 100,000-euro donation to children's relief organization Plan International.

In a different type of relief effort, Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur division is providing free downloads of their Haitian Creole language program, in cooperation with major resellers, through March 31, "in an effort to support volunteers aiding the millions of people affected" by the earthquake.

Bibliotherapy

Main Entry: bib•lio•ther•a•py
Pronunciation: \ˌbi-blē-ə-ˈther-ə-pē, -ˈthe-rə-\
Function: noun
Date: 1919
: the use of reading materials for help in solving personal problems or for psychiatric therapy; also : the reading materials so used
Merriam-Webster Dictionary

How do you take a child away from a life disrupted by war, civil disorder or natural disaster? Physically, it may be impossible, but you can transport their mind to another destination, another world filled with adventure, drama, security and hope. The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) sends books to such children – their fund promotes the therapeutic use of books and storytelling in the form of bibliotherapy, and the creation or replacement of collections of selected books that are appropriate to the situation. Their hope is that they not only provide immediate support and help, but also make a long term impact in the communities. IBBY’s goal is to give every child the Right to Become a Reader. Hear Hear.

An Evening with Greg Mortenson

The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family -- Balti Proverb

This past weekend I attended the San Francisco Gala event of DIL – Developments in Literacy. DIL is dedicated to providing quality education to disadvantaged children, especially girls, by establishing and operating schools in the underdeveloped regions of Pakistan. It has a strong focus on gender equality and community participation. Since its inception in 1997, the organization now operates and manages 150 schools, with an enrollment of nearly 15,000 students.

The key note speaker was Dr. Adil Najam, a professor at Boston University and a senior fellow at the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Dr. Najam served as a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), work for which the IPCC was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with Al Gore. His talk focused on the urgency to uplift the millions of poor in Pakistan by allowing them a chance to improve their lives through education. As I’ve mentioned before, he stressed the critical importance of educating girls, for when you educate a girl you improve not only her life, but that of her children and the community.

The special guest of honor at the event was Greg Mortenson, whose NYT bestselling book, THREE CUPS OF TEA, illuminates the importance of overcoming cultural divides and stresses that education is the solution to poverty. Greg's book has had a tremendous impact on me and my husband, who uses Greg's example in his class. We were looking forward to hearing him speak, but unfortunately, Greg was out sick. In his place stepped in Professor Abdul Jabbar, Board Chairman of Greg’s organization, the Central Asia Institute.
Professor Jabbar spoke candidly about Greg’s amazing work in building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also shared a poem with us – a poem that was sent to Greg by an American soldier stationed in Afghanistan. In it, the solider, who’d just read THREE CUPS OF TEA, explains how he sits for hours behind a wall, listening to kids playing on the other side. As he marvels at their innocence, he ponders whether his gun is the answer to why he is there. He believes the only way to overcome ignorance is education. This soldier helped organize a fundraiser in Alabama to raise money for schools in Afghanistan.

It’s amazing how a book can spark so much change, little and large

Hunger to Learn

As many as 115 million children of primary school age are not enrolled in school.

Millions of children around the world don’t have access to education because their families are too poor to afford to send them to school. In most cases, these children would do anything to learn, for they know it’s the only way to better yourself and climb out of their desperate way of life.

In Bengal, India, one schoolboy is trying to change that. I saw Babar Ali for the first time in BBC's Hunger to Learn series. He is first one in his family to get a formal education -- he travels over an hour each way to school and on his return, presides over a school he put together for children in his economically deprived village. Today, he holds classes for over 800 students who don’t have access to any form of education. His amazing project is transforming their lives.

Read the full BBC story and watch a short video about Babar Ali and his school here: The Youngest Headmaster in the World

Source: BBC

Politechnics

The ancestry of all 44 presidents is limited to the following heritages, or some combination thereof: Dutch, English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Swiss, German, and Africian

I had the opportunity to hear Barack Hussein Obama speak last night, while he was in San Francisco. It was a chance to see a man who’s beaten many odds to become President, and it was too good to pass up. President Obama is a lot of firsts - the first African-American President, first from the state of Hawaii, the first with a Muslim middle name, and a Nobel Prize winner to boot. Regardless of his politics, whether you agree or disagree, he is an impressive orator. Plus we got to hear Tracy Chapman, whose soulful voice and lone, throbbing guitar got everyone going.

Although I follow politics pretty closely (hey I have a husband who teaches the subject), I’m pretty much a voyeur and not that politically active (though I did run as my class vice president in high school, and won). Usually, when it comes to voting, I on focus on issues that are important to me and don’t tow a party or representative line - I’ve voted for both republicans and democrats at a national and local level (I voted for one of the Bushes… guess which one?)

I’ve always thought the best leaders, of any party, were those who could empathize with others– politicians who’ve seen their parents use food stamps are more likely to address poverty; those who’ve struggled for an education know its importance for changing a child’s future; those who’ve travelled know that people around the world want the same things for themselves and their children as we do at home.

Although I enjoyed President Obama’s twenty five minute speech, it was his last sentence that struck me the most – like most politicians he stated that he wanted to leave this world a better place for children in America, but where he differed was when he added that he wanted to leave a world a better place for children around the globe. It really struck me how his unique upbringing (having lived in other countries and having a diverse extended family) allows him to expand his vision of America’s place in the global sphere – we are a superpower, and our actions affect not only Main Street and Wall Street but Any Street around the world. Although I may not agree with all of President Obama’s initiatives, as our Commander in Chief, I have the hope he will leave us, and the world, a better place than how he found it.

PS. This is an excerpt from the Nobel Prize Committee as to why he was chosen:

…through his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples ... Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position ... Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts ... Obama [has] captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future.