Once a man was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he could see a person going back and forth between the surf’s edge and the beach. Back and forth this person went. As the man approached he could see that there were hundreds of starfish stranded on the sand as the result of the natural action of the tide.

The man was struck by the apparent futility of the task. There were far too many starfish. Many of them were sure to perish. As he approached, the person continued the task of picking up starfish one by one and throwing them into the surf.

He came up to the person and said, “You must be crazy. There are thousands of miles of beach covered with starfish. You can’t possibly make a difference.” The person looked at the man. He then stooped down and picked up one more starfish and threw it back into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said, “It sure made a difference to that one!”

This is the story that inspired the name for David Leiners’ Starfish School (Escola Estrela do Mar for our Portuguese speaking friends) outside of Maceio Brazil. It also serves as the perfect metaphor for what is happening at this remarkable place. While it would be impossible to help every child in this area, the Starfish School sure is making a difference for every child that walks through the door.

Driving through the slums outside of Maceio you cannot help but be overwhelmed by the sheer poverty surrounding you–shacks stacked on top of one another like Legos on the hillside, grown men sitting on the railroad tracks and drinking beer at 1:00 on a Friday afternoon. We stop at what at first glance appears to be a beautiful and majestic bay, but upon further inspection we see that the water is so polluted that you wouldn’t dare dip a toe into the sewage infested water. As we drive back towards the school you wonder how anyone ever makes it out of such a sad place.

You wonder until you set foot inside the Starfish School. It’s a completely different world inside of these walls.  There are children laughing and playing and an overwhelming sense of hope and joy fills the air, something totally absent from the world outside.

David tells us stories of the children’s lives outside of school. One child’s father had sold every possession in their home to raise money for drugs, another child had recently come to school without a uniform because that was sold as well. After hearing these stories you truly develop an appreciation for what is taking place at this school. Not only is it a place of learning, but it serves as a sanctuary from the harsh realities of the day to day struggles of just living in a community like this one.

Students must meet several criteria to gain acceptance into the school. They must reside in the area and be from a low income family and home visits are made to confirm these factors. For children to gain admittance to the elementary levels an emphasis is placed on adaptability. This means they must be able to join the program without being a distraction or without slowing the progress of the existing students. There is no tuition to attend the school, however they do ask several things of the parents. They must show up at the school every few months and clean for several hours. They also require the parents to sign a contract, stating that they will be strong supporters of their child’s education.  Education cannot be a part time commitment.

Sure, the school is amazing, but why did we visit?  Well, it has been with the aid of our friends at Worldfund that this school has been able to thrive. The school was started in a small shack in 2005 and now resides in a beautiful building, walled in and protected from the crime outside. Starting with 27 students the school now has an enrollment of 90. The curriculum at the Starfish Schools aims to provide a complete education, with an emphasis on health and personal development.  They also serve nothing but nutritious meals at the school. During our visit I enjoyed what was far and away the tastiest and healthiest school lunch I’ve ever had.

In an area where 11,000 school-age children don’t have access to education, it’s inspiring to visit a place like Escola Estrela do Mar. These children are gaining invaluable tools that will hopefully help them break free from the poverty in which they currently reside. In the years to come, with the continued support of Worldfund, the Starfish School will be able to reach out to even more children, and make a difference in even more lives.

Better World Books came to Riverfest to sell books and engage in a great festival, they came to put a creatively designed float in the water, but most of all they came to win.  Like a rookie in battle who is too ignorant to know to fear a war champion, Better World Books was the lowly infantry man to Niles’ Achilles; but unlike the lofty Greek, Niles had no perceivable weakness.  Better World Books would have to simply be the better team.

Murmurs spread around the festival all day of a young upstart team, made up of heart and absolutely no talent whatsoever, a bookish crowd with warehouse tans that would take on the Olympic level competition of the iron-fisted Niles crowd.  Could the tiny Better World Books boat stand against the wrath of the Dragon Boat embodiment of Posiedon himself?

The race started close, jitters clearly affecting Better World Books as the Viking like warriors of Niles stroked even and true.  But slowly something changed.  Cows lay down when it is going to rain–they just feel it in the air and react–so when all of the kids stopped playing and went to watch the river, the prescience of the youth was palpable; victory would be a cruel mistress today.

Only a few meters left, rowing beyond their own abilities, infused with the spirit of Michael Phelps, the scrappy squad of ARC stud, Jorge Fragoso, Howard Roark-esque architect Jaime Knabet, superstar receiver, Javier Castro and hard hitting Maintenance standout David Sherwood were joined by the husband and wife Majerek in an epic throwdown.   Also, Better World Books saw promise in a few Niles folks who were left off the famed squad.  It was those few crew members, the rejects, who had become the proverbial cornerstones of the squad.  With this group they would stand strong, crushing through the ripples of the river and the mighty approach of the heroes of Niles, Michigan.

Better World Books: Ballerific

Life moves on, and as Herodotus said, “You can never step in the same river twice.”  Jordan has retired and Montana is in the booth, and Niles, Michigan is left scratching their heads as to how a small upstart company came in and simultaneously sold books while taking the checkered flag at their own flagship event.  Will they ever recover or are the nouveau riche of the Dragon Boat circuit set to become the next giants of the Mitten State scene?  Only time will tell, but the pantheon of great teams will truly never be the same.

Women are the teachers, women are the mothers, women share what they know and lead by example. Unfortunately many women in Brazil don’t have the education or skills to support themselves. They turn to prostitution or low paying, obtuse work to support themselves and their families. While Brazil’s economy is booming, the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. As I traveled Brazil visiting schools and community programs with our partner organization Worldfund, I noticed many injustices.  What struck me most was the role of women in society.

Bebedour is a community outside the beach town of Maceio. Bebedour is like many Brazilian communities. Homes are run down, unemployment is high, waterways are polluted, streets are littered, and the public education system is deplorable. This particular town has an estimated 115,000 human beings living in it and of those 11,000 are school age children NOT attending school. Bebedour may be a typical Brazilian city, but it has one school that is not typical, it is a progressive school that nourishes not only the student’s minds and bodies, but their hearts.

Bebedour, Brazil – Greater Maceio Area

One of the volunteers at the starfish school said something that really impacted me; he said, “For many of the girls in this neighborhood their dream job is to become a maid in a hotel.” These girls have had few positive female role models in their lives to show them that there is more out there than marriage and bearing children. The starfish school is trying to change this by bringing in female professionals monthly. This is an important program because now these girls have dreams of being educators, doctors, and business professionals. Even at the ripe age of nine, these young girls are seeing a bright future and one of independence.

Starfish School – Greater Maceio Area

Entirely too many of the woman of Brazil depend on men to support them. Too often women are left alone because her husband abandons her or he dies. These women are often unprepared to feed their children and care for their home. Thankfully initiatives like the Mao Amiga Women’s Center are available. On the outskirts of the sprawling city of Sao Paulo, this particular program teaches women skills that can provide income for themselves and their family.  Classes include computer skills, baking, cooking, hair styling, and many more. These classes last for one year and the women that complete the program leave with more than knowledge; they leave with a self confidence they didn’t have a year before. They can now go out into their communities and earn a living wage.

Mao Amiga Women’s Center – Greater Sao Paulo Area

Thankfully, educational initiatives are changing in Brazil. The government recently made some changes that will help the failing public school system. Within the last year they have increased teacher’s salaries, and standardized the public school curriculum. The change may be slow coming, but thanks to organizations like Worldfund, there are already exceptional programs in place like the Starfish School and the Mao Amiga Women’s Center. These programs not only educate people’s minds, but provide them with a respect for their bodies and self. Self respect and confidence are the fundamental tools to success. Success breeds success and with more positive women role models, the future of Brazilian women and education is hopeful.

Mao Amiga School – Greater Sao Paulo Area

Seattle Green Festival = major success.  First of all I’d like to thank our lovely volunteers who helped us collect 3 pallets of books(!) at the festival and looked good doing it.

Next I’d like to thank all the people who came by the chat it up with us lads, about the environment, books, and pretty much anything else (and whoever bought Jaime’s hide-a-book (as I put it, to hide things from your friends who don’t read), enjoy that awesome piece of craftsmanship).

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I’d like to thank the burrito place, for making delicious, delicious, organic burritos, AlterEco for their myriad delicious chocolate selection (try the mint, wow!) and HonesTea for the case of lemon black tea that I nabbed at the end of the conference.  Muy delicioso!  OK, OK, so more thanks to the people who came to talk to us (including the gent who said he had bought 60+ books from us and knew our business model better than some of us did, wow).

Book your tickets now, Chicago, May 16, making it happen as the official bookstore of their Green Fest!

Friday January 4, 2008

I think it can go without saying that we began our day with a delicious breakfast at the hotel. Our first stop today was to visit a couple of floating schools; schools actually on large boats in the river. Apparently as the seasons change, and the fishing areas change, and the level of the river changes, this school can be in several areas up and down the river. We were told that one challenge is that sometimes during the rainy season, some families will leave the village, and the students are unable to attend school.

Upon our arrival we were greeted by all the children and a beautiful bouquet of flowers. On the floating school we saw first hand a library that RTR had created.  We were able to ask the students and teachers what it was like before this library, and it was as we expected: without fun books to read, the students had no real passion for reading.  But in the middle of this library filled with children’s books, there was genuine joy and excitement amongst the children, their passion for learning was being fueled by this library.

We got a chance to speak to some of the school children, and again we were all infused with a great respect and love for the people there.

We got to go on another beautiful boat ride along the river before returning to town for lunch, this time not at a buffet.  Our food was really good.

In the afternoon, we concluded our school visits with a trip to a large school in the heart of the city, 6000 students we were told.  RTR was able to give this school a  computer lab, a language room and a  library, which all seemed to be huge helps to the school.

In the library, we saw the same exuberance in the children as we had seen in the library on the boat.  The kids are so much more inclined to love reading and learning when they have books to enjoy!  A couple of the girls here actually knew some English, and we were able to have some candid conversations for the first time without our translator.  Speaking to these young girls in English, knowing how difficult their lives are was a uniquely exhilarating experience.

We concluded the afternoon with some Q and A with some teachers and administrators at this school, and then we were off to a dinner.

This time they had selected a fancy restaurant in downtown for us, and we again narrowly avoided international incident as we ordered our vegetarian specialties, deviating from their standard meal.  I believe the waitress said to me “sure, I can make that without fish, but I don’t think it will be any good”

We had some good final conversations with the RTR staff, and then went off to relax and enjoy our final night in Cambodia, hoping beyond hope that everything great we had experienced could truly sink in.  It was sad to leave at the time, and it is sad still to remember, but I have a sense of renewed vigor to work harder, better, faster stronger, and hopefully provide even more support for our non profit literacy friends, and count down the days until the next big adventure.

Thursday January 3, 2008

Believe it or not, we again began the day with a phenomenal breakfast. We met up with a few Room to Read staff, and then took a van out to see the first school. Upon entrance, all the students were lined up and clapping for us. Similar to the fanfare of our first night, this was quite humbling; these students were so appreciative of Room to Read, and I was left feeling like I hadn’t done enough.

We spent some time doing Q and A with the teachers at the school, learning a lot more than we ever knew about what these schools and areas are really like.

We then got to meet the parents of the girls who were receiving Room to Read scholarships. This was a group of amazing people.  I do not think I had ever seen true hardship before meeting these folks.  Most of them labored all day as farmers, not even making enough to completely support their families.  They had to sacrifice even more to allow their daughters to leave, not help on the farm, but instead go to school.  But they were all willing to do so, to give their daughters a chance at a better life.  I could see real love in all of their eyes.

We next got to meet the scholarship recipients themselves, again a heartwarming experience.  They were all eager and cheerful and really loved school.  It really made me want to do even more to help.

After the school visit, we again had lunch at the buffet, which sadly was no better than our previous excursion there.  But our energy and spirits were so high from seeing that school, those parents, and the students, that I am pretty sure they could have fed us dirt and we would have been content.

The afternoon of January 3rd was probably the most astonishing, incredible, phenomenal, breathtaking experience of them all.  We embarked to visit a remote village where  we visited the homes of 3 Room to Read scholarship recipients

I used the word remote to describe that village, but I don’t think that begins to capture the real nature of this village.

We began by piling into the van, and driving far from the city, deep out onto an extremely bumpy road for what seemed like an hour.  The whole time we were thinking “wow, this is pretty far from everything”.  We were mistaken however, because by comparison, this dirt road was actually pretty close.  At some points, the road was so bumpy we thought the van would overturn, our heads almost hitting the ceiling.  We then stopped, thinking again, “ok, this is far out and remote”.  We were not there yet, but rather we were just switching from our van to more of an all terrain vehicle, for the road had in fact become too bumpy to continue.  Somewhere somehow some Cambodian must have gotten a deal from an army surplus dealer, because this truck was ridiculous.  Imagine a mix between a pick up truck and a Tank.  Well not quite a tank, it still had actual tires and not treads, but the tires were pretty huge.  We all sat in the back on the bed of this truck like   school kids on our way to a barn dance.  Several times we felt like we might bounce out or tip over, and that poor van certainly would have ended up inverted had we not switched vehicles. On the bright side, there was no roof to bump our head into.  At one point I peered forward thinking “there is no way any vehicle could every traverse that”.   Well we did, and from that point on I decided it was better to not peek ahead.  Some stretches of the road looked as if it had survived a meteor shower.    I also noticed that the front part of the truck where the driver sat, did not technically have a floor, you could in fact see directly down to the road below.  Since the driver did not seem too worried, I did not bring it up, but it certainly added to my experience.

The sun and breeze were both fantastic during this truck ride, and even with the bumpiness, it was one of the best journeys I have ever been on.  You could even look out across the fields and see people working in the rice patties, exactly as you would expect it to look if you had seen it in a movie.  I am also running out of synonyms for the word “surreal”.   There was no “civilization” for miles in any direction.  All we could see were beautiful wide open fields, mountains in the far distance, and a bumpy road that seemed to extend indefinitely in front of us.

Again we thought “wow, we are pretty far out here”, and again we were mistaken.  After what again seemed like an hour in the back of this truck, we finally came to the end of the road.  We were not at the village just yet, we were actually at a spot where the road dead ended… into a river.  And so, it was time to change vehicles yet again.  We climbed off the truck, dusted ourselves off, and made our way onto a large covered motor boat.  The splendor of this area continued as we made our way through this river, alternating between patches of thick brush, and wide open areas with an amazing view of the countryside.  After another long while, our boat emerged from a thick patch of brush, and we saw what looked like a large log cabin build up on stilts sticking out of the water.  Our jaws dropped as we turned  the corner and saw an entire array of these stilt houses.  We had arrived at Broken Palm, the most remote village we had ever seen.

The village existed as a large number of these cabins built up on stilts, some in the water, others set along what was basically a long dirt alley that we could walk through. Most of the stilts were at least 12 if not 20 feet high. We were told that during the rainy season  the river actually rises up above the stilts, and a boat is required to enter the home.   Sometimes the water had even risen above the floor level, and the family would  have to quickly build another level within their home.

Amazingly enough, in spite of the harsh conditions, this felt like a true community, I sensed true happiness around me.

We were welcomed with open arms into the home of a single Mom whose daughter was off at school on an Room to Read scholarship.  The scholarship actually allowed the girl to board at the school, which makes a lot of sense after the ridiculous commute we just experienced.  If the parents we had met that morning showed love in their eyes, this woman was beaming love out of every pore.  She spoke with such pride and care for her daughter, and we had the most priceless of interviews.  This same mother has also taken in a young boy (nephew?) who had lost his parents, and during our conversation with her, he was lying in the back room, working on his alphabet.  We finally comprehended what it really meant for a young girl to be able to leave a village and go to school.  This day will forever go down as one of the most amazing of my life.

The ride back was even more epic than the ride out, because by this time it was getting dark.  I could look up from the bed of the truck and see stars, and I again felt that I could have stayed there for days and been happy.

Upon returning to town, we went to dinner with a couple of the Room To Read folks at a different buffet restaurant.  Alas, this buffet had nothing amazing about it, but our day leading up to it was so incredible that again, we could have eaten dirt and been the happiest travelers in the world.

We went to bed this night in true awe of all we had seen: the landscape, the people, the community, the commitment, the remote village, the love.  We smiled for having been able to have such a once in a lifetime experience, and I think it is safe to say we all felt a renewed vigor to work even harder upon our return, to do everything we can to aide the people we had seen this day, and all others like them around the world.

Tuesday January 1, 2008

5am felt more like the end of the night than the beginning of a day. Unfortunately, this was too early for the breakfast buffet, so we had to forgo it and instead have breakfast to go in a box. We drove and hiked out to the temples in almost complete darkness.  To our surprise, there must have been hundreds of people out there making the trip to see the first sunrise of the New Year over the temple.  When the sun rose up over the temple, and cast a reflection on the pool in front, it was quite astonishing.  I cannot imagine a better way to ring in the New Year than the overall experience I had in Cambodia.

We continued on and saw several more temples that day, including the temple that appeared in Lara Croft, Tomb Raider 3.

For lunch, we were again taken to a local restaurant, this time a buffet.  I wish I could say this was again a buffet filled with wonderful and delicious food, but alas, this story is not completely a fairy tale.  Luckily, our group was not one to complain, and we survived with no international incidents of note.  Due to our early start, we called it a day shortly after lunch, and went back to relax at the hotel pool.   We spent the afternoon relaxing and getting ready for our upcoming time with Room to Read.  For Dinner, we found a wonderful Thai restaurant in town, and we rode there on what they call a “tuk tuk”.  Imagine a rickshaw, but pulled by a motorcycle.  It was both relaxing and invigorating at the same time.  Those of us who were meat –eaters decided to be team players, and we ordered 5 different vegetarian dishes that we all shared in the first of many Campus vegetarian food fests.  This dinner more than made up for our subpar lunch.  You may have heard that there is good thai food in Cambodia.  You in fact heard correctly. I am also running out of synonyms for the word delicious.

We discussed our Room to Read plans and some other work issues after dinner, and then went to bed to be fresh for our final day of temple tours.

Wednesday January 2, 2008

We began early again, also enjoying the amazing breakfast at the hotel.  After a morning of temple viewing and climbing, we had lunch at a restaurant within the Angkor Wat area.  Sor told us he was taking us to “his restaurant”, but we are pretty sure something was lost in the translation.  The food was again delectable.

In the afternoon, believe it or not, we visited more temples, bringing our total to 20 over the 3 day period.  Trust me, that is a lot.  All of them were amazing and all of them were decorated with beautiful engravings.

In the afternoon, we stopped at an orphanage where the children were learning the craft of leatherwork.  Going in, I told myself that I would not buy anything… but then I saw the kids, and the artwork was actually pretty good.  I only spent $10 got 5 different pieces.  Some might say “they gave me good price”.  We had bought so much stuff that when we left they all came out and waved good-bye.

After the orphanage we visited the final temple, which might have been my favorite.  To get there we walked across a bridge over a small river; as surreal and mystical as all the areas were, this one took it to the next level. We sat on top of the temple and enjoyed another Cambodian Sunset along with traditional Cambodian music.  I could have sat there for days and been happy.

We did not have days (4 minutes!), and we departed shortly after sunset to go to the Khmer Kitchen restaurant again and meet the Room to Read Staff.  It turns out that the staff had to travel from afar, and so they were running a bit late.  We killed some time browsing the local market, getting offered good price left and right.  It then turned out that Room to Read was running too late, and would have to miss dinner.  These are the facts of international travel.  (So we discussed our itinerary and game-plan on our own, then went back to the hotel to get rested before our first school visits.)

[To Be Continued...]

Monday December 31, 2008

Before departure, we had breakfast at the hotel restaurant. This was hands down the most amazing breakfast buffet I have ever seen. Big trays of rice and noodles and stir fries and meats and eggs and bread and fruit were everywhere. The fruit selection alone would have been enough to put this breakfast over the top as one of my most amazing ever. I don’t think I even recognized half the fruits there. There was one particular fruit we all grew particularly fond of; it was white with little black spots (seeds?) all over it. We speculated what this delicious refreshing fruit could be, with guesses including winter squash, winter melon, white kiwi, and my personal favorite, 101 Dalmatian fruit. It turns out, this delicacy was called “dragon fruit”. Who knew you could grow dragons?!?1

After this delicious breakfast, we joined Sor and took a van out to the Angkor Wat temples, and began our whirlwind tour, where we saw 20 temples over 3 days.

The scene was absolutely amazing, breathtaking if you would. It is actually kind of difficult to describe; it had a magical almost mystical feel too it. I would say the trees were bigger, the grass was greener, the sky was bluer, and there were elephants and monkeys everywhere . Not to mention the huge and ornate temples. It really was like something from a movie. I could close my eyes and see what it would have been like to see this ancient kingdom in full effect with the hustle and bustle of people in full regalia; this is really difficult to capture in words, but the feeling was very surreal.

For lunch, we were taken to a nice local restaurant.  Unfortunately, our vegetarian travelers had some minor difficulties with the prepared food they brought us, but an international incident was avoided yet again as we were able to get them some good substitute food.

After the meal, we returned to Angkor Wat to spend more time at the temple.  It was again a peaceful experience to walk around and just feel the history and greatness of the place.  As the afternoon faded away, our peaceful trance was snapped as we were ushered away to go climb another temple to see the last sunset of the year.  “Hurry up, the sun sets in 4 minutes!”  we were told, and so we hustled up the winding side of a huge hill. It turns out we made it in plenty of time, but we gained a valuable joke, shouting “4 minutes!” any time we needed to hurry.

I am running out of synonyms for the word amazing, and even Shift F7 is not helping, but this sunset was indeed amazing.  I cannot imagine a better way to say goodbye to the year than our experience sitting high atop a temple in Cambodia.

After the sunset, we headed back to the hotel.  This was in fact New Year’s eve, and we were debating our options.  To the question of “how can you have an amazing New Year’s Even in Cambodia?” there is really no wrong answer.  Our one caveat was that we were scheduled to go on a sunrise tour the next morning to see the first sunrise of the New Year come in over the temple.  Our itinerary indicated that we would need to be ready to leave the Hotel at 6AM.  Sor quickly corrected this for us, and pointed in that in fact 6AM would be too late (4 minutes!), and we had better plan on being ready to go at 5AM.  That is quite a daunting prospect to take into a New Years Eve celebration, but we refused to let it phase us.  We did decide to stay at the hotel for their gala, so that we would not venture out into trouble.

The gala began with a huge feast, which we enjoyed thoroughly.  The evening quickly digressed however, as a couple of singers struggled to entertain the diversely mixed international crowd with renditions of several timeless American classics.  It would be rude of me to say it sounded like Karaoke, but I’m not gonna lie, it sounded like Karaoke.

We made the most of it, sitting on the balcony overlooking their performance, enjoying each others company and the ridiculousness of the situation. We reflected on all we had seen that day, and still letting it sink in that we were in fact in Cambodia.  I think we collectively managed a couple hours of sleep before our 5AM departure.

[To Be Continued...]

Sunday, December 30th, 2007

After a few hours sleep we got up to explore the city.  Our itinerary was to take us to Cambodia later that night, so we had limited time.  Our consensus was to visit a nearby Pagoda. There were golden statues and tributes to Buddha all around where people could light incense and pray to Buddha and hope for good luck.  The atmosphere was peaceful, serene, refreshing and relaxing, a good omen for things to come.

(L-R: Me (Aaron), Natasha, Damara, Niko)

We regrouped at the hotel to catch our next flight to Cambodia.

We arrived later that evening in Siem Reap, the second largest airport in Cambodia.  This was the type of airport that lets you step right off the plane into the fresh air before entering the airport.  The night air was crisp clear and refreshing, but alas we were ushered inside to complete yet another round of customs forms and visa applications.  For all the bureaucracy of international travel, it really is still worth it.

When we stepped out the other side, some Rood to Read staff, our tour guide and, driver were there greeting us with a giant Room to Read banner welcoming us to the country.

The fanfare and pageantry was far from over.  At the hotel, some dancers in full regalia perfomed a traditional Cambodian dance, complete with flower petal tossing.  At first, we did not even realize that this grandiose performance was for us, it was so over the top.  It was quite a humbling experience.  After posing for some photos with the dancers, we showered up and went out for a delicious dinner at Khmer Kitchen.

We were joined by Tith from Room to Read, and were able to get some good preliminary information to prepare us for our upcoming days in Cambodia.  We went back to the hotel, relaxed a bit, and then slept in amazing comfort.  The next day was to begin our tours of the temples in the Area.  Our fearless tour guide, Sor (yes, pronounced as in “sore nose”) gave us the option to start as late as we wanted. Let’s be honest, we chose 10AM, to make sure we were properly rested and ready to go.

[To Be Continued...]

Cuttington University (map) is a rural 4-year university in Liberia . It is the oldest coed 4-year university in West Africa , considered by many to be the country’s most prestigious institution of higher education. It also happens to be quite close to the farm of Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia who is currently on trial at the International Court of Justice in the Hague .

So here’s what I mean about “starting from zero”… four years ago, this prestigious university had no roofs on its buildings and no books in its library. The campus was ransacked during the wars… most of the books in the library were burned as fuel for fires.

Our group was able to meet with leaders from the university and hear their needs. Better World Books has committed to funding, through Books for Africa, the shipment of two 40-foot sea containers full of books (that’s 80,000 books) to Liberia for the country’s universities.

Cuttington is in dire need of books, so Liberia ’s brightest minds can be educated to help pull this country out of war-ravaged poverty. I think I speak for everyone at Better World Books when I say that we’re honored to be helping Cuttington.

We’re hoping to fund a lot of girls’ scholarships through Room to Read’s “Room to Grow” program. We set up a mini-bookshop of about 150 carefully selected titles, and of course people could shop BetterWorld.com if they couldn’t find something on the shelves.

I’ll be posting much more from the festival soon. For now, a few photos:

Some new friends showing off their “Speak softly and carry a bag of books.” tote bags from Better World Books.

Well Read indeed! The Book Throne: it’s everywhere you want to be.

I’m currently sitting in a Los Angeles coffee shop sipping on a rather tasty latte that cost (gulp) a whopping $3.65.  That’s some perspective.  Just last week I would probably have been sipping an even more delicious cup of Vietnamese coffee (probably at this very moment, as it’s 6pm here, and Vietnam is 15 hours into the future – 9am breakfast) that cost all of $.33 and came from a cup that did not have the Starbucks label on it.

Since back, I’ve sat down several times to put down a few words about my experiences in Southeast Asia for all of you.  It’s been difficult to find words to express all that I experienced while there, and several times I’ve put aside my notes for other things, waiting for the words to come to me.

What struck me most from this entire experience was not the incredible temple visits that we did (see Aaron King’s January 13th blog posting entitled “Life Comes at You Fast” for an insightful and thoroughly regaling account of our trip itinerary), or the fuzzy feeling that comes from being on the other side of the world, or the inherent beauty of Southeast Asia, or the food or even the poverty (which was certainly striking) – it was that deep-rooted optimism, that trust in tomorrow that so many people displayed and felt so intrinsically.  In the week I spent in Cambodia with Room to Read and the many people I interacted with while there, I saw it over and over, and the impact of it was so humbling I know I’ll never find the right words to describe it no matter how long I stare at this computer.  Again, perspective.

For those of you who are unaware of what’s been happening in Cambodia over these past many decades (don’t feel bad) – here is the quickest of recaps:  the Khmer Rouge was a very radical communist party that was in power in Cambodia from 1975-1979 (and thereafter, though less officially).  Its main goals were to turn Cambodia into a classless agrarian society, and to that end it abolished currency, private property and religion, and forced people out of the cities and into intensive labor campus to work the fields.  During this four year period, roughly 1.5 – 2 million people (about 20% of the population) died from overwork, starvation, torture and execution.  Almost immediately after its rise to power, the Khmer Rouge began a program of mass executions – among the first to die were the elite, religious figures and the educated … right down to anyone who wore glasses.  In a few short years, an entire populated of educated people was wiped out, setting the stage for a most dire situation in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge’s reign of horror.

Not only did the Khmer Rouge implement mass-killings of the educated but it also destroyed much of the education-based infrastructure that existed throughout the country.  In Siem Riep Province, where we spent our week with Room to Read, only one high school and twenty primary schools remained after the Khmer Rouge regime fall from power.  Cambodia has faced an arduous uphill battle on every imaginable front to get to the point its reached today, and yes, there is still a long way to go.  Today, Siem Riep boasts 56 high schools and 452 primary schools, along with 2 vocational training centers and a teacher training college.  That’s quite an improvement!  Ask any Cambodian and they will proudly acknowledge how far they’re come, recognizing of course how much is left to go.

As a westerner, I’m going to have to take a moment to be a realist and relay to you a few of the things we noted on our trip.  For starters, resources are still so lacking that no child in a Cambodian public school attends for more than half the day.  Teachers can sometimes be fairly under-educated themselves, and are always extremely underpaid (about $40 per month).  The government only has $600-$800 million as its total annual budget, thus its contribution to education cannot meet demand.  On a Room to Read visit to Angkor Wat High School (where Room to Read had built a beautiful library and also supplied a computer lab and language lab), the headmaster identified the school’s most immediate and pressing need as electricity – the school’s monthly electric bill is in the vicinity of $300-$350, and this cost cannot be subsidized by the government.  The school lives in constant fear of not being able to keep its lights on.  And then there is the issue of supplies – another school we visited (one where Room to Read is planning to build a library this year – 2008!) had 2,315 students and a current total of 200-300 books … to share … between everyone.

Our first experience on the streets of Vietnam was a breathtaking one; not in the “oh-wow-this is so amazing and beautiful-I can’t even breathe-I’m so happy” kind of way (which does technically describe their sunrises over the South China Sea), but rather breathtaking in a “hyperventilating, oh-my-god-we-are-all-about-to-die” manner.

First of all, you need to know that Vietnam is the land of the motorbike. Motorcycles and riders outnumbered the cars at least twelve to one. The only cars out there were primarily taxies and delivery trucks. Now imagine a very fast river, with rapids pounding all over rocks, water cascading everywhere. Now substitute water and rocks for very large mass of these bikers and cars, and you have this amazing fast paced moving stream of traffic. Traffic lights were few and far between, and even then only occasionally obeyed. It was like a huge stampede of wild horses running through the jungle. Really fast.

Our taxi driver speeds away from the airport at a fairly fast clip, (tough to say, we were too nervous to do the metric conversion). Upon approaching the intersection of vehicular chaos, our driver did not slow down a bit (as we might have expected), but if anything accelerated, and dove right in. Amazingly, it was perfect. Not a single rider was overturned. It was like the traffic was one single organism, moving as one. Some motor bikes swerved a bit, some slowed a bit, and our taxi immediately became engulfed as part of the stream, picture perfect osmosis. We then proceeded to begin passing and merging other vehicles with complete abandon, again with no harm caused. It was like every single rider was completely aware of his or her surroundings. We even saw many bikes with families on them, a mother, father and small child all sandwiched on one fast moving bike in the middle of the stream. At a certain point we had to let go and imagine we were actually watching a high speed chase in a movie, and hope to high heaven there would be no overturned fruit trucks in this scene.

Upon arriving safely and soundly at our hotel, our driver then had the audacity to demand a big tip on top of his already jacked up price as a reward for how quick he got us there. Let’s be honest, I gave him 2 dollars, cause I was definitely impressed.

For Xavier and me, starting off the day with a game of “dive for the Frisbee” in the Indian Ocean is just about perfect. The only thing wrong with this particular morning was that I forgot to take off my non-waterproof watch before jumping in the waves- d’oh!
Kites over beach on the Indian Ocean. Durban, South Africa.

Our first school visit was here in Durban, at Christianenburg Primary School, which has a library with about 10,000 donated books (from a container split by 25 area schools).  There are 1305 students aged 5-15, called ‘learners’ here in South Africa, and the student-teacher ratio is almost 50:1. There are 28 classrooms and 34 teachers here. The buildings and layout are representative of all schools here; long buildings painted the school colors with flowering bushes. The principal, Nomsa Shandu, deputy principal Bonga Mkize and librarian Thandi Putini were willing to accommodate our visit on a Sunday afternoon.


School staff Shandu, Putini and Mkeze.

The library is beautifully organized and has a sign that said, “My Golden Rules: Order at All Times is the Motto of This Room”.  The books are neatly placed and include two small shelves in Zulu language; the thousands of others are in English. The learners can’t check out the books but are given time to visit the library to read. Shandu, who has been here 20 years, spoke at length about the learners. She told us that the students have difficulties with the school fees, which are 150 Rand per year (under $25), but that coming to school is worth it for the free daily government-provided meal for each primary student.

We had a wonderful visit! The system works- the books are in the school, available each day for the kids.  Tomorrow is an even bigger day for us; we have five schools and classes will be in session. I’m not expecting it to be easy to meet all the kids, now knowing that many of them only eat once a day, that many will be AIDS orphans. It’s quite a different thing to know some stats about a place and to know personally the names and faces that are behind them, but I am happy thinking of the commited and caring teachers we met today.

Christianenburg Primary School.

Mural at Christianenburg Primary School, Durban, South Africa.

No time for elaborate postings right now, we are off to see a Pagoda.

Little known fact: our flight took us over the North Pole. We left Chicago and headed due North, contrary to my expectations that we would go West.  I almost went to knock on the cockpit, but I decided to trust in the Pilot. We circumnavigated the globe and arrived safely with no Internatonal incidents of note to report.

see you soon from the other side of the world.

-Aaron

In August, a team of eight Better World Books staff, along with NCFL Senior Director Emily Kirkpatrick, Development Specialist Andrea Peters, and Training Specialist Kim Jacobs, helped the Santa Rosa Family and Child Education (FACE) program get ready to welcome students for the new school year.

The FACE program, sponsored by the Bureau of Indian Education, offers educational services to American Indians on 39 reservations.  Santa Rosa serves families on the Tohono O’odham Reservation in Arizona. NCFL has provided training and technical assistance to the FACE program since its inception in 1991. Better World Books was already familiar with the FACE program after donating thousands of books to all the sites last year. Many programs used those books for incentives, prizes, gifts, and to build classroom and school libraries.

This summer, Better World Books staff were ready to get their hands dirty—literally. They helped prepare the Santa Rosa dorm for students, mowed and raked, cleaned graffiti off playground equipment, set up computers, and distributed additional donated books. They also had an opportunity to observe the opening days of the program.“In addition to being able to really get to see and understand the FACE program in action and better appreciate NCFL’s role in helping to architect the program, we all had the chance to pitch in and help get the Santa Rosa School itself “in shape” for the opening day of school,” said Better World Books CEO David Murphy. “We were humbled by the experience.”

FACE staff were appreciative of everyone’s efforts. “Without the help of this team,” said Sister Val Beuke, the Santa Rosa FACE coordinator, “our room would never have been so perfectly ready for the little ones.”

Read more about the NCFL-Better World Books partnership.

Weber State University in Utah suggests using printable nametags to fill in the Who, What, When, section of your posters.  You can buy these at most any store that sells office supplies (and if you save the receipt your RD can make sure you are reimbursed).  They cut down on the time it takes to prep your posters and give them a professional look.

If you have a problem with folks tossing trash in your bins, UC-Denver and Metro State College recommend placing your collection bins next to garbage receptacles.  They’ve also found that taping the book slot down to the size of a large text book has helped to reduce the amount of garbage collected.

More to come soon and in the meantime, good luck with midterms, finals, and holiday travels!

Abby doing her best Ansel Adams in Utah

The conference was great fun and inspired many new Phi Theta Kappa groups to get involved with Better World Books.  After talking to each other and hearing of how successful the Phi Theta Kappas at Pikes Peaks Community College (35 cartons!), Arapahoe Community College (37 cartons!), and Colorado Mountain College-Alpine (32 cartons!) and others were this year.  Thank you all for the opportunity to attend.

The trip to Colorado gave me the opportunity to visit many other great schools as well.

CU-Boulder had an amazing book drive this spring, coordinated by Alternative Breaks.  Brie, the drive coordinator, has handled the book drive for 3 semesters and brought in 105 cartons this spring promoting solely with e-mails and using only two collection bins!  This spring we are planning to get another student group involved and double the number of promotion methods and collection bins – Go Buffaloes!  Let’s see 210 cartons for literacy!

Golden Key and Mortar Board are planning to take the reins of a drive at CSU-Ft. Collins.  Not to play off of an old rivalry, but I think CSU could compete well with CU-Boulder’s spring book drive — they have an incredibly motivated group of coordinators and I’m excited to see how successful this drive can become.

I was also able to visit Front Range Community College–Larimer, where the Office of Student Life will begin coordinating numerous student groups on campus for a successful drive.  These groups will be responsible for varied aspects of the book drive and each will have the opportunity to table in the Student Center.  This should be a great way for the student groups to increase membership while supporting literacy!

Thank you, everyone, for the opportunity to visit!  I’ve had an awesome time meeting everyone and becoming more familiar with your campuses and experiencing the beauty of Colorado!

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…

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…

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!

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.

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.”

Our first day was spent preparing the school for the students.  We helped teachers with their classrooms, arranged books in the library, set-up computers, and even had a chance to enjoy the nice summer weather!

A little yard work never hurt anyone!
Pictured: Aaron King and Walter Sears

Days two and three were devoted to spending time in the classrooms.  We had a chance to meet a number of FACE parents and children, and to gain a better understanding of the program and the impact it has on these families.

Overall, the trip was a great experience.  I came away with a greater appreciation of the impact that programs, such as FACE, can have on promoting literacy.

A special thanks to the students and teachers for the opportunity to visit Santa Rosa School.

Impact.

It is what we at Better World Books are all about in our mission to actively promote literacy on four continents.

We partner with non-profit partners who know how to stretch a dollar and get things done.  Solid track records.  Passion that is laser-focused and results driven.  Promotion of self-sustaining, long term, scalable solutions on how to bring literacy and education to the highest at-risk communities here in the U.S. and around the world.

Impact.

Better World Books delivers it, measures it, inspects it.  We have been to Africa with our partner Books for Africa.  We have been in Mexico City with our partner Worldfund.  We see first hand what our partners are doing and how they are making a difference… one book, one library, one classroom, one child at a time.

Earlier this month a small group of us had the opportunity to get a very close look at the work of one of our non-profit literacy partners, The National Center for Family Literacy (”NCFL”), on a Native American Indian Reservation in Arizona.  Eight Better World Books employees joined three NCFL staff members on the Tohono O’odham Reservation to look closely at the FACE (Family and Child Education) Program; a federal program sponsored by the Bureau of Indian Education and NCFL on reservations throughout the United States.

Tohono O’odham Nation Facts:

• Comparable in size to the state of Connecticut (more than 2.8 million acres) and is the third largest Indian reservation in the U.S.
• Total population is approximately 24,000 people living on the reservation
• Per capita income is $3,113 (compared with more than $14,000 nationally), the lowest of all U.S. reservations
• 65.7% of the population is below the poverty level (compared to 13.1% nationally)
• 62.7% of the adult population is unemployed
• 47% of households have no telephone
• 29% lack plumbing
• 47% have no vehicle

Enter NCFL and the FACE Program being delivered at the Santa Rosa Boarding and Day School on the reservation.  The FACE Program essentially has three components:

1.   Prenatal and early childhood education:  FACE team members visit the homes of expecting mothers and provide education on prenatal care, nutrition, and the importance of reading to the child (even when the baby is in the womb and certainly in the very early years leading up to formal school).  FACE team members stay very close to the mother and child in these first few years of the child’s life and encourage the parent(s) to then bring the child to the School to begin the second phase of the FACE Program.

2.  The parent(s) will then bring their young child/children, typically age 2-4, to the School.  FACE actually contracts with existing schools on the reservation (like Santa Rosa) to provide for:  a) Transportation – mother and child typically ride the school bus with the older children;  b) Meals – breakfast and lunch are served at the school;  c)  Space – the School has to free up the space to accommodate both the child and the parent(s) for each of their programs;  and d) Full and part time instructors and all related educational materials.  The children are brought to one room for their day of learning, fun and activities.

We were privileged to meet Sandra Schafer here… the full time instructor for the children as well as her assistant, Lillian Wood.  Sandra is a gifted and experienced teacher who has taught in Poland and China.  She brings a high level of enthusiasm and knowledge to the Santa Rosa FACE classroom… and it is clear that Lillian has a very calming, nurturing presence in the classroom with these children.  All of us were able to meet the children and interact with them in the classroom; several BWB employees (along with NCFL staff) also helped Sandra and Lillian get their classroom ready for the children (we arrived the day before school opened for the new year).  Better World Books also delivered approximately 200 children’s books from its Indiana warehouse to Sandra and Lillian’s program… some of which were permanent “take home gifts” for the children at the end of their first day of school.

3.  Once the parent(s) has dropped off their child with Sandra for the day, they go to their own room across the hall with Sister Val (Valerie Beuke, from the school Sisters of Notre Dame; home province in Saint Louis, MO).

Sister Val, who has been actively involved in teaching on Indian Reservations for 23 years, is a deeply committed teacher of the “Adult Ed” component of the FACE Program… working directly with the parents of the children to help them obtain their GED certification, or simply improve their literacy skills and get them better prepared for more advanced education and/or certain employment opportunities.  We were all able to meet and interact with Sister Val’s students and BWB also delivered approximately 150 books to be used by Sister Val in this part of the program.

In addition to being able to really get to see and understand the FACE Program in action and better appreciate NCFL’s role in sponsoring and helping to architect the program, we all had the chance to pitch in and help get the Santa Rosa School itself “in shape” for the opening of school.  My thanks to Walter, Aaron, Sarah Lynne, Jacob, Damara, Abby and Geoff for the tremendous work you all did in cutting grass, cleaning and landscaping the area around the dorm (not easy in 105 degree heat!), picking up trash, getting rid of graffiti, moving furniture, adjusting desks, putting furniture together, sorting books, organizing some basketball activities during recess, reading to and spending time with the children, helping out in the classroom itself (primarily first grade class), hooking up computers in some of the classrooms, and lots of other activities over the three days we spent at Santa Rosa.

We were humbled by the experience…  especially the amazing enthusiasm and tremendous sacrifice and commitment that we saw so clearly in the teachers, administrators (Keith, Linda, Norma… and “Coach”), and staff (we certainly want to thank all those in the school cafeteria who helped prepare meals each day for the students as well as ourselves during “lunch period”).  And we will never forget the children and their parents… their smiles and warmth and sincere hospitality and appreciation for our efforts… as well as their determined efforts to try to improve their lives…  and the lives of their children… by taking advantage of FACE and the opportunities they know will only come with more education.  In so many ways, whether it is here in Tohono O’odham Nation, Tanzania, Mexico or Nepal… it is for these moments that we do what we do at Better World Books.  Better World Books will now be sending books to Santa Rosa on a regular basis… doing what we can to try and make a difference and open up the world of possibility for the parents and children of Santa Rosa and the FACE Program.

Impact.

David Murphy,  President and CEO

The book project is a wonderful component of the FACE (Family And Child Education) program, sponsored by the Bureau of Indian Education & the National Center for Family Literacy. One program at the Sioux Nation in South Dakota won an award for their participation.

These covers are examples of books created at 9 FACE programs across the country – visit the Bureau of Indian Education’s Realelibrary page to flip through over 50 of these handmade books.

Stay tuned for more postings about our experience at the Santa Rosa school!