Better World Books recently had the opportunity to aid Peace Corps volunteer, Kathleen Kirsch by donating over 200 books to the community in which she is serving in Cameroon. According to Kirsch, improving literacy is a huge challenge in Cameroon, and one of the first steps is having the resources necessary to practice reading. These books will be used by over 200 children in the anglophone section of Lycee Bilangue de Babadjou.
“Literacy is everything — without literacy my students cannot learn in any subject of school.” says Kirsch, who teaches mathematics and physics in Peace Corps Cameroon in the community of Babadjou. “When I began teaching physics, I noticed that many of my students could barely read and write. Without literacy, how could they do well in my class? Or in any other subject? Or achieve the future careers they dreamed of?”
According to Kirsch there are two sections of students, anglophone and francophone. A prior Peace Corps volunteer received a donation to start a library, but almost all of the books were in French. Kirsch tells us that the Better World Books book donation provides the students with reading resources other than science textbooks. She hopes the student will start to read for fun, which will improve their literacy rates helping them in all areas of their academic performance.
“My community of Babadjou will benefit enormously from the Better World Books donation. My students finally have the resources they need to begin to improve their literacy and unlock their full potential!” says Kirsch.
To learn more about the Peace Corps work in Cameroon, please visit their website and Facebook page. http://cameroon.peacecorps.gov/
https://www.facebook.com/cameroon.peacecorps/
