We’re going to Zambia!

THIS is the moment that every Better World Books employee dreams of:

“Congratulations! You have been selected to go on our International Literacy Trip!”

And finally, those words, those perfect words, were mine to receive. On Tuesday, January 21st, a team of 8 Better World Books employees embarks on the trip of a lifetime.

The Continent: Africa
The Country: Zambia
The City: Lusaka, the capital
The Duration: 12 days

Our mission: To experience life in the places that our Non Profit Literacy Partners work; to see, face-to-face, the recipients of books we sort for donation; to hear children read–a skill they’ve been taught, powered by the work we do everyday.

Better World Books provides this opportunity to a grateful handful of employees every year. To be eligible for the trip, an employee of Better World Books must have been employed full-time for at least two years and must be in good standing with the company. Then, for each year worked, the employees’ names get entered into drawings separated by areas of the company (to make sure departments are equally represented). The pots are shaken and stirred, and then, names are drawn.

This year, those names are:
Joe Bradford, David Ebrite, Fiona Marshall, Franklin Mejia, Mallory Meuninck, Mary Olson Fajimi, Mike Schrader, and John Ujda.

While there, the team will be visiting with Feeding the Nations, who has received a direct donation of books from us, thanks to the hard work of our dedicated Donations Department; Books for Africa, our first major Nonprofit Literacy Partner and one of their donation recipients, Family Legacy Missions, who has received books from Better World Books; a Public Affairs Officer and Peace Corps volunteers; as well as another major Nonprofit Literacy Partner, Room to Read.

Additionally, we can’t miss out on opportunities to experience the natural beauty of the country’s landscape by going on a safari and seeing one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, Victoria Falls.

Be prepared to follow our adventures right here on the blog as our team members will be blogging their experiences daily.