By Rut Roman | Project Leader
Lunch is over and the blazing mid-day sun is finally cooling off in the quaint little fishing village of Don Juan. It is the time of day when kids, carrying heavy backpacks, head to the library to do their homework and spend the afternoon. Vinicio (11 years old) is one of them. He is usually the first to arrive, groomed and shiny after his mother has washed his face. “Before we had the Library I would sit at the kitchen table, distracted by the constant noise of the TV that sits on top of our fridge, trying to stay awake and make sense of my homework” says Vinicio. “If Vinicio had homework that entailed research, it would make life difficult for everyone, ” says Myriam (35), Vinicio´s mom. “I would have to walk in the hot sun for 15 minutes to get to the road and then wait for a bus or truck to take me to Jama, the closest town to Don Juan. Once in Jama, I had to walk the dirt roads of the town, still recovering from last year´s earthquake, towards the cyber café that would be packed with students yelling at the girl in charge. I had to nudge them away to hand in my strip of paper with something written like: name all the capitals of Latin America, or something about bees, or all the provinces of Ecuador. The cyber employee did all the research. She would search the topic, choose the shortest response, print it and hand it to me, and that’s how Vinicio got his homework done.”
When the reference books arrived at the library and were made available for consultation, homework changed into a different experience. Vinicio and all our young neighbors are learning to use encyclopedias, dictionaries, and reference books. Once they research the topic, they write it down in their own words and drawings. When schoolwork is done, it’s time for storytelling, puzzles, Jenga, or comic books. “Life is so much better with a friendly library in our village”, says Myriam.
Thanks to your support a life-changing library is now available for the community in Don Juan. We are still operating in a transitional bamboo structure. In the next few weeks we will begin building the Intercultural Center that will house training areas, a volunteer suite and the library, equipped and funded with cultural programs that address gender issues, art, human rights, and many other important topics. We have raised $39,567, secured a 300 square meter lot, and obtained 1,500 books, but we still need computers, equipment and funding to run our programs. We would like to replicate this success with a library bus that will travel the rural roads to neighboring villages of Manabí province. We are deeply appreciative of your involvement with Don Juan. Please continue accompanying us, share your praise-worthy efforts with friends, and invite them to join the fight of educators to change lives. We hope our donors will come and visit the result of our shared endeavor. If you would like to teach English as a second language (ESL), math, arts, sports or crafts, the volunteer suite will soon be ready for your visit. ¡Gracias mil!
Links:
By Rut Roman | Project leader
By Rut Roman, FAMM and Susan Poats, CGRR | Project leader and Project coordinator
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