Books for Peace Drive

Hello!

Today I'll go a little more serious - away from fashion and entertainment for a while - to plea for support and donations regarding the social outreach I am currently busy with (together with my college classmates).

Books for Peace Drive
Concept Paper

“[Terror] happens because children are not offered a bright enough future that they have a reason to choose life over death.”
Greg Mortenson, Three Cups of Tea

Introduction

It’s hard to make children read their textbooks; it’s harder to make them read out of leisure; it’s hardest when there are no reading materials to begin with.

In the rural areas, schoolchildren have limited access to age-appropriate books both in their libraries and in their homes. The government admits to having a dearth of reference materials including textbooks in public schools. So these kids are painfully missing out on the great benefits of reading.

Educational researches show that there is a direct relationship between reading and academic success. Good readers have better comprehension, can communicate better and are able to think critically compared with those who did not develop the habit of reading.

Reading is also instrumental in broadening the interests of children and in strengthening their resolve in learning, which is an important factor in narrowing the socio-economic gap between the rich and the poor.

While poverty is largely inherited, with majority of poor people today having had parents who were also poor, the love for reading is not. Maryanne Wolf, a professor at Tufts University and director of its Center for Reading and Language Research, in her book, “Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain,” says that the development of reading, unlike vision and speech, cannot be genetically transmitted. This means that if you are a good reader, it doesn’t automatically mean that your children will be. It is important therefore to teach children the value of reading.

Instilling in a child the habit of reading is instrumental in building his/her future career. The inability to read is often linked to poverty, unemployment and crime. A study in the United States found that students who learn to read by Grade 3 are less likely to take drugs, drop out of school and end up in prison. Nobel Peace Prize winner Amartya Sen once remarked that “illiteracy and innumeracy are a greater threat to humanity than terrorism.”

Greg Mortenson in his bestselling book “Three Cups of Tea” shares that, “[Terror] happens because children are not offered a bright enough future that they have a reason to choose life over death.” Children who live in poverty and lack education are most likely the ones who wind up in rebel camps, thinking that war is the only occupation available to them.

This projects hopes to help break the cycle of poverty in the rural areas by giving schoolchildren access to printed materials, a critical variable in improving their education. It is hoped that the project can introduce children to the benefits of reading, help them perform better in aptitude tests and entrance exams, and ultimately help them become productive members of the community.

Goals and Objectives

The “Books for Peace” drive aims to help children in poor, conflict areas have access to age-appropriate books in their libraries and in their homes. Towards this, the project will:

1. Deliver some 2,000 books (in good condition) to schoolchildren and onto empty shelves of school libraries in a particular rural area of poverty and conflict;
2. Encourage the conduct of reading activities in the classroom;
3. Engage commercial organizations, non-profit groups, students and other organizations as partners in the project
4. Build a stronger community by asking those who have to help those less fortunate

Target Beneficiaries

Pre-school and elementary students of the primary schools in Mikasili and Balud in Damulog, Bukidnon (Mindanao) are the target beneficiaries of the project. These villages are situated along the Pulangi River and reachable through a motor boat. The schools in these areas were built through support from the Join Together Society (JTS), a Korean non-profit organization working to eradicate famine, disease and illiteracy.

In 1973, a skirmish between the MNLF and government troops following the creation of Damulog as a municipality erupted, devastating the bridge that linked Bukidnon to Cotabato, and causing the population to plummet from 15,000 in 1970 to just 4,000. The painful recovery took so many years but mostly left out the barangays along the Mulita and Pulangi Rivers, among them Mikasili and Balud, where most of the Muslim communities are located. The peace problem is also the reason that a vast land area is not cultivated.

Another skirmish in 2003 aggravated the situation. Despite being neighbors, a division between the lumads and Muslims became more pronounced. The previous administration never took steps to address peace in these troubled areas. When Romeo P. Tiongco won the 2007 elections, he started peace dialogues with Muslim communities. His administration made Poverty Reduction through Conflict Transformation (PovReCot) the cornerstone of his administration.
Project Design

In achieving the objectives above, the project proponents will write letters to various organizations requesting support through book donations. Collection boxes will be also placed in designated book drop-off areas in schools, offices and other establishments. Likewise, posters and flyers will be placed in high traffic areas. Press releases will be given to local newspapers.

Once the books have been collected, they will be sorted according to grade levels. The delivery of books is targeted on December 7, 2009 during the scheduled schools visit of the Venerable Pomnyum Snim, founder of JTS and 2002 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Peace and International Understanding.

Collection and delivery of books make up only one-half of the project, the other half is to ensure that the books are actually read by the schoolchildren. To do this, the project will partner with the teachers in the conduct of reading sessions and book seminar activities. A guide to various reading activities that may be done in class will be provided to the teachers. Monitoring of these reading activities can easily be done through JTS volunteers who make frequent visits to the school.

Timeline

The project will be carried out from October to December 2009.

Project Proponent

Xavier University BS Development Communication Classes of 2005 and 2006

Partners

Join Together Society
Xavier Science Foundation Scholars’ Association
Epsilon Beta Kappa Society

Contact Information

Rechelle Ann Tolinero
c/oXavier University College of Agriculture
Corrales Avenue, 9000 Cagayan de Oro
rtolinero@gmail.com
+639053320264