Who amongst us has not witnessed the glimmer in a child’s eyes when he or she is handed a book? What a joy it brings both to the child and to the giver. Yet, there are millions of young children in the developing world who have never laid eyes on a book. Most of us are blessed and enjoy a high quality of life primarily due to our education. But there are millions of fellow citizens of the world who are denied even the basic necessities of life. Tragedy is that, because of their low incomes, their children are most likely to suffer the same fate due to the inability of the parents to provide education to them. It is through education that these children can have an opportunity for a better life.
Having come from a developing country, I have personally witnessed the large number of children from poor neighborhoods who are deprived of any semblance of education, and of schools that operate under primitive conditions—where writing implements are scarce commodities, let alone a book. I have always wished that there were something I could do to facilitate the education of children from less privileged countries. And WBFN’s Book Project has provided just such a venue.
In my role as the Book Donation Coordinator, I have the task of requesting donations of books from the Washington Metro area schools. These are books that are being replaced with newer editions by the School and County systems. I cannot adequately thank these schools for their generosity and their invaluable support over the years and also to the many individuals who donate their books to us.
Our volunteers carefully sort these books to ensure that only those books that would be relevant and useful to both teachers and students in the developing countries and meet their requests are sent. As we all know, the knowledge incorporated in these books is by no means obsolete—almost all these books would stand the test of time for many years.
We hope that in a small way we are opening the minds of young persons in these countries. Education is after all, a great equalizer. John Dewey said, “It not only provides a preparation for life; it is life itself. Children are the world’s most valuable source and giving them the books to learn is putting in their hands the great keys of wisdom.”
We owe it to the young children in the developing countries to get an education and have the potential for a better life. The Book Project has provided me and all the volunteers a great way to give back to the community.
by Pushpa Pherwani