KY High School Student Sends Books to Kenya

January 22, 2013 by

IBP relies on the generosity and kindness of the Lexington community  to fulfill its mission to the developing world. Many from the community donate books, while others volunteer their time in our warehouse. The impact our projects have on a community  highlight the self-evident truth that access to information is a fundamental human right. This essential right not only sustains literacy and development, but serves as the foundation of a participatory democracy; a fact evident in the intellectual and social stagnation present in societies that embrace censorship.

As the developing world devises policies intended to promote progress, the need for educational resources has become obvious. A decade ago the Kenyan government began to offer free primary education for its citizens. Government sanctioned studies indicate that this policy has had a tremendous effect on the success of the Kenyan public education system. In fact since this policy, Kenya has emerged as a leader in education in comparison to its East African counterparts. The pass rate of Kenyan children on the regional English test is more than double that of Tanzanian children (39 percentage points higher), and is 29 percentage points higher than children from Uganda.[1]  However, the better performance of Kenyan pupils is only relative. It still remains the case that only one-third of 3rd graders can pass a 2nd grade test.[2]

It is these issues that act as a driving force behind IBP’s mission.  IBP relies on the generosity and kindness of the Lexington community to fulfill its mission to the developing world. Many from the community donate books, while others volunteer their time in our warehouse.  Virginia Grimes, a senior at Henry Clay High School in Lexington, KY came to IBP a year ago as a volunteer.

As Virginia’s commitment grew she approached IBP in the interest of starting a mentorship with Tracy Taylor, Executive Director of the International Book Project. At the beginning of her mentorship Virginia shared enthusiasm for working with IBP’s overseas partners in the hope of sending a sea container (30-40,000 books), IBP’s largest type of shipment. After countless hours of poring through the thousands of applications IBP receives annually, Virginia chose seven partners in Kenya to collaborate with in her endeavor to ship a sea container.

This month IBP will prepare and pack Virginia’s project which represents the culmination of this 200+ hrs. of work. Virginia has not only raised over half of the funds necessary, but has worked closely with our partners to ensure that all the resources will be put to great use. As part of her fundraising, Virginia worked closely with UK student Elyse Hayes in designing a t-shirt in order to raise funds for this project. This project will serve a number of organizations from schools, community groups, and libraries, that all share one thing in common: a severe lack of much needed textbooks.

If you would like to support this project you can still purchase a t-shirt by clicking on the picture or contact Virgnia at: friendsofibp@intlbookproject.org


Children in Kuthodaw Library, Myanmar

January 3, 2013 by

Children in Kuthodaw Library, Myanmar

Greeting from Kuthodaw Library in Bagan, Myanmar!

On behalf of Children and Library Members, we would like to say
THANK YOU to IBP for all their support in this library project.
We wish you good health, long life, happiness and success !

IBP Donation Wishlist

July 13, 2012 by

In order to fulfill our every day operations, we often need donations of supplies other than books. Here’s how you can help us out!

Wishlist:

Swiffer/ Swiffer Refills

New Vacuum Cleaner

Any size kitchen trash bags

Toilet paper

Paper towels

Small office recycling bins

Long folding tables

Scissors

First Class “Forever” Postage Stamps

Clorox wipes

Pencils

Laminating Rolls

Office Chairs/Meeting Chairs

flashdrives (3)

Sodas and Bottled Water

Lowes/Home Depot/hardware store giftcards

Kroger gift card

First aid kit

Bandaids

Frequent Flyer Miles

Scotch Tape

Manilla folders

Tea/coffee/hot cocoa

Avery 5160 Labels (30 to a sheet) or equivalent off-brand

HP75XL tricolor inkjet cartridge

HP74 black inkjet cartridge

Dry Erase Board & Markers

Tools (hammers, screwdrivers, circular saw)

Workbench

100 ft. spool of Cat-5e cable

Laptop

Pallet Jack

Thank You From Rwanda

May 30, 2012 by

“On behalf of the Ubumwe Communinty Center kids, we would like to thank
all of you who have contributed for the books that you have donated to
our center. It was a special gift to us and they will get a special
basic education from them.”

-Dusingizimana Zacharie
Director, Ubumwe Community Center, Rwanda

May 1, 2012 by

These book recipients in Ukraine formed an English and Book Club called “Open Borders,” because, according to them “knowing English can take them anywhere in the world.” The Peace Corps Volunteer that oversaw the donation writes, “Dear IBP, I wanted to write to tell you how much I appreciate your incredible gift of books! The members of our English Club and soon-to-be-formed Book Club are absolutely thrilled at the selection.” Thank you to all IBP donors who make donations like this possible!

Donation to the Philippines

February 13, 2012 by

Today, IBP sent out 6 boxes of books to be donated to various organizations in the Philippines. That’s over 1000 books! Want to help change lives through literacy? Consider making a monetary donation to IBP  today to help send shipments such as this one. In all, this shipment cost about $1800 to ship. Every dollar helps us get books into the hands of those in need around the world!

A Thank You from Book Recipients in India!

January 30, 2012 by

“We are extremely happy to inform you that our students were thrilled when they received the books. We are extremely grateful that you continue to remember us in a very big way and we assure you that your donations will always be remembered by us.” -Alda Fowler Nursery School, India

WE NEED BOOKS!

January 19, 2012 by

With several End of the Year large shipments under our belts, the International Book Project needs to replenish our stock of books to send to developing countries and throughout the U.S.

In particular, we need:

  • Medical Books (all fields including but not limited to surgery, family medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, dentistry, orthopedics, etc)
  • Children’s books (picture books and board books for children ages 0-5. We especially need books about concepts like nature, art, music, growing up, starting school, manners, etc. Also we need timeless classic picture books like Madeline, Curious George, Dr. Seuss, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and pretty much any picture book by Scholastic.)

Most of these books will probably go toward our upcoming donations to Haiti, Albania and Eastern Kentucky.

If you have books that meet the above criteria (or any other book in good condition), please drop them off or ship them to us at:

International Book Project
1440 Delaware Ave.
Lexington, KY 40505

All book donations and gifts of postage are tax-deductible and you will be provided a tax-receipt upon donating. Thank you so much for supporting IBP!

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook!


http://www.internationalbookproject.org

International Book Project– A Thank You from Book Recipient in Jamaica

January 17, 2012 by

Today IBP received this Thank You note from a partner in Jamaica:

“Dear IBP,

We are delighted with the books sent to us! They are very useful for our tutoring program with the children. Also, they are an asset for our adults who cannot read, write or spell. Thank you for all you do to help encourage literacy. You are remembered in our prayers.

Sincerely,

Sr. Clare Marie Carriger

Holy Spirit Catholic Church

Jamaica

Thank You From Nepal!

November 28, 2011 by

IBP recently received this touching Thank You from Nepal. It reads:

“Dear staff of IBP,

Thank you very much for the much needed books. Our extremely small library has increased significantly with the addition of these fine books. Our students and teachers are overjoyed to receive these books and will enjoy using them in the classroom. Thanks for helping us to produce a more enjoyable and productive learning environment for our students and teachers. Our staff are dedicated to providing the highest standard of education possible and appreciate your help in helping us to achieve these standards. If you know of any other links with the outside world that can help us to bring modern education standards to the remote far west region of Nepal, we would be most appreciative. We welcome you to come and visit our school at any time.”

Lamki Pioneers’ Academy

Nepal


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