Help IBP Send Books to Peace Corps Volunteer!

November 9, 2009 by intlbookproject

Below is a letter from Peace Corps Volunteer, Peter Mach, in the Dominican Republic:

 

My name is Peter Mach and I am a Peace Corps volunteer living and working in the province of Maria Trinidad Sanchez in the small town of El Higuero, Nagua in the Dominican Republic.  I am writing to you today with the hope that you may be able to help us acquire books for the community library we are constructing.

 

First, I’d like to give you a little background on my community. El Higuero is a small community with a population of about 200 people; a high percentage (up to 40%) under the age of 18.  The local economy is based almost entirely on agriculture, primarily cacao and rice farming.  Because the school is located almost an hour away by foot, many of the children simply do not attend during the rainy season.  There are no newspapers, reference books, or fiction books available and approximately 20% of the community is illiterate.

 

The community has a women’s group, which is dedicated to the improvement of the education and lives of the community youth.  Together, we have gotten a grant approved for the construction of a small library and are beginning construction in October.  The goal of our library project is to give the community access to reading materials, promote literacy among both adults and children, and provide the youth a quiet space to do homework and study.  We are also enthusiastic about the idea of providing children with summer reading programs and weekly story time.  At the completion of the library construction, the Library Committee will hire one of its own members as the Director of the Library to guarantee the proper functioning of the library as a full-time job.

 

In order for our project to be a success, our library must house an assortment of engaging and educational books.  Since most of the funds from our grants are going towards the construction of the library building we hope that you and the International Book Project will be able to help us expand our library resources.  We would appreciate any and all reference, fiction, and children’s books you could provide.

 

Peter Mach

Peace Corps Volunteer

El Higuero, Nagua

Dominican Republic

 

 

 

Please help us send books to Peter by donating at www.internationalbookproject.org or contacting us at director@intlbookproject.org or 859-254-6771.

The Cheapest Bookstore in Town is Having a Sale!

October 8, 2009 by intlbookproject

WHEN: FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16th and 17th 9AM-6PM

RAIN OR SHINE!

WHERE: IBP WAREHOUSE

1440 Delaware Avenue Lexington, KY 40505

DETAILS: All books in the bookstore will be half-price. Boxed books outside and in the side warehouse will be sold for $2 per plastic grocery bag. Plastic bags will be provided. Invite your friends! Over 10,000 books will be on sale for under $2! Proceeds from the book sale support IBP’s book sending mission.

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Small Shipments

October 2, 2009 by intlbookproject

IBP sent 45 Small Shipments (or M-bags) yesterday!  They will be sent to Sri Lanka, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Cameroon, Somalia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Uganda, Zambia, Macedonia, The Gambia, Uzbekistan, St. Lucia, Argentina, India, Tanzania, the Dominican Republic, and Pakistan.

Pictures Received From Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan

September 30, 2009 by intlbookproject

IBP received photos  today from Peace Corps Volunteer, Philip Montgomery, in Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan!

Another Great Day at the International Book Project

September 17, 2009 by intlbookproject

IBP Rearranges Bookstore

September 10, 2009 by intlbookproject

For the past month, IBP staff and volunteers have been working hard to clear out and clean a storage area for the purpose of creating a new section of our bookstore.  The project is finally FINISHED and we would love for customers to stop by and see the changes.  Books are now better organized and much easier to find.  The back part of the bookstore will now serve as additional office space.

Donated books that are not requested overseas and/or are not appropriate for different cultures are sold in the bookstore to help offset overseas shipping costs.

UK FUSION Volunteer Day

August 25, 2009 by intlbookproject

IBP would like to thank all of the wonderful UK students that helped IBP clean our warehouse and separate books for future shipments.  Here are some photos of our great volunteers.

IBP and UK Student, Mosoka Fallah, Featured in Business Lexington

August 21, 2009 by intlbookproject

No Ordinary Graduate Student
Liberian UK student makes sacrifices to help students back home

by Rachel Lewis

August 20, 2009

Lexington, KY – For any “ordinary” graduate student at the University of Kentucky, pursuing a Ph.D. in biomedical science is a challenging endeavor. Mosoka Fallah is not your ordinary graduate student. Using his meager graduate stipend, he not only supports two family members here in Lexington, but also five students in his home country of Liberia. His 2005 arrival at the University of Kentucky rekindled a historic connection between Lexington and Liberia.

Lexington and Liberia share a link that dates back to Henry Clay’s involvement in the establishment of Liberia in the 1820s. Today, Liberia is struggling to recover from the destruction caused by a decade of civil war. As the people there start a new chapter in their country’s history, rebuilding the educational system is a key component to establishing peace and economic growth. In April, Lexington had a role in this rebuilding, thanks to a partnership between Mosoka Fallah, the International Book Project (IBP), and Firestone Natural Rubber Company. This partnership provided more than 8,000 English, math and science textbooks to a wide range of Liberian schools, from primary through university level. Most of these schools have no library and very few have more than one textbook per 10 students. Courses are taught through verbal instruction and the use of a single chalkboard.

As with most of IBP’s projects, many of the books provided for Liberia were donated by local schools, individuals and bookstores. Dozens of volunteers from the Lexington community, including many Liberian and Ghanaian immigrants, helped sort and pack the books to be shipped abroad. Lexington-based Virginia Clark Hagan Foundation provided the financial support for the project.

The success of each project IBP undertakes in the developing world hinges on two things: a reliable overseas partner and adequate funding. This project would never have come to fruition without the passion and Liberian connections of Mosoka Fallah. The story of his journey to Lexington sheds light on why he cares so deeply about education and helping those back in Liberia.

Fallah remembers his father often saying, “It is so hard for you, because I am not educated, but I will make sure that you are educated, so your children should not have to worry.” When the choice was between education and food in Mosoka’s family, education took priority. Fallah recalls the time when he needed a scientific calculator for school and his father took the most recent harvest of okra to town to sell and returned with the $87 scientific calculator and only $3 left for food for the entire family.

Just three months into starting his bachelor’s degree at the University of Liberia, the first civil war broke out. Rebels ransacked the campus and the school closed indefinitely. Mosoka’s family fled for their lives to a displacement camp. His father, a police officer, was captured by the rebels, but later managed to escape with his life. Throughout the next few years, Mosoka struggled to finish his undergraduate chemistry studies in a university that was barely functioning.

His chemistry classes were taught by a Pakistani businessman who the students begged to teach them even after the university could no longer pay him. He agreed, with the condition that despite their circumstances the students would commit to academic excellence. In the upper level chemistry classes, there was only one book for 15 students. Each student had to take a turn copying from the book by hand.

Many days Mosoka would walk over seven miles through the warring city to school, uncertain whether or not it would be open or if he would be killed by a stray bullet. Because of multiple school closings, it took 10 years for Mosoka to finish his bachelor’s degree.

In 2001, he enrolled in the College of Medicine at the University of Liberia, but three years later he was only able to complete one and a half years of coursework because of continued civil war. Frustrated, he gladly accepted the opportunity to take a fellowship at Kent State University in Ohio to earn his M.A. in education. It was during this time that he applied to the University of Kentucky’s Integrated Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program. Dr. Jane Harrison, assistant provost, remembers reviewing his application.

“His application was reviewed several times without a decision, mainly because he was finishing up a master’s in education and nothing in his background suggested he would succeed in biomedical research,” remarked Harrison. But she kept coming back to his application because of his remarkable persistence in seeking his goals, despite unimaginable hardship. He was offered admission in 2005 and is now defending his dissertation on biomedical research to improve vaccines for streptococcus pneumonia and meningitis. “He is an unusual human being who mostly travels under the radar unless he is stirring up ‘trouble’ to help Liberia,” remarked Dr. Harrison.

When Harriet Van Meter started the International Book Project more than 40 years ago, her mission was to improve the lives of people throughout the world by providing quality books and building international friendships. Today, this mission continues by providing bright, motivated students, like Mosoka, the opportunity to give back to their local communities throughout the world.

Books are loaded for shipment at the International Book Project in Lexington

Books are loaded for shipment at the International Book Project in Lexington

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10,000 Books En Route to Tanzania!

August 15, 2009 by intlbookproject

Our sea container to Tanzania left yesterday from the Van Meter Building and the W.T. Young Warehouse in Lexington, Kentucky.

The books will eventually be distributed among different classes at Mount Meru University in Arusha, Tanzania.   Mount Meru University was first established in 1962 as the International Baptist Theological Seminary of Eastern Africa.  The university is now owned and operated by the Baptist Churches of East Africa and received accreditation by the government of Tanzania in October, 2003.  The university includes a faculty of Education, a Bachelors of Christian Education, a Bachelor of Business Administration, and majors in Accounting, Management, Marketing and Mathematics.

This shipment would not have been possible without the help of our wonderful volunteers.  Thank you for graciously volunteering your services to pack books in our warehouse!

Below are pictures of Mount Meru University and the sea container being loaded by our Executive Director, Rachel Lewis, and our small shipment manager, Saul Kutnicki.

University Students in Ghana Request Books

August 6, 2009 by intlbookproject

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If you are a new reader of our Blog or a regular IBP supporter, and are interested in helping fund a new shipment to the University of Cape Coast, please contact us at director@intlbookproject.org or visit our website at www.intlbookproject.org.