Dominican Republic Bilingual Library

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Vital Stats

Unity B

  • amount raised5000
  • People Doing It 500

The Problem

I am very passionate about literacy and believe that in this day and age, our community, at home and abroad, should no longer be plagued with the inability to read. By taking each day as a challenge to address this problem, I speak to adults about the importance of reading, read aloud to children to foster the joy reading provides and place books in the hands of those in areas with high illiteracy rates. By tutoring students I assist them with proficiency and comprehension of their studies and have also built and administered a peer group that assisted students reading below their grade level goals. Not only will changing their course give them the sense of escapism books afford, but it will also make them a stronger person. That person is able to effect change themselves. With diligent efforts and determination, we will eradicate illiteracy.

Plan of Action

I currently hold fundraisers for non profit organizations within my community that serve the same mission as I in fostering a love of the written word. Numerous book drives are also held annually within elementary schools to assist organizations with providing books to those households that currently have bare shelves. This also helps to establish a sense of service for the students that often times do not know how they can help. While I truly enjoy touching the hearts of those within my community, illiteracy is a world wide issue. I wanted to expand upon my base and reach out to children in other countries. With the help of a family friend, I was able to begin work in the village of El Calejon in the Dominican Republic. The village did not have a library for the children and I wanted to change that. I am now sending English/Spanish bilingual books and have created a library there for the children. Since the books have the words in English and in Spanish, the English speaking volunteers in the village are able to work with the children. Not only does this help the volunteer with their capabilities of learning the Spanish language, it also helps the children learn to read themselves in their native tongue. The older participants use the translation from Spanish to assist them in learning English as their second language. This library will continue to grow as donations are received or as I am able to continue locating these books in my visits to thrift stores and flea markets. My goal is to eradicate illiteracy. In a time where many others have given up on our society and have overlooked the fact that many do not hold this basic skill, I am focused on winning the future not only here at home, but in other countries as well....one book and one person at a time.
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Education Inequalities

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