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 IBP's Mail-Bag program sends small shipments of books - 20 or so - to smaller schools, orphanages, and libraries.
All we ask for in return is a letter to let us know the books got there. Then, we pass on those letters to the people who donated the money to help us send the books. (A Mail-Bag shipment costs $125.00.) This simple letter program has sparked hundreds of inter-global friendships between donors of books and the people who receive them. Here are a few of the letters: February 2006 On behalf of the Municipality of Horqueta, Paraguay and the citizens of the pueblo we would like to express our gratitude for your generous shipment of useful books. We are in the initial stages of a public library in the town of Horqueta and your variety and quality of books has made a tremendous contribution to our shelves. … As they say here in Paraguay "Nde Guapate!!!!" This means that you are extremely hard working and we admire your dedication. Sincerely, Sara Fouts and Christopher Spahr, Peace Corps volunteers March 2006 Dear Friends, The elementary school in the community of Bacacay wishes to thank the International Book Project organization for all the wonderful books we have received for the children's library. … The children line up each day during their recess time to visit the library and it is a wonderful sight to see! Thank you for this gift to the children in Bacacay. Pauline Osentowski United States Peace Corps March 2006 Dear Ladies: THANKS for the hardback fiction books and science texts sent thro' IBP in Lexington for the 700+ boarding students here at Materi Girls' Centre in eastern Kenya. The books arrived this week at our Meru Post Office. Meru lies 250 miles north of Nairobi City, in a very undeveloped and semi-arid part of eastern Kenya off the slopes of Mt. Kenya. We are still awaiting our first doctor and dentist for our 120,000 inhabitants of this district (called Tharaka), our first inch of asphalt road and our first bus! … The books will strengthen all the programs and, above all, its kids. Brother John Koczka Thank you for your generous donation. The books arrived last week and the teachers and students are very excited. … We are in Lesotho (le-soo-too), a landlocked country surrounded by South Africa. There are 25 pre-schools in the Thaba-Bosiu (mountain of the night) area where we live. Before the donations arrived, each school only had one or two well used homemade books. The donation of nearly 60 books has enabled us to start a small library at Me' Mamohapi's pre-school. Each of the 25 teachers will exchange two new books a month. The teachers and I would like to say Rea leboha haholo (We are very, very grateful). The teachers were so excited at the meeting they started to translate them into Sesotho (se-soo-too), the local language. We are hoping to continue expanding our library so each school may exchange two books a week and eventually have a small library at each school. This would allow the parents to check books out in order to read to their children at home, a concept that does not exist yet. Maia Longenecker Me' Mamohapi Tlelima March 2005 Today we received a wonderful shipment of books from the International Book Project. …I want to thank you so much for your generosity! I am a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English at a high school in Elhovo, a small town in southeastern Bulgaria. My school has a library, but it has very few books in English and until we received your shipment it did not have any English dictionaries at all. When Bulgaria was communist the schools were required to teach Russian, but now students have a choice and they all want to study English. … Elhovo is a poor agrarian community, with over 30% of the population unemployed. Under communism there were a few textile factories that provided jobs, but they have mostly gone out of business or had to drastically reduce their production and staff. Students from Elhovo have generally been at a disadvantage when they apply to study English in universities here in Bulgaria, because they haven't had access to the resources that students in big cities have, so I have been working to find ways to get books for them. I am so grateful to you and the International Book Project for your support. Many thanks for helping the young people of Elhovo improve their future. Megan Corrigan, Kliment Ohridsky High School, Elhovo, Bulgaria I would like to say thanks for the books which we received from your country. These books had a special quality because there are some words which I didn't hear before but now I know them. So in that way I'm improving my vocabulary because I'm know how to read and spell words well. In my opinion, I think it is good to read book from other countries, rather than playing. Student, Mvula Junior Secondary School, Ondangwa Really I want more and more books to come at our school. I prefer reading books rather than having computers. Josephine, student, Mvula Junior Secondary School, Ondangwa Thank you for helping the International Book Project in shipping the 28 books to our school. … Books are luxury items in the Philippines and the majority of the children cannot afford to own books. … with the generosity of people like you, I am confident that soon countless children in our community will discover the beauty of the world through books. Ma. Regina G. Shabestari |
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