One of my favorite spring and summer past times here in Canada is to the "Garage or Yard Sale Thing". I get-up really early on Saturday mornings to be the first in line to get those little treasures that I seek out at every and all yard sales. I do best at community yard sales in family residential neighborhoods where mutiple families are participating, lining both sides of the street with their tables, all nicely laid out with their wares.
I boldly approach each table and quickly scan the contents for those prized little items each costing 25 or 50 Canadian cents but no more that $1.00 (I refuse to pay more than a dollar).
When I find them, my normally ever-present social justice morals evaporate, and I quickly gather them ALL up ... too bad for those who are comming behind me .. there IS NONE left for them. Shamelessly, I pay the owner and quickly move onto the the next house down the street and the next owner, often zig-zagging across the street, looking to duplicate the process all over again.
What am I buying .... CHILDREN'S BOOKS .... books read by preschool and primary grade children in Canada.
What do I do with these books ... every time I travel to a developing country one package of Books travels with me, to be distributed to children who are from poorer families whoes limited income doesn't afford them to buy luxury items such as recreational reading books for their children. These books in the past have been distributed to children's homes and orphanages, church groups, and other social and humanitarian organizations which sponsor and endorse literacy as a means of breaking the cycle of poverty.
Now for my problem. These books are in English. This hasn't been a problem for me in the past because my travels have been to English speaking islands/counties of the Caribbean. However my next trip will be to the DR where the language is Spanish and I need to know whether these books will be of any value there.
I know that children enjoy looking at the pictures and illustrations in the book but I would like the books to have some value beyond just that ... as it is my personal passion that even when a child owns nothing ... they should own a book, and every child should learn to read, not just to decode sounds to form words .. but to learn to read for knowledge and understanding.
So in a nutshell .. will these English books be of any value in the DR and can anyone suggest a credible organization through which to distribute them.
All edits are for spelling, grammer, and missing words
I boldly approach each table and quickly scan the contents for those prized little items each costing 25 or 50 Canadian cents but no more that $1.00 (I refuse to pay more than a dollar).
When I find them, my normally ever-present social justice morals evaporate, and I quickly gather them ALL up ... too bad for those who are comming behind me .. there IS NONE left for them. Shamelessly, I pay the owner and quickly move onto the the next house down the street and the next owner, often zig-zagging across the street, looking to duplicate the process all over again.
What am I buying .... CHILDREN'S BOOKS .... books read by preschool and primary grade children in Canada.
What do I do with these books ... every time I travel to a developing country one package of Books travels with me, to be distributed to children who are from poorer families whoes limited income doesn't afford them to buy luxury items such as recreational reading books for their children. These books in the past have been distributed to children's homes and orphanages, church groups, and other social and humanitarian organizations which sponsor and endorse literacy as a means of breaking the cycle of poverty.
Now for my problem. These books are in English. This hasn't been a problem for me in the past because my travels have been to English speaking islands/counties of the Caribbean. However my next trip will be to the DR where the language is Spanish and I need to know whether these books will be of any value there.
I know that children enjoy looking at the pictures and illustrations in the book but I would like the books to have some value beyond just that ... as it is my personal passion that even when a child owns nothing ... they should own a book, and every child should learn to read, not just to decode sounds to form words .. but to learn to read for knowledge and understanding.
So in a nutshell .. will these English books be of any value in the DR and can anyone suggest a credible organization through which to distribute them.
All edits are for spelling, grammer, and missing words
Last edited: