Mobile Library

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Hi all!

Today it started out much cooler finally! It rained in the night and was sprinkling this morning which was a relief from the 90 F mornings (at 7am). I met the librarians early and we started into the very poor rural areas to give three different schools the opportunity to choose 2 books per child. Also, we provided the classes with some art projects which they really enjoyed.

The schools generally have about 3 classrooms. The school day is often divided and some teachers and kids come in the morning and some have classes in the afternoon. One person traveled with us from the Ministry of Education to evaluate the voluntary preschool program at each school. The poorest school also received some shoes, white shirts and blue pants and skirts which is the school uniform. Often on the way we had to avoid running streams, cattle, horses, cowboys, chickens, and one really ugly goat. Most of the roads were not paved and the driving librarian had to manually lock in the 4 wheel drive.

It was really great to get out of the city for a few hours. However, I needed a small siesta before I went back to the library to volunteer more with the kids.

Hope you like my pictures!

Dawn

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Photos

Setting up for the kids
Heidi is the main librarian and she is here getting ready for the kids at one of the remote schools.

The Mobile Library Transport
This truck belongs to Heidi's mother, Marta, who I am staying with.

In the classroom
Here is the professora at one of the schools helping the kids with the project.

Choosing books
Here is Vicente, who is one of the strong librarians who loads the books into the blue bins.

Me with Students
Here I am with some kids who have completed the project. It was a mother's day card. El dia de la Madre is celebrated on May 30.

Bins
Today we carried 6 bins to the three different schools. I was surprised that even though all the kids were allowed 2 books that they only took 1. The truck won't be back for a month!

Comments

[diane]

Hey
Dawn, thanks for the updates . It is very interesting.....so nice of you to go there to help. Keep up the good work on the Spanish !! Diane

[Ruth Waltonbaugh]

Blue bins
We use the same size blue bins to transport books between libraries in our cooperative. Yes, they are quite heavy when they are full of books. There are plans to go to a more compact bin in the future.

[Patty]

Another blonde
Dawn, I noticed the one little blonde girl (other than you) sitting with the students. Do you know her story? So far, it looks like you are having a great trip. Patty