February 9, 2004 - Extra Gazette: RPCV Jim Raymond and wife Ninevetch send book to Philippines

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Philippines: Peace Corps Philippines: The Peace Corps in the Philippines: February 9, 2004 - Extra Gazette: RPCV Jim Raymond and wife Ninevetch send book to Philippines

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-141-157-42-145.balt.east.verizon.net - 141.157.42.145) on Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - 11:21 pm: Edit Post

RPCV Jim Raymond and wife Ninevetch send book to Philippines



RPCV Jim Raymond and wife Ninevetch send book to Philippines

Rotary project benefits Filipinos

(Published Monday, February 9, 2004 11:12:45 AM CST)

By Brian E. Clark/Gazette Staff

EDGERTON-Thanks to a Rotary Club effort, young students in the Filipino village of Aloneros have a batch of almost new books to read.

And thousands more-now stored on pallets at the Edgerton Piggly Wiggly-soon will be on their way to Aloneros and other barrios in the Philippines.

Students and teachers at Community and Yahara elementary schools collected the books. They said they were happy to donate their books to students on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

"It is a wonderful project," said Sheila Fox, a fifth-grade teacher at Community. "Our kids really like the idea of sharing their books with other students in a faraway land."

The project is the brainchild of Ninevetch Raymond. She grew up in the Philippines and married Jim Raymond when he was working there as a Peace Corps volunteer 30 years ago. Jim now serves as president of the Edgerton School Board.

Ninevetch, a registered nurse, went to school in Lucena, the capital of Quezon province. But she spent summers in Aloneros with her grandmother and other relatives. She went back with her daughter, Laureanna, now a third-grade teacher in Sussex, during a visit in 2001.

The couple has two other children.

"My daughter wanted to see the schools there," Ninevetch said. "The students often share textbooks and have no library. That was the seed of the idea."

The books were collected in December at the schools, and Jim and Ninevetch took 150 pounds of books with them. They were packed in banana boxes, supplied by Dave Kotwitz, manager of the Piggly Wiggly.

"The children and their teachers were very excited," Ninevetch said. "And they were very grateful. Their school didn't have many books at all, just a couple of shelves in the teachers' lounge."

Some of the books went several to other nearby villages.

Jim said he was not certain where the books now at the grocery store will go. But he said the Edgerton Rotary Club is working with its counterpart in the town of Calauag to coordinate the distribution.

Jim, who clearly has a warm spot in his heart for the Philippines, said education is highly valued in that island nation.

"Many schools don't have libraries or many books, and classes can have between 35 and 60 kids in them," he said. "But the children are neat, clean, well organized and eager to learn. I'm just glad we could help them out."




Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Extra Gazette

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Philippines; Service

PCOL10012
44

.

By Vincent Eleazar (203.87.187.14) on Sunday, July 08, 2007 - 5:50 am: Edit Post

Here's more information about the Books Across the Seas Project of the Rotary Club of Calauag (Philippines) and the Rotary Club of Edgerton (Wisconsin, USA):

1) October 2006, the Rotary Club of Edgerton sent about 6,000 children's story books for distribution in public schools in the town of Calauag, Quezon, Philippines. The Rotary Club of Calauag handled the distribution to two local elementary school districts covering about 50 public schools.

2) In June 2007, a second batch of about 5,000 books arrived and they were distributed likewise by the Rotary Club of Calauag.

The Rotary Club of Calauag has implemented innovations to the project. Instead of distributing the books on a school-wide basis, it is now distributed on a one student per book basis. This is coupled with a Reading Program undertaken by the school administration wherein each child is supposed to read at least one book a month for the whole school year (10 months).

3) For 2008, the Rotary Club of Edgerton is aiming to send about 20,000 books. The Rotary Club of Calauag will coordinate with Rotary clubs in nearby towns to undertake similar programs in their localities.

For inquiries on how to participate in this literacy project. please contact me.

Vincent Eleazar
Rotary Club of Calauag
RI District 3820
Calauag, Quezon, Philippines
Email: vincenteleazar@hotmail.com


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: