November 9, 2004: Headlines: COS - Kenya: Return to our Country of Service - Kenya: Bennington Banner: A volunteer 30 years ago with the Peace Corps, Ed Toth went to Kenya in March to reunite with a former colleague and close friend, Abduliah Abdi. Together, they traveled to sites where they had worked in 1974.
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November 9, 2004: Headlines: COS - Kenya: Return to our Country of Service - Kenya: Bennington Banner: A volunteer 30 years ago with the Peace Corps, Ed Toth went to Kenya in March to reunite with a former colleague and close friend, Abduliah Abdi. Together, they traveled to sites where they had worked in 1974.
A volunteer 30 years ago with the Peace Corps, Ed Toth went to Kenya in March to reunite with a former colleague and close friend, Abduliah Abdi. Together, they traveled to sites where they had worked in 1974.
A volunteer 30 years ago with the Peace Corps, Ed Toth went to Kenya in March to reunite with a former colleague and close friend, Abduliah Abdi. Together, they traveled to sites where they had worked in 1974.
Local books go to Kenya
By CHRIS PARKER
Staff Writer
SUNDERLAND -- Ed Toth knew he couldn't do much about the sanitation issues inside a mud-walled elementary school in a Nairobi, Africa slum during his visit there last spring.
The Sunderland resident also knew he couldn't find a solution to the crippling AIDS epidemic that had orphaned many students in the region over the years.
But when Toth saw the worn, barely legible books elementary students were using as learning materials, and found out about the lack of a library at a northern Kenya high school, he said felt he could make a difference.
When he returned to Vermont, Toth started "Books for Kenya" and contacted local schools and libraries to see if they could donate some books. Since English is the official language in Kenya, he figured he'd have an easy time wrestling together at least some books.
"It was just a feeling I could make a little bit of a difference in this world," he said. "And the response was just very positive."
Toth, a retired wildlife biologist, said his garage soon filled up quickly with an array of books.
Now, thanks to the $525 donation from the Catamount and Manchester Rotary Clubs, and the help of the Manchester Post Office and the Martha Canfield, Fisher Elementary and Mark Skinner libraries, 375 pounds of educational materials are on a ship bound for East Africa.
The shipment, which includes more than 500 textbooks and children's books, should be in the hands of the Kenyan schoolchildren by Christmas. Once additional books are collected for the ongoing project, they will be sent as well.
A volunteer 30 years ago with the Peace Corps, Toth went to Kenya in March to reunite with a former colleague and close friend, Abduliah Abdi. Together, they traveled to sites where they had worked in 1974.
While in Nairobi, Abdi, the chief executive of a major development organization, introduced Toth to national representatives for the World Conference of Religions for Peace. The organization operates a Kenya-based HIV/AIDS interfaith taskforce, which carries out AIDS-related community-based projects throughout the country.
Toth toured the region with WCRP officials and learned they were funding the construction of a pit toilet at the elementary school, the buildng's only sanitary facility. When they came to the high school, which Abdi paid for out of his own pocket, Toth discovered the students didn't have a library.
Toth said thousands of good textbooks and children's books end up in landfills each year in Vermont and that he thought "Books for Kenya" would be a worthwhile endeavor.
While he hasn't collected any books for a second round, Toth said people can make donations by contacting him at 802-375-9762. He said he has a little money saved from the first shipment to pay for a second, but is waiting to hear from Abdi to make sure the books make it to Kenya.
"So once I get a feel everything's in place, I'll send another shipment," he said.
When this story was posted in November 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:
| Charges possible in 1976 PCV slaying Congressman Norm Dicks has asked the U.S. attorney in Seattle to consider pursuing charges against Dennis Priven, the man accused of killing Peace Corps Volunteer Deborah Gardner on the South Pacific island of Tonga 28 years ago. Background on this story here and here. |
| Volunteer Death in Morocco Returned Peace Corps Volunteers mourn the loss of Peace Corps Volunteer Melissa Mosvick who died as a result of a public bus accident on Saturday, November 6, 2004, in Ouarzazate, Morocco. |
| Director Gaddi Vasquez: The PCOL Interview PCOL sits down for an extended interview with Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez. Read the entire interview from start to finish and we promise you will learn something about the Peace Corps you didn't know before.
Plus the debate continues over Safety and Security. |
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Story Source: Bennington Banner
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Kenya; Return to our Country of Service - Kenya
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