International Project Partnerships

International Projects - Africa

Expand all Collapse all

• The Reading Club at the Benue State University Makurdi

  The Reading Club at the Benue State University Makurdi exists to inculcate a reading culture among remedial science students who are reluctant readers. Members of the reading club borrow books every Friday to read and return with a brief summary of the book. Meetings are held every two weeks during which members take part in shared reading, group discussions and read aloud.

  The Reading Club has enabled science students who previously read only content area texts to read voraciously for pleasure. This has enhanced their reading engagement, improved their literacy skills and proficiency in English. The biggest challenge facing the club is lack of interesting books. The founder of the club buys most of the books and also borrows from colleagues, but the books are still far from being enough. Students wait for up to two weeks before they can take their turn to read a book

  The organization seeks funding to purchase books for Nigerian adolescents and young adults (18-25 years).

  Contact: Dr Chinwe A Muodumogu, North-East Coordinator, Reading Association of Nigeria, Department of Curriculum & Teaching, Benue State University, P.M.B 102119, Makurdi-Nigeria.

• The Reading Association of Nigeria (RAN)

  The Reading Association of Nigeria (RAN) is an association of teachers and other education professionals committed to literacy empowerment across all social classes in Nigeria.

  RAN is developing a versatile and interactive website that will allow RANmates and members of the public to get regular information about teacher training workshops, conferences, book and journals, etc. Such a sight will also afford the international community the opportunity to share in and get first hand information about RAN activities.

  RAN seeks support to offset the cost of developing and hosting a website for one year (US$1,350) or two years ($1,760).

  Contact: Obiajulu Emejulu, President, phone: 234-8037048720 or Louisa Uwatt, President-elect.

• Libraries of Love

  Libraries of Love, a nonprofit organization, collects books and prepares them with a spine label, pocket, and card. In February, the books are shipped to Uganda, Africa. A team travels to Uganda in June. They take a bare room, build bookshelves, place the books in library order, and then decorate the room to make it inviting. After the team leaves, I remain for a month to meet with classes and staff members to train them how to use their libraries. We now have 13 libraries serving approximately 21,500 students. This June, two teams will go to Uganda to create five new libraries for an additional 5,200 students, plus we will be providing a medical library for physician training, as well. Our libraries are a life-time partnership. We return to each school each summer and sponsor librarian meetings through the year. Also, Libraries of Love replaces the books when they get torn or lost. The work is extremely rewarding as we watch student scores continue to climb each year as they learn to love reading.

  Libraries of Love seeks books and funding. Shipping is the biggest expense and the organization would like to partner with a shipping company.

  Contact: Visit www.librariesoflove.org or contact Trudy Marshall, Executive Director, Libraries of Love, 704 Quail Run Road, Pflugerville, TX 78660, phone: 512-989-1744

• Baraka ECD Centre Programme

  Baraka ECD Centre Programme in Western Kenya provides education, care, and support for orphans and vulnerable children. It is within the area worst hit by past election violence which saw many people lose lives including guardians of BARAKA ECD orphan children. The area is still witnessing tribal clashes. BARAKA ECD has become a home for children and displaced families. BARAKA ECD appeals for funds to:

  1. expand the institution both in land and construction
  2. provide an incentive for eight teachers currently voluntary
  3. meet the needs of the orphan children currently enrolled by providing first aid kits, food, child sponsorship fees, school supplies, and text books

  Contact: Stanley W,S, Mukhwana, Director Baraka Early Childhood Development Centre, P0 B0X 302-50200, BUNGOMA, KENYA, phone: +254721536658

• Big Books for Rwanda

  Books are needed to replace those lost due to war in Shyira Primary School, Ruhengeri, Rwanda, a country still recovering from the brutal genocide of 1994. Class sizes are very large and materials scarce, yet the children of Shyira achool are hungry to learn. On a previous trip to this area, I took one big book, which is the only big book that there is for the little children. My translator and I translated it into the native language, Kinyarwanda, for them to keep.

  The goal of my project is to take as many big books there as possible to encourage reading in the children’s native language. The greatest need is funds to purchase books as well as help with the costs of a translator. However, the greater goal is to establish an effective literacy program in the area. I am looking for reading material for primary school level students, in particular, big books that I can translate into the local language, Kinyarwanda, as well as read in English.

  Contact: Jane H. Bond, 1215 Merganser Court, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464; phone 843-881-2738(H) and 843-723-0863(O).

• OperationREAD

  OperationREAD is an initiative under ProjectEducate, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization designed to help improve educational standards and infrastructure in the southern African nation of Zambia. OperationREAD is designed to help provide reading materials to schools and libraries. Under OperationREAD, students are encouraged to read outside of the school curriculum as a way of broadening their horizons.

  In 2007, we hope to introduce a literary competition which will be tied to a scholarship as an incentive to read. It is the first time a project of this magnitude will be implemented in Zambia’s Western province and we are excited about the possibilities it opens up to this community.

  Contact: Mbao Ngula, ProjectEducate, P.O Box 42394, Pittsburgh, PA 15203.

• The Reading Association of Nigeria (RAN)

  The Reading Association of Nigeria (RAN) seeks sponsorship for several projects.

  • RAN seeks to establish branches in all of Nigeria’s 36 states, and to facilitate establishment of reading associations across the continent.
  • RAN wishes to conduct a leadership conference to provide professional development to state leaders and help them acquire management skills and deeper knowledge of IRA practices. Nigeria, a country of 150 million people, has only a handful of operational state branches of RAN.
  • There is urgent need for local development of reading materials and collection/distribution of children’s books. RAN wishes to establish a children’s book development center equipped with printing capacity. Donations of used printing equipment could be useful, as could book drives and donations.
  • RAN seeks to conduct train-the-trainer workshops using a teacher training manual focused on critical thinking, developed by IRA, RAN, UBE, and the World Bank. Support for distributing the materials to schools around the continent is also sought.
  • RAN seeks start-up funding to establish a secretariat to support its work, and to provide secretarial and managerial support to RAN and other African reading associations. It is anticipated that, once established, the secretariat will be critical in soliciting local and regional support for ongoing RAN activities

  Contact: Obiajulu Emejulu, RAN president, or Chukwuemeka Onukaogu

International Projects - Caribbean

Expand all Collapse all

• Literacy Connects Program

  Literacy Connects Program: A collaborative project between classrooms in Jamaica, West Indies, and Chicago, Illinois, area schools.

  The Literacy Connects Program is designed to increase collaboration and communication between the teachers of elementary and teachers of younger children, within each respective country, with joint activities to promote literacy. And together, they have connections with international partner schools. Communication and idea sharing will be enhanced through the joint ownership of the Global Exploration and Multicultural Adventures website. There will be a webmaster for technical support and to develop templates for teacher easy use. LC seeks to increase the range and variety of books and reading materials in both locations, but in particular in the Jamaican classrooms.

  Contact: Dr. Jo Ann Karr, 5944 W. Ohio Street, Chicago, Illinois 60644. Phone 773-261-6937.

• Re-establish the Reading Council in St. Thomas, USVI

  IRA committee chair seeks to re-establish the Reading Council in St. Thomas, USVI. Looking for interested teachers in St. Thomas to meet with me for this purpose. Need a teacher leader in St. Thomas to help plan the on-site meetings and contact other teachers.

  Contact: Linda Perez, chair, IRA International Development Committee for the Caribbean

• Establish a council in Antigua

  Literacy professionals in Antigua, a country with a developing economy, seek to establish an IRA council. Local educators seek supplies for managerial and administrative purposes, and to begin creation of professional development programs.

  Contact: Linda Perez, chair, IRA International Development Committee for the Caribbean

• The LIFE (Leadership Initiative for Eleuthera) Project

  The LIFE (Leadership Initiative for Eleuthera) Project, sponsored by IRA’s LEADER Special Interest Group together with the Haynes Library in Governors Harbor, Eleuthera, Bahamas, is an opportunity for IRA councils to participate in the Christmas Book Project to provide an age- and grade-appropriate book to every preschool and primary grade level child in Governors Harbor. Through your donation, books can be purchased at a discount, sent by November 1, and delivered to the children for Christmas. LEADER will recognize each council’s donation by mailing you documentation of your council’s participation in an international project. Read theLEADER outreach brochure.

  Contact: Paul Haupt, IRA LEADER SIG Executive Director, 10813 Vista Lomas Dr.,El Paso, TX 79935, phone: 915-592-0583 or email cphaupt@earthlink.net.

   

   

International Projects - Latin America

Expand all Collapse all

• Rural Literacy Project

  Rural Literacy Project is a cultural exchange and literacy project focusing on Latin America. The program brings together school children and community members in the United States with those of rural Latin American communities. RLP wants to promote similar grassroots educational endeavors in classrooms around the country. The founder believes the grassroots method lends itself well to the elementary school teacher, who is typically in close contact with families and community members.

  RLP seeks a forum to present RLP’s grassroots method of working for literacy and global educational equity to other educators. Invitations to visit and share the model used for fundraising and garnering community support are welcome.

  Contact: Susan O'Riley, 46 Maple St. Williamstown, MA 01267 USA

International Projects - North America

Expand all Collapse all

• Keeping Books Alive

  Keeping Books Alive ships new and used books in containers internationally and domestically. There are about 25,000 books per container.

  Keeping Books Alive requests partial or full funding for shipments and seeks volunteers in the Annapolis, Maryland, USA area.

  Contact: Steve Frantzich , President, phone: 410 293 6865 or go to www.big-books.org

International Projects - Oceania

Expand all Collapse all

• Information Text Awareness Project

  Support is requested to enable class sets of books to be published. These books are written by teachers in the local language as a result of their participation in an Information Text Awareness workshop conducted by IDOC members.
  Contact: Grant Webb, Chair of IDOC

• International Literacy Day

  Support is requested to enable prizes (eg children’s picture books) to be presented to students who have participated in International Literacy Day activities in the Pacific Island nations.
  Contact: Grant Webb, Chair of IDOC

• Book clubs for teachers in Oceania

  Support is requested to enable IDOC to purchase sets of 8 adolescent novels to enable Pacific Island teachers to engage with high quality and appropriate adolescent literature to use in their classrooms as well as to improve their own English language skills.
  Contact: Grant Webb, Chair of IDOC

• IDOC Excellence in Teaching award

  Support is requested to enable IDOC to provide professional development scholarships and bursaries to the Pacific Islander awardees of the IDOC Excellence in Literacy Teaching Awards.
  Contact: Grant Webb, Chair of IDOC

• IDOC Reading Challenge

  Support is requested to enable prizes (eg children’s picture books and stickers) to be presented to students who have participated in IDOC’s Reading Challenge activities in the Pacific Island nations.
  Contact: Grant Webb, Chair of IDOC

• IDOC Literacy Leadership Programme

  Financial support is requested to enable IDOC to continue to identify potential literacy leaders from the vast variety of communities in the Pacific Islands and allow them to:

  • Access leadership training
  • Access professional development in the area of literacy instruction
  • Access travel and accommodation to visit to other classrooms

  
  Contact: Grant Webb, Chair of IDOC