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UPDATE
Members of the Builder’s Club at T. Schor Middle School in Piscataway, NJ, have done many volunteer projects, including food drives and making blankets for a women’s shelter.
Brittany Ocasio, Katherine Suarez, Kyra Grant (Vice President of Builder’s Club)
Their most recent project has been to raise awareness about literacy in Africa. They ran a book drive and collected over 100 books, and are currently writing poetry to create an anthology to send along with the books to a school in Malawai.
In other news, Olivia Pendergast has sent a container load of books that arrived safely in Blantyre for a school located six hours north of there in the center of Malawi. Due to a petrol shortage, the school has yet to pick up the books, but they’ve promised to send photographs when the shipment arrives.
Shannon Brown tells me that Bolera Palms School in Mangochi continues to benefit from the donation of books from generous Americans. The students are the best readers in the village, with a well-stocked and exciting library. The school opened several years ago with grades 1 and 2 and has now expanded to grade 4.
Cash donations can be made here.
Or if you’d like to donate directly to Bolera Palms School (the money will be very well taken
care of!), you can contact taryn@bolerapalms.com (Taryn Tainton).
SOUL WORLD HEALING: THE MALAWI BOOK PROJECT
The SOUL WORLD MALAWI BOOK PROJECT is a simple way to help spread literacy in one of the world’s poorest countries by sending your used books to support libraries and schools in Malawi.
Below you’ll be introduced to two amazing old souls who have literally changed lives through their work on behalf of the people of Malawi. They have each set up a simple system for sending books that will allow you support their efforts in a way that is targeted and effective.
OLIVIA PENDERGAST
Artist Olivia Pendergast has spent the better part of the last three years in a village in the Nkhotakota area of Malawi, where she became involved in the local school and worked with the orphanage.
Seeing that many people were too poor to afford the $5 a year it costs to send a child to school, she decided the best way she could be of service to these people was to provide them with a library.
When she asked what kind of books they’d like to see, the adults’ answer was emphatic: The Oxford Dictionary, books on accounting, catering, permaculture, alternative forms of energy, anatomy, biology, knitting and sewing.
Initially seeking to supply the library with 500 books for adults and 500 for children, Olivia has teamed up with the African Library Project who will ensure safe delivery of the books.
Having secured a dry safe location for the library, and getting one of the teachers into a librarian training program, Olivia needs only the books and the money to ship them!
Olivia is looking for:
Children’s books:
Soft covered--no board books as they are too heavy to ship.
Age: mostly 6-11 year old.
Subject matter:
- Culturally appropriate stories or situations, showing people other than Caucasians
- Ethnic folklore stories
- Kindness to animals
- Environmental issues
- Girls succeeding
- Soccer or Futbol
- Friendship
- Science
- Math
- Biology
- Other children’s stories
Adult’s Books:
(All should be very “layman” with pictures if available as most of the people in the villages do not read above a 3rd–4th grade level. Soft covered is better for shipping purposes but not totally necessary)
- PC computer
- Catering business
- Accounting
- Food Gardening (warm areas/tropical)
- Knitting
- Hair Styling – Ethnic Styles
- Sewing – Clothes and dolls
- Biology
- World Religions
- Futbol/Soccer
- Auto Mechanics
- Bike Mechanics
- Alternative Power – Wind/Hydro/Solar
- Making things (remember they don’t have access to Home Depot or even electricity)
With your package of books, we ask that you send a donation ($25-$50) to help with delivery.
SHIPPING ADDRESS:
All books and money orders can be mailed to:
Holly “Olivia” Pendergast
14602 Glen Acres Road SW,
Vashon, WA 98070
For more information you can visit Olivia’s website.
See Olivia's video on YouTube.
Olivia is happy to answer any questions by email.
SHANNON BROWN
After a career in corporate America, Shannon finally fulfilled her dream of joining the Peace Corp. She feels the time she spent in Malawi changed her life in many ways.
Despite living in one of the poorest countries, the people of Malawi treated Shannon with kindness and generosity. She was impressed at how their simple lifestyle (no TVs, computers, phones, refrigerators or even stoves) led to a slower, more deliberate life, with more meaningful connections.
When she left Malawi, she asked her friends how she could continue helping them from afar. In a country with just a handful of branch libraries to serve over 12 million people, the reply was unanimous: “Send books!”
She began by sending a few books to some friends, and eventually helped start dozens of school and community libraries, shipping thousands of books in boxes and even shipping containers through the non-profit group, Friends of Malawi.
“Books are valued like gold in Malawi,” Shannon says. “And the need for books is immense. Shipping books to Malawi is easy, and forming a relationship with a Malawian school is immensely gratifying and educational, too.” Shannon is happy to answer any questions via email.
SENDING BOOKS TO MALAWI
By following these simple steps, you can donate books to one of three locations, using either the U.S. Post Office or a reliable postal company.
STEP1: Choose a School or Library
- Rita Britz
Bolera Palms School
P.O. Box 46
Mangochi
MALAWI
Rita has built a school for grades 1-3. She is looking for easy-reader books, and books for preschoolers through third grade.
- Cliff Chigaga, Headteacher
Monkey Bay F. P. School
Box 28
Monkey Bay
MALAWI
Mr. Chigaga oversees a primary school, grades 1-8. They have a secure library building, and need any fiction or non-fiction books for grades 1-8. Also, reference books that the teachers can consult would be valuable.
- Lenox Mbalani, Primary Education Advisor
Mkanda Teacher Development Center (TDC)
P.O. Box 1
Mkanda, Mchinji
MALAWI
Mr. Mbalani is in the charge of the TDC’s library. The library needs reference and textbooks for all ages, fiction and non-fiction for all ages. The library not only supports the primary and secondary schools in the area, but also acts as a library for the entire community.
STEP 2: Chose a Shipping Option
There are several options for shipping books to Malawi from the U.S.
Option One
- Obtain a Priority Mail Large Flat Rate box from the U.S. Post Office. It is free.
- Fill it full of books (20 lbs. max).
- Fill out the appropriate customs form.
- Mail the package at any post office branch – cost will be $55.95.
Option Two
- Email Louis Haber at Distribution Postal Company
- Tell him you want to ship a box of books to Malawi, and ask him for instructions.
- He will send instructions. (Basically, you will box the books up, mail them to his company in Maryland, and they will turn around and ship them via boat to Malawi. The entire cost will be about $2/lb.)
Delivery times vary. With Option 1, the books will go airmail. It may take 3-6 months to arrive in Malawi. Option 2 may take as long as a year for the books to reach their destination.
If you don’t have the time to gather and ship books on your own, you can always contribute to the Friends of Malawi Book Project. 100% of the donations go to cover freight costs. To donate, you can go to this website and click on the button that says “Book Project”
Please drop us an email to let us know where and when you sent your books. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask us for assistance.
PAGE 2: Click here to discover how promoting literacy helps heal unresolved issues from the past, and how a series of unusual synchronicities helped the Soul World Malawi Book Project to take shape.
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