Children's
Library and English Classes
(2006)
The Children's
Library is up and running. Nate and Amy, our volunteers here for the year,
have an English class with neighborhood kids every Tuesday and Thursday,
which also includes an hour of library time. They read to kids, keep track
of how many books the kids have read, hand out stickers, and give small
prizes to the kids that read more than ten books. It seems to be pretty
popular: on any given day, anywhere between 15 and 50 kids come, and there
is a solid group of "regulars" that are here almost every time.
We are very excited by the endeavor of adding on a children's library to
our already existing limited library. We see it as another way to reach
out to the community and fill a need. Statistics report that the average
Mexican reads one book a year. There are many factors that have to do with
this statistic. In the first place, books are very expensive and it is
hard to find used books. In the second place, there are no children's
libraries. Public libraries are primarily composed of text books, not
particularly interesting to children or teen-agers. Elementary and junior
high schools do not have libraries and do not encourage reading like they
do here in the U.S. We already know that reading is the basis for
life-long learning. We want to break down these learning barriers by
helping children to become excited about reading and offering a children's
library where they can come and explore a new world of imagination and
fact-finding fun. We are always browsing the used-bookstores and
second-hand shops buying up any books in Spanish that we can find. We can
use children and adult books, fiction and non-fiction, in Spanish. Please
keep an eye out for such books!
We plan on
dedicating the library this summer which will give us time to furnish and
buy Spanish books this year. We thank Bethlehem and Calvary's Grace Place
who are supporting this project. We also will have a learning center which
will include educational games such as puzzles and a computer with
educational software. The library will be a good meeting place for other
children's activities such as English classes and story times.
Library
Dedication Pictures
ENGLISH
CLASSES.
Because
of Amy and Nate (our interns) we have been able to offer English classes
to the children in our community. They come every Tuesday and Thursday
from 4-6pm for an hour of English and an hour of library time and
recreation. We are very grateful for our wonderful interns who are sharing
the love of Christ through these classes.
Enjoy
these pictures taken with our classmates this year!
