A year ago, with funding from Global Village Foundation, labour and spirited art work by students from Signapore, this school and library room were built. It is equipped with Portable Libraries, the book boxes which travel from school to school.
We visited this remote village school yesterday in, Que Xuan II, Quang Nam Province to do some follow up to see how well the library had been implemented. As you can see the kids and locals all love the school and the books! Huong and Vinh, the two young men who do all the legwork for Global Village in the Da Nang office were our interpreters.
Although not far from the city of Hoi An, this village was another world. We travelled down a track, barely wide enough for our van, through brilliant emerald rice fields, passing farmers walking or bicycling with hoes slung over their shoulders. The peacefulness of the school grounds, the murmur of small voices and a river flowing beyond the fence, were idyllic for us....a lovely break from the cacophony of the city.
The children read enthusiastically, even though the teachers are still lacking some of the skills to make the books come alive and integrate the learning into other programs. When we arrived about thirty children were sitting reading aloud, each reading a different book! It was not a regular school day for these kids, but they had all come to sit and read......maybe just to get a look at us!!! We sang a couple of songs...ah the universal language of music.
Work is continuing on the school, with an outdoor reading circle being built in the garden and the playground equipment improved.
We are looking forward to delivering more libraries ( one from our Canadian friends!) and skill training for teachers next week.
Stay tuned!!!
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