Tuesday, April 19, 2016

A Big Thank You From Haiti!


Everyone at Lekòl Kominotè Matènwa (Matènwa Community School) here on the island of Lagonav in Haiti sends a huge "Mèsi anpil!" to Reader to Reader! Thank you so much!

The many French books you donated to our library have been useful, fun, and exciting. The huge French dictionary has been especially useful; students and teachers look up words in it every day. One of our eighth-graders borrowed the book explaining racism for four or five weeks straight, and told me she found it really interesting. And everyone is fascinated by "Des Enfants Comme Moi/Children Just Like Me," a book sharing photos of the lives of children around the world.

Meanwhile, your donation allowing us to buy more books was especially important for us, because we were able to spend the money in Port-au-Prince. Too much of the money sent to Haiti ends up going right back to support companies overseas, but your gift let us support Haitian bookstores, publishers, and even street vendors. It also let us buy books that are relevant to our community, including guides to birds, vegetables, and medicinal plants of Haiti, picture books that take place here, and classics of Haitian literature. We bought 35 beautiful new books in French and Haitian Creole. Only a few are in this photo-- the rest have already been borrowed by eager students and teachers!

We are so grateful for your donations that feed our students' curiosity and imagination.

--Meg Holladay
Matènwa Community School
Haiti

Friday, April 8, 2016

Exploring College Builds College Readiness

Our Explore College with Reader to Reader program gives kids a day on a college campus, as part of our effort to foster college readiness.

Studies show that the more times a child visits a college campus, the higher there chance of going to college.

Recently, we had a wonderful visit from our 6th grade students at Zanetti School in Springfield, Massachusetts! We showed them around the campus of Amherst College, let them explore museums, took them to lunch, and sent them home with lots of new books.

As you can see, reading is contagious!