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What
does life hold for a 15-year-old boy who hasn't learned to read?
How can a young girl reach a
better future when her school has no reading books, her village
has no library, and her parents have no books at home? Despite
their image as exotic tourist destinations, the West Indies
islands of Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis,
St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are economically
under-developed, lacking in resources, and vulnerable to natural
disasters. USAID and the US Peace Corps are actively improving
opportunities for youth and attempting
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At
the Isaiah Thomas Secondary School on the island of
Dominica, Hands Across the Sea built a Literacy Center
and stocked it with books
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to reduce the spread of AIDS, drug
trafficking, and violence. Schools are sparsely funded by their
governments: typically teachers'
salaries, toilet paper, and chalk are paid for, but funds must
be raised for most other classroom resources. Reading books
for children and young adults are not available in the islands,
and as a result literacy levels are low. Many adults in these
islands do not read above a grade
6 level; until recently, attendance in high school was not mandatory
and the economies supported agricultural, fishing, and tourism
jobs. All three of those sectors have suffered in recent years,
making education beyond the 6th grade level extremely important.
Within the past few years, secondary education has become compulsory
across the Eastern Caribbean. Keeping students in school is
a positive step, but many enter 7th grade with 2nd or 3rd grade
reading levels. During the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 school years
Hands Across the Sea shipped over 12,000 mostly "gently
used" books and boxes of requested teaching resources to
16 primary and secondary schools in the Caribbean.
For the 2010/2011 school year Hands
Across the Sea's Schools (not
Pirates!) of the Caribbean program will ship 35,000
books and many boxes of art supplies and teaching resources
to 7,100 students at 40 schools, and to libraries, and community
reading programs on eight islands. Hands acquires books from
private donors, from school community service groups, and
by buying them at library sales throughout New England. The
books are sorted and packed by volunteers and shipped via
Tropical Shipping to school principals in the Caribbean. Working
directly with local teachers, school principals, and U.S.
Peace Corps Volunteers, Hands Across the Sea is helping to
promote literacy, classrooms that are more conducive to learning,
and the opportunity to explore art in under-resourced Caribbean
villages — which often lie just over the fence from four-star
hotels and resorts.
To make sure that the books and teaching
supplies have reached their Caribbean destinations and are
being properly utilized, Hands Across the Sea co-founders
T.L. and Harriet Linskey visit recipient schools and communities
from December through May. The visits give Hands the opportunity
to work on school improvement projects and to enlist volunteers
to support local communities. In addition to books and resources,
Hands has supplied classrooms with special "reading corners,"
bookshelves for classroom libraries, and most recently built
a literacy center in an
underserved secondary school on the island of Dominica. We
are rewarded by group hugs and smiling children and teachers
who are thrilled to have high-quality, near-new books!
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