Book Drive for Swaziland!
We are thrilled to announce our newest project for our Children’s Homes in Swaziland, Thailand, and India. We have decided to create a Children’s Library in each home we are partnered with, and we want YOU to be a part of it!
It all started last Fall, when we took a Storybook to each of our Children’s Homes in India, and a few educational books to The Refuge in Thailand. I always like to bring a little something for the kids when we come, and I was looking forward to having storytime with them and adding a book to their collection.
It didn’t take long for me to realize – they don’t have a “collection”. There’s maybe a handful of books at each of our Children’s Home (if that many), and very few of them have pictures. It turns out that books are very expensive in these countries, and it’s hard to find good copies of English books (without spelling mistakes or missing pages). A few minutes after I read a story to the boys at Asha Mission, Kolkata and handed over the book for them to keep, I looked over to see this –
All 15 boys crowded around ONE storybook! I was heartbroken that they didn’t EACH have their own book, and the wheels began to turn. I couldn’t help but dream of shelves full of books that they could read until their hearts were content!
A similar thing happened a few weeks later with the “My First Atlas” book I took to the students at The Refuge. After they all crowded around the books in groups, one girl came up to me with the Atlas clutched to her chest. “I LOVE THIS BOOK!” she said enthusiastically!
I immediately thought back to my own childhood and teenage years and remembered how much I LOVED reading. I thought about the shelves and cabinets stacked to the brim with books at my parent’s house, the school library full of books I got to visit weekly in elementary school, the enormous library I explored in college, and the two public libraries at my fingertips at anytime. I couldn’t believe that these children didn’t have access to books the way I had, and I knew I wanted to change that! When I asked the children what they thought of the idea, they were ECSTATIC!
You see, books have POWER. They inspire literacy, aid in mental development, and encourage creativity. Books can of course educate, and they can also help children explore their imaginations! Whether or not these children ever have the opportunity to travel, they can go anywhere and be anything in a book!
I am so excited about the impact these libraries will have in the lives of our children!
We currently have 2 homes in Thailand, 3 in India, and a community center in Swaziland that we’ll be equipping with books and bookshelves for the kids. Every Children’s Home is different, with different ages and reading levels. Our plan is to take a suitcase (or two) full of books each time we visit the homes (at least once a year) and to continue building the library year after year!
Here’s where you come in! We’ll have a book drive prior to each trip overseas, when we’ll request specific books aimed toward the reading levels and needs of the children in that specific country and home. These books can be new or gently used (a great reason to clean out your children’s old bookshelves!) You can send as many books as you like at any given time. We’ll sort the books and take as many as possible with us each trip. Those left over will be used for the next trip overseas.
Our upcoming need is for SWAZILAND. We’ll be in Swaziland for almost 4 weeks this March/April, and we cannot wait to see the children’s faces when we bring them so many beautiful books! The carepoint we are partnered with operates at the Community Center in Nsoko. There is also a preschool at the Center, and our plan is to first equip the preschool with books, and then to hopefully expand to a complete Children’s Library!
To donate books for the SWAZILAND BOOK DRIVE, please follow these instructions:
1) Choose new or gently used books that are TODDLER/PRESCHOOL to KINDERGARTEN appropriate. These can be story books, picture books, or educational books. Board books (which can be cleaned regularly) are especially good. We prefer books that are small and light so that we can pack more of them to take at one time. Little Golden Books would also be a good option. Remember that the children receiving these books are of many different cultures and ethnicities, so multi-ethnic illustrations would be wonderful!
2) Write a message inside the front flap of your book(s). This is optional, but I’m sure the kids would LOVE to know who gave them each wonderful book in their library! Keep your message simple. For example, “From the Smith Family in Austin, TX” and maybe even the names of each person in your family, would be great! Remember, we may have too many books to take on this trip to Swaziland, so some of the donated books could go to our children in India or Thailand. For this reason, please do not write anything specific to Swaziland in your message.
3) Mail your book(s) to:
THE SOUND OF HOPE – 140 Maple Street – Maylene, AL 35114
*The DEADLINE for this Book Drive is MARCH 7th! Please have all your donated books to us by this date. You can comment below with any questions you may have. We will let you know of future book drives for our Children’s Homes in India and Thailand as soon as we have scheduled those trips. If you would like to make a monetary donation instead of sending books, you may do so by donating here and writing “Children’s Library” in the designation box. Thanks in advance for being a part of this project!
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Sheila Gardner
Will you take paperback books?
Kylee
Awesome! This sounds great! Maybe I'll see you guys in Swaziland. 🙂 Will you stay in the Nsoko area? I'm closer to Mbabane.
Blessings,
Kylee