Why We Want the Library

My entire community is working to build the library. But you have only heard my reasons why you should donate to our project. Now, I am giving the mike to some of my neighbors. Here is why they want the library:

Karen at the library construction site

Karen, library committee member and mother of three – “We need the library for the development of our kids. There are many poor people in the community who don’t have access to the Internet. They have kids in school and no money to pay for extra costs, like materials for class projects.”

Emely

 Emely, library committee member and in the 7th grade – “I want a library so I can research information for my homework. Right now, I can’t do all of my homework because sometimes I have to go to town to use the Internet. A trip into town costs too much money for me to go every week for homework. A library would make my life better.”

Jose and his sister Ari

 

Jose, 5th grade – “My mom says we need a library because I get in too much trouble when I am not in school. I want a library so I can read books.”

Darilyn

 

Darilyn, library committee member and in the 11th grade – “Every community needs a library because every community has students. The library will help us with our studies, and we will learn more.”

Mauricio

 

 Maurcio, library committee member, farmer and grandfather – “The library will help the community, especially the youth, to become more educated. The library will also provide economic benefits for the community. Parents will have more money to spend because everything their children need for school will be within walking distance.”

Clariza

 

Clariza, Library Comittee President, hair stylist and mother – “The library is needed by the whole community. For example, parents who can’t provide their children with school supplies. Also, there is no recreational center in the community. The library will be a safe place where the youth can hangout. It will keep kids off the street.”

 

Daneisi and Daniela

Daneisi and Daniela, kindergarten and 1st grade – “We want to learn to read.”

Ready to donate? Click here!

Mil gracias, a thousand thank yous to those of you who have already donated. Please continue to spread the word to family and friends.

Just a reminder: All donations are tax deductible, and 100% of donations will go to our project. 

Also, you can donate offline. Although donating on-line is the fastest way for projects to get funded, you may also donate by mail or over the phone:

Send a check to:
Peace Corps Headquarters
Office of Gifts and Grants Management
1111 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20526

Please make check payable to Peace Corps Partnership Program
Please also note the project number (14-517-025) in the memo section of the check.
(Please print and mail this donation form with your check, so Peace Corps can contact you with information regarding your donation, if necessary.)

-or-

Call the office and Peace Corps can take your credit card information over the phone at 855.855.1961 x2170.

You Can Help

“Oh my gosh, what you are doing is sooo great! How can I help?” For the past 15 months I have heard family and friends ask me how they can help, to which I have responded, “Eh, it’s kinda tricky to send things to the D.R., I’ll let you know if something changes.” Well, family and friends, the time has come to step-up to the plate. My community and I need your help!

The library will be on the right-hand side.

Since 2011, my community has been working towards building a community library. I arrived one year ago to help the library become a reality. Construction began last month, and we need your help to close our funding gap. My community has already fund raised $23,728.42 via donations of construction materials, books, labor, land, grants, and cold hard cash. We just need an additional $5,628.09, to help cover our remaining construction costs.

You can donate to our project by going to our project’s webpage on the Peace Corps website. Or you can look up my project on donate.peacecorps.gov. Search via my last name, Stine, or my project code, 14-517-025.

The leaky zinc roof will be replaced by a cement roof.

Many readers are probably thinking, “Why should I donate?” Here are some reasons why:

- The idea to build a library was developed by my community not by an outside group.

- The average family makes less than $125 dollars a month, and yet the community has fund raised 80% of the library costs, $23,728.42.

- None of the three local primary schools has a library. The closest children’s library is located in the capital, an expensive three-hour bus ride away. 

- Classrooms at all grade levels do not have enough textbooks for every student, if they have even have textbooks.

- The library will provide community members with access not only to books but also to computers. Of the 151 houses in my community, only 47% have a book in their home, and less than 10% have a computer.

After 7 months of cutting red tape, the bridge is functional.

- We spent seven months fighting, successfully, to get a permit to build an access bridge from the road to the site of the library. We will stop at nothing to make the library a reality.

- My community and I had to submit a lengthy grant application, which includes: essays, goals, monitoring and evaluation plans, a timeline, and a detailed budget. If you want any of the information we submitted please contact me at scstine@gmail.com.

-Check out our project’s webpage for even more reasons.

Now that you are convinced that my community’s library is a worthy cause, here is some information about the donation program, the Peace Corps Partnership Program:

Reading with a neighbor.

 - Every penny that you donate will directly fund my project. No part of your donation will be used to cover staff or overhead costs of running the Partnership Program, as the office is supported by congressionally appropriated funds to the Peace Corps.

 - All donations are tax deductible! Once the donation has been processed a thank you letter will be sent, which can be used as a tax receipt. The name on the tax receipt will reflect the account owner on the credit card or check.

 - You can donate offline. Although donating on-line is the fastest way for projects to get funded, you may also donate by mail or over the phone:

Community member repairing library walls.

Send a check to:
Peace Corps Headquarters
Office of Gifts and Grants Management
1111 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20526

Please make check payable to Peace Corps Partnership Program
Please also note the project number (14-517-025) in the memo section of the check.
(Please print and mail this donation form with your check, so Peace Corps can contact you with information regarding your donation, if necessary.)

-or-

Call the office and Peace Corps can take your credit card information over the phone at 855.855.1961 x2170.

Many, many thanks to all of you who donate funds. My community has a lot of dreams, especially for their children, and with your help we can begin making them a reality.

The Library Youth Committee meeting (in my house).

Literacy in the D.R.

When I received my invitation to serve in the D.R. I initially thought I was going to be teaching English. It took me a second read-through to realize that the literacy Peace Corps wanted me to help improve was Spanish not English. Others are often confused as well, when I say I am helping to improve literacy rates in the D.R. they assume I mean English literacy. It is such a simple assumption to make, of course a country so close to the States and dependent on tourism would consider English literacy a top priority. It shocks us, fortunate enough to have grown up with the U.S. Public School System, that a nation so close and intertwined with our own could have so many difficulties educating its youth.

Basic literacy in the D.R. is a huge problem, currently the D.R.'s literacy rate is 133 out of 205 countries (from the CIA Work Factbook). What does that number represent?

It represents nine year-old kids in the second grade who can't write their names. It represents the two shift school day, which means students have class for three to four hours a day. It represents the lack of textbooks and workbooks in the classroom (forget computers). It represents the poor pay and poor training of teachers. It represents the days of school lost because rain has made the dirt road too muddy.

The number 133 and all it represents, makes me feel like, at times, the work I am doing is a drop in the bucket. But there are moments that warm my heart, that let me know that my work is important to those I reach. Like when my students smile when they read a word on their own, or when a teacher arranges for students to come to both sessions of school.

I always knew that teachers had a tough and under-appreciated job, but I never realized how hard they have to work until I started working alongside them. If you are a teacher you have my utmost respect. Thank-you for all the work that you do.

Now onto random, non-sentimental thoughts:

• My grant (that I originally submitted in September) has been funded! I now have a whole $5,000 to put to use. Hopefully the news will get my library committee energized enough to begin building repairs.
• There was a nation wide commercial strike. All businesses were supposed to be closed for two days to protest rising costs and a potential tax increase. Samaná didn't take things too seriously, most corner stores were open the whole time and nothing closed on the second day.
• School is tiring me out! I want to be in bed by 10pm at the latest.
• Last time I was in town the power was out aka no internet fun for me. The town of Samaná is supposed to have power 24/7 but like everything in the D.R. it is not a guarantee.
• Someone from Majorca asked if I was from Spain. I felt great, until that evening when my project partner gave me a book on Spanish grammar.
• Things I can't find in town: pot holder, can opener, wine opener, large bowls (for mixing and popcorn), and grape jam (I can find orange, pineapple,  guayaba etc).
• My 10 year-old neighbor said I was her best friend! So exciting because I think of her as my best friend too. We read and play a lot together, including making karaoke videos to Prince Royce songs. |'ll eventually have good enough internet and post a video of the two of us singing into hairbrushes.