Nicaragua Mobile Library

International Service - Nicaragua
 
Who: Rotary East member Mary Thompson along with Gundersen Health System's Global Partners Program
What: establish and maintain small lending libraries to promote literacy through access to books and training
When: March 11-18, 2018
Where: Matagalpa region of Nicaragua
Why: Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, second only to Haiti. Most of the country is mountainous and rural, making it difficult for people to access needed services and opportunities.
 

 

Lending Library and Early Literacy Training

Establishing and maintaining small lending libraries in rural Nicaraguan communities to promote literacy through access to books and training.

Why this matters: In 2013, literacy assessments in a rural Matagalpa community showed 41 percent of families had no reading materials at home and four out of 10 adults could not read or write a simple sentence.

Project Activities:

Opening lending libraries in rural Nicaraguan communities

Providing early literacy training to adults in preparing their children to learn to read

Donating Spanish children's books to open and maintain lending libraries

 

THANK YOU

Thanks to all who donated supplies (crayons, markers, small scissors, Beanie Babies, coffee filters) for Mary's trip.

Mary, thank you for representing East on this trip and for your dedication to service.

 

Want to learn more?

Are you interested in international service? Talk to Tom Mickelson, our club's point person for Global Partners.

Wondering what else Gundersen's Global Parners does? Check out their website - http://www.gundersenhealth.org/foundation/programs-events/global-partners/

Want to participate in international service projects? Visit Global Partners' Blogs to see the experience from a volunteer's perspective - https://gpnica.wordpress.com/