Books and Beyond: Help Kabwende Schools
Books & Beyond is a service-learning project that focuses on promoting literacy (as well as fostering an international dialogue and perspective) by bringing together Indiana University students with TEAM schools, a series of KIPP charter schools in Newark New Jersey, as well as students and staff at The Kabwende Primary School in Kinigi, Rwanda, to write, illustrate, publish, and market a collection of short stories. Copies of the anthology are given to Kabwende Primary School for use in English language education. Indiana University students participate in a variety of faculties, including raising funds for the publication, mentoring TEAM school students, documenting and evaluating the project, and corresponding with teachers from Kabwende, all the while learning valuable skills. The goal of Books & Beyond is to not only provide literary resources for the Rwandan students but above all, to be a conduit for cross-cultural exchange and understanding; we hope to help our students to become active members of the community now and post graduation.
This year, Books and Beyond needs $17,264 in total to print and ship the books ($2,300), to help fund infrastructural issues at Kabwende Schools like fences, desks, bikes for teachers who walk 3 hours to get to school each day ($5,000), to travel to Newark, NJ where Indiana University students meet with TEAM students to finish writing the books ($8,464), to host a Holiday Camp at Kabwende to help teach the students English, and to fund promotional material for fundraising ($1,500).
Watch our video to find out more about the three groups of B&B: Indiana University, TEAM Schools in Newark, New Jersey, and Kabwende Schools in Kinigi, Rwanda. You can also stay up-to-date with Books and Beyond news by liking our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BooksnBeyond or by visiting our website at http://www.indiana.edu/~booksb/