Reading Club in El Salvador

I live in a tiny town in El Salvador that is filled with the most hardworking, compassionate, friendly people I have ever  known. Unfortunately, gang violence and economic hardship increasingly affect El Salvador, causing the country to have the highest murder rate in the world in 2015.  Last year, close to 10,000 children fled violence and economic hardship to seek a better life in the United States. The violence still remains far from Potonico, but moves threateningly closer each year, and this town is no stranger to poverty.

I will be leaving my beloved town within the week, and  I would like to leave them with a little something.

I created this fundraising account on behalf of one of my favorite counterparts here, Don Jesus, the computer teacher at the school who came to me with an idea. He wants to start a reading club at the school. I think back to the library at the school I had growing up, the influence reading had on my life, and it made a huge difference for me. The children here in Potonico do not have that same opportunity. Their "library" is a room with a few shelves and deteriorating books in English (which they don't speak), or levels too high for the kids, or simply texts that don't interest them. Parents spend entire paychecks just struggling to feed and clothe their children. When the minimum wage here is $5.00 a day, the parents don't have money for books. There are kids here that love to read, but they just don't have access to books.

So here is Don Jesus's proposal: He wants to buy 10 sets of the Harry Potter books to start a reading club in the school that will then travel to other schools in surrounding areas to spread the love of reading. In order to begin to love books and reading, kids need to read books that are at appropriate levels and that they can enjoy. Don Jesus believes, and I wholeheartedly agree, that Harry Potter is the right series to begin this journey. In order to implement this project we are hoping to raise $2,000 to buy these books for the school. 

Opening the world of reading to the children is a first step in violence prevention in a country that is in desperate need. Reading promotes education, critical thought, and creativity. If you ever found yourself lost in a book as a kid, if you traveled to Hogwarts with Harry, please help us share this experience with the kids here who also deserve that opportunity. Even if you can donate a few dollars, it will go a long way toward helping us achieve our goal.