Sanfordville students read so that the children of Nepal can learn, too

Warwick - Children at Sanfordville Elementary School are picking up books and helping to improve the literacy of the children of Nepal. Nepal is a landlocked nation in South Asia, bordering People’s Republic of China to the North and India to South, East and West, and is home to eight of the world’s top ten highest mountains, including Mount Everest. But in Nepal, only 53 percent of the population can read and write. The cause of this poor literacy rate is because Nepal 40% of its gross domestic product is agriculture, which in turn sustains 76 percent of the population. This makes it hard for the children in Nepali families to go to school. Instead, they stay at home and help their parents work at the farms. Parents as Reading Partners - or PARP - is PTA-sponsored program. The children will be able to help fund the establishment of new libraries and the creation of new local language children’s books in developing countries such as Nepal. This is achieved by having the Sanfordville children read themselves. Each dollar raised will buy one book for a child in Nepal. The goal at Sanfordville Elementary School is to raise $3,000. If the goal is met, Sanfordville Elementary School will be recognized on a plaque in one of the libraries in Nepal that the students help to establish. “At Sanfordville Elementary School, everyone was ‘Crawling Into A Good Book’ for the Parents As Reading Partners three-week program,” Linda Devries, the librarian at Sanfordville Elementary School, explained. “Students were also studying various types of insects while in the library media center and in their classes. The ants actually were marching one by one on their way to the ant hill where students record their reading efforts. On display in the library were enormous butterflies, ladybugs and dragonfly thanks to the efforts of Anna Thomas and Maureen Segota. Our fabulous custodians were instrumental in getting these beautiful creatures to fly. “The students created art pieces ranging from pottery to paper mache thanks to our art teacher Julie Cosco. Tony Laya was our parent leader who created clever bulletin boards and helped organize the entire project. Joanne Castanga, as always, contributed so much of her time and effort into making everything run smoothly. “It was a wonderful experience to have everyone in the school and at home working together to create a sound learning experience for the students at Sanfordville,” Devries added. On Feb. 8, a guest speaker who backpacked through Nepal came talk to the kids about the experience as a way to help them learned about the people they are helping. They also heard about the poverty, literacy and the lack of technology in Nepal - perhaps a reminder for these students to understand how lucky they are to have the opportunity to go to school and become educated. Colleen O’Brian is a student in Mrs. Zimmerman’s class and she already has six sponsors for the PARP program. Colleen enjoys reading books published by Magic Tree. When asked if she enjoyed helping other kids. she said: “Yes, we’re helping to get books to kids in Nepal.” Another student in Zimmerman’s class, Ciara Walsh, has 12 sponsors. Ciara likes chapter books, especially “Little House on the Prairie.” “Nepalis can be poor farther up the mountains,” Ciara said by way of sharing some of what she has learned about a people so very far away. “Nepalis are the only people with a rectangle flag.” Several students acknowledged there was still a lot to learn about Nepal and its people. But as one student said: “I don’t know a lot about it but I like to help.” Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to establish schools, libraries, and other educational infrastructure. If you are interested in donating or getting involved you can visit Room to Read at www.roomtoread.org.