Books Of The Rainbow

Project 2013-03-16 00:35:11 +1300





UPDATE: WE HAVE PASSED THE TARGET! In case you were about to donate but thought "oh, looks like she doesn't need it anymore" ... yes we do! I chose a fairly modest goal, since I'm a fairly unambitious kind of girl that way, but the truth is the list of what we need (below) would cost more than $1000. Also, on top of that list we would also love further sports equipment, 7 more whiteboards (to replace the awful blackboards), art and crafts supplies, a drum, small speakers for our Nepali dance classes and, of course, books books books. Please rest assured that if you donate we will find a very good and rewarding use for the donated funds.





I'm volunteering as a teacher in rural West Bengal, India at a school called Rainbow Academy in the village of Gorubathan. The school actually has enough wonderful, local teachers, but hardly any resources to speak of (no books, no whiteboard markers half the time, no teacher's copies of textbooks), so I figure fundraising is how I can be of best use.



I worked for seven years for the University Bookshop in Dunedin and got my mother to send over a large box of donated books - the start of my library project, further evidence of which you can see at: http://booksoftherainbow.tumblr.com/.

While the books are the heart and soul of the library, I also want to raise enough cold hard cash to buy:

Books which are cheaper and more relevant sourced locally - for example English/ Nepali dictionaries which cost about $4NZ each and teacher's copies of the textbooks, so they can plan lessons ahead of time.

Furniture, cushions and a curtain for the library.

Various supplies the school is lacking in: white boards, markers, pens, wall charts, maps, a globe (our current one has a large chunk missing and plays host to a resident cockroach).

Sports equipment - a soccer ball and some cricket gear are most urgent.

FANS! We teach and learn in a large, tin-roofed house in India and don't currently have any fans. Needless to say, this makes summer afternoons very trying indeed. I asked one of the local teachers what he feels the school needs and his answer, without having to think about it, was ceiling fans for the six classrooms. These would cost only about $30 each and would make a huge difference to the classes.

Further funds for outreach programs the school runs in attempting to reach the very poor who aren't currently attending school.

Aside from raising funds, people are also sending me their old books/ favorite books in the post and we walk down to the local post office to pick them up - a process the children find particularly exciting. If you would rather do this, please see my tumblr for the address.





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