Books for Belize
Books for Belize is a project of the Compassionate Travel Foundation. Below is information on our partners.
Our goal is to ship at least 2,000 books per year to be distributed to schools in the Toledo and Stann Creek Districts of Belize, Central America.
Shipments to Date
Maya Centre Village Primary School – 1,200 books
Donations to cover mailing cost from the USA are gratefully appreciated. A box of books containing 50 – 70 books costs $15 in postage. Please see our donation link:
http://www.compassionatetravelfoundation.org/default.aspx?pg=ee1ef652-3d39-41bd-952d-e0c19ea8bbfd
Our Partners:
Brenda Baron bgbaron@gmail.com
(Brenda and her volunteers will collect the books and mail them to our shipping partner below.)
“I first visited Belize in 2006. At that time I learned of the great need for children's books in the country. I met Norma Hynes, who volunteers at Hattieville Government School, helping the children who are having difficulty learning to read. I asked her what she used to help them, she stated "whatever she could get her hands on!" She had no curriculum available and very few high interest books. I told her at that time that I would help her. I came home and recruited people to help with this cause and now, thanks to the generosity of many, there is a Reading Resource Room at the school. The Resource Room is painted with children's graphics on the walls, new flooring, bookshelves, hundreds of books, tape recorders, several reading curricula for at-risk readers. The program has proven to help these children be successful in improving their reading skills. This Resource Room is enjoyed by all the children in the school.
Since 2006 we have focused on taking new or like-new books and school supplies to Belize. It is also our desire to set up a Reading Resource Center in Southern Belize. It is a great honor to help the wonderful teachers in Belize to have the needed supplies for their classrooms. It has been a pleasure to see first hand, the smiles on the children's faces as they enjoy the beautiful books we have supplied.”
Click below to read more.
The Word At Work
Rev. Tim Tam - www.twaw.org
The Word At Work, is a nonprofit, Christian organization located in Texas, that has been active in Belize since 2002. The organization provides scholarships to students; books, classroom supplies and furniture to schools; and medicines to clinics. They would like to purchase or build and renovate orphanages when funds are available.
The Word At Work ships containers of supplies to Belize at least four times a year. The books Brenda Baron mails to them will be put on one of their containers free of charge. They will provide also the transportation to deliver the books to Father Perl for distribution to the local Mayan schools in the Stann Creek and Toledo Districts.
St. Peter Claver Parish
Father Dick Perl - dickperl@btl.net
In 2008 and 2009, Father Perl delivered books sent by CTF, via Cross International (also free of charge), to Maya Village Centre School. He has agreed to continue in this role, partnering with Brenda Baron, and the Word At Work. Cross International and Father Perl are partners in providing school supplies and furniture to Mayan schools in the Toledo District of Belize.
Interesting Web Site
Angel Says: Read
Angel Says: Read is dedicated to providing books donated by tourists to the Belize public library system. As an organization, we believe in the power of words, the creative underbellies of poetry, essays, short stories and long stories. It is our mission to provide a way for these words to be recycled. When it formally launches in November 2009, Angel Says: Read will have strategic drop-boxes in major tourist centers throughout the country. Read it. Leave it.
www.angelsaysread.com/