The next Reading Village Learning Journey to Guatemala is scheduled for March 11-17, 2012. This is going to be a trip packed with memorable experiences, including a visit to the colonial city of Antigua, a walk through ancient Mayan ruins, a boat ride across stunning Lake Atitlan to visit a local coffee cooperative, and shopping for beautiful handicrafts. Most importantly, we will learn and work side-by-side with our teen reading promoters and the kids in the villages, and spend time in the homes of local families!

Over the years, we have learned that these 10-person trips to Guatemala are about much more than service, cultural exchange, and sightseeing. Our participants consistently tell us that their experience in Guatemala reshaped their lens on life and illuminated new directions after they returned home. So, whether you are looking for an escape from the cold weather, a superb travel experience, or something more, we are confident that this next Learning Journey has something to offer.

Please join us and consider inviting a friend or family member to accompany you. Our participants range in age from teen (accompanied by parent) to 75+ years old. No Spanish necessary. We currently have five open spaces left on the trip so do not delay. Finally, this is likely to be the only Reading Village Learning Journey in 2012 unless we are able to squeeze one in during early December.

Click the following links for a short video and detailed information. Contact Larry Dressler, our beloved Learning Journey Sherpa, with any questions at 303-506-3127.

Dont't miss out! Make your reservation today while openings are still available,

Links:

• Learning Journey Information
• Learning Journey Video Clip

Thank you for helping us reach our goal on the 19th! Follow the link below to see if you are the lucky winner of an Amazon Kindle Fire.

Links:

• Amazon Kindle Fire Winner

Links:

• Watch the Video
• Kindle Fire Details

I just received some good news from the community of Concepción. Our reading aloud to children is having an important effect that will help them stay in school. 

In rural Mayan communities, half of the children fail the first grade and about 75% drop out altogether before completing the sixth grade. (That's not the good news.)

One contributing factor is that these Kaqchikel-speaking children often enter the school system speaking little or no Spanish.

Our reading promoters read aloud to children in Spanish and translate  into Kaqchikel to develop vocabulary and aid the children's comprehension.

Here's the good news: Rosmery, one of our third-year promoters, just shared with me that the children who attend her reading activities have told her they no longer need the translating. They understand the Spanish.

This is just what we wanted to see! Children grounded in their native language with literacy in Spanish.

Together we are transforming children's lives…and it costs very little. 

A donation of $20 pays for a child to attend story hour three times a week for a year and provides storybooks to read on his or her own. 

Give the gift of literacy to one or more children today,

Juan Carlos is not the most articulate of our newest teen reading promoters. He lives in the shadow of his domineering father and his Spanish skills are a bit weak. But I love this kid because what he lacks in eloquence he makes up for with spirit and determination.

Last week as our Learning Journey group ended their time with the teens in a teary and heartfelt closing circle, Juan Carlos's words hit me hard. He bravely shared, "If it weren't for Reading Village, I would not be here. I would be in the field carrying heavy loads of vegetables." And that's the truth. His family would not be able to afford to send him to public school (which in Guatemala is not free), and he would be trapped in the cycle of poverty that many never escape.

Juan Carlos was not accepted into our program on his first try. But that did not stop him. And now, despite his difficulties expressing himself, he is nearly always the first to offer an opinion or answer a question during the teens' training sessions.

And each week he grows more and more accomplished at engaging small children in stories. Through our program Juan Carlos is not only discovering a new future for himself but making this possible for the children he reads to.

Keep teens like Juan Carlos in school with a donation today.

Thank you for your partnership in this important work,

Juan Carlos reading to children in his community

Links:

• Our Leaders and Readers Program
• Take a Learning Journey with us

Don't forget! Wednesday the 15th is Bonus Day.

Donations made on that day only will be matched 30%

That means a donation of $50 (10 books) becomes $65 (13 books).

As always, your support is greatly appreciated.

I never expected that we'd see it this soon, just two and a half years after beginning in Concepcion, but there it was right in front of me -- the birth of a new generation of leaders in this community.

Sunday, after Daniel and I had wrapped up the training session with our fifteen teen reading promoters, Marcela (one of the teens) told Daniel the group had something to tell us. I have to say I felt a bit nervous as the mood was serious and they all seemed to know what this was about.

Marcela then announced that they all met the day before and formed their own action committee with a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer. They've created such a love of and demand for books in the children they read to they now see the need for a library. And by their own initiative they formed this committee in order to begin to make that happen -- with our blessing and promise of support. 

I was so choked up I could barely respond. THIS is what the work is about for me -- the development of local leaders that will create a new future for their own community. 

Please continue your generous support with a donation today. You are making a difference!

Links:

• Learning Journey

I remember vividly just two years ago our first meeting ever with the first teen reading promoters in Concepcion. Julio Cesar's beet-red face belied his embarrassment at having to crow like a rooster whenever it came up in a story being read aloud. It was so challenging for him I wondered to myself if he'd ever be capable of reading a story in front of a group of children. 

In contrast with last Sunday...With no advance notice, I asked the group of teens to take twenty minutes to organize themselves into a schedule of reading activities they would lead in the next two weeks. I watched with delight as Julio took the lead and got the job done. He did this with such self-confidence, grace and effortlessness it brought tears to my eyes. (Enjoy photos from Sunday's activities here.)

There was actually a moment in the meeting when I had to invite Julio and the other teens with experience to hold back a bit and allow some space for others to participate. These, the kids for whom it felt like pulling teeth to get them to say anything just two years ago.

They are coming into their own, it is a beautiful thing to witness, and I am honored and delighted to be a part of it. And now hundreds of children are discovering the joy of reading as a result. Thank you for all you do to help make this possible.

Twice a year we invite a small group of people to join us on a Learning Journey in Guatemala to really get to know our teens, their work and to spread the love of reading right alongside them. The dates for the next trip are June 23-July 1 and spaces are going fast. For more information visit www.readingvillage.org/learningjourney.

I hope you'll join us,

Linda

I'm in Guatemala interviewing teens for our reading promoter program. It's one of my favorite things to do because these youth inspire me so much. Take Teresa Morales Chumil, for example. She is 15, the oldest of four, and her family owns no land so they work as day laborers on someone else's land. Teresa's family of six ekes out a living on $120 a month; that's less than a dollar a day per person. 

Her parents never attended school and cannot read or write. When I ask Teresa what her parents tell her about the importance of education she says her father tells her, "You have to fight to study." This phrase stops cold in my heart. It's true. Teresa and other impoverished youth here fight: struggle, sacrifice, toil and scrape enough together to pay for public school registration, monthly fees, transportation, uniforms, books, supplies and the like. What should be a right for every child is a fight for many. And in these communities where only 25% of children make it to the sixth grade, it's a fight that most kids lose. 

Despite all the barriers in front of Teresa she has made it to middle school and has set her sites on college! This Thanksgiving I am grateful that Reading Village can offer her the opportunity to stay in school. And I am thankful for your generosity toward Reading Village that makes it possible.

If you have not made a donation yet this year, please know that gifts of all sizes have an immediate impact on our teens' lives and the children they read to.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Linda

For you and me, who love to read, it's hard to imagine an entire country where reading is not much valued and not regularly enjoyed. But this is the case in Guatemala. A colleague once heard it reported that of the Guatemalans who can read only 1% had read anything for pleasure that year. So imagine my delight at what happened the other day...
On October 1st Guatemala celebrated Día del Niño (Children's Day), and Daniel Guzmán our In-Country Coordinator and some of our teen reading promoters made their way to Concepcion's central plaza with the rest of the community to celebrate. And they each brought a book along...just in case.

Links:

• See photos
• Donate

Last month we convened a group of amazing people with decades of experience in Guatemala, education, leadership development and literacy to help us take the good curriculum we developed for training our teen reading promoters and make it excellent. 

This curriculum will be part of a training manual (funded by a grant from the Tecovas Family Foundation) that will enable us to hire more community coordinators and expand to more and more communities. Our vision is to have 480 reading promoters in over 30 communities reaching 480,000 children by 2020. 

And expansion is already underway! Daniel Guzmán, our Program Coordinator, is currently in the community of Pujujil (Poo-hoo-HEEL) holding a meeting with community leaders and interested teens as he recruits a new crop of reading promoters. See here (http://www.readingvillage.org/2010/08/index.html) for a two-minute video of Daniel as he eloquently describes his heart-felt vision of our work with the children in his country. 

There are several ways you can help us bring the power of literacy to more children. We need donations to buy books and materials for Pujujil, for scholarships for the new reading promoters and for their training.

In addition to donating you can help in the following ways:

1. Participate in 100 Book Day on November 27th (http://www.readingvillage.org/100-book-day.html).

2. Join and/or promote our Learning Journey to Guatemala, Nov 20-28 (http://www.readingvillage.org/learningjourney.html) 

3. Bring Light Up Literacy to your synagogue for Hanukkah this year (http://www.readingvillage.org/light-up-literacy.html).

4. Bring Literacy for Lent to your church next year (http://www.readingvillage.org/literacy-for-lent.html)

Thank you for all you do to bring the power of literacy to children,

Links:

• Learn more here.

I'm in Guatemala with our Learning Journey group. They just spent three full  days in Concepción getting to know this indigenous Maya community, their culture, traditions and history as well as our reading promoters, their families and homes -- connecting at a very personal and heartfelt level. Promoters  and visitors alike were sad to see it end. (See link below for photos.)

I had the opportunity this morning to chat with Julio César, one of our  second-year reading promoters. He shared with me that he had been  planning on studying music until he began reading to the children in  Concepción through our Leaders and Readers program. The joy and  satisfaction this work gives him convinced him that he should become a  teacher, and he changed his course of study. 

Yesterday Julio's best friend Carlos, a first-year promoter, told him he was  confused about what he wanted to study. He'd always thought he'd become  a mechanic, but comments from various of the visitors on theLearning  Journey made him think he should consider being a teacher. (I have to say,  Carlos is amazingly talented at bringing stories to life for the children!) 

Then Julio said, "You know the phrase on the Reading Village logo,  Transforming Lives through Literacy? It really is true. My life has changed  because of Reading Village and now Carlos's life is being impacted as well."

All of our teens have grown tremendously in ability, self-confidence and self- awareness. Watch Maribel's face light up with pride in a two-minute video (link below)  as she talks about the success she is enjoying as a reading promoter.   

Thank you for all you do to bring the joy of reading to children, Linda

Links:

• Photos of Learning Journey
• 2-Minute Video of Maribel

Donations to Reading Village do triple duty. We empower Guatemalan teens to promote children's literacy, and each dollar donated helps keep these teens in school, helps them develop leadership skills, and engenders the love of reading in children.

On June 16 your donation goes half again as far! On June 16 Global Giving will match 50% of your donation.

Here's the link to donate: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/empowering-guatemalan-youth-to-promote-literacy/ Please share this link and invitation to donate with your friends.

The deadline is midnight Eastern Time June 16. That's a 9:00 pm deadline for the Pacific Time Zone.

Thank you for all you do to bring the love of reading to Guatemalan children.

Links:

• Maribel finds satisfaction in being a teen reading promoter

Fifteen years ago, in the agricultural town of Concepción, Don Martín's eldest son Rufino asked permission to enroll in high school. Having only an elementary school education himself, Don Martín considered students to be lazy good-for-nothings who were only looking to escape hard physical labor in the fields. And no one in Concepción at that time even had a high school diploma. But he begrudgingly allowed Rufino to continue his studies on the condition that he keep up his obligations at home.

So every day Rufino got up before the sun to work the land with his father until noon, grabbed a couple of tortillas for lunch and then walked an hour to school. After school he walked an hour home, did his chores, ate a bit of supper and at ten o'clock finally had some time for his homework. He did this day in and day out, and his friends thought him crazy. But it paid off for him as he is now a professional manager working for an international microcredit organization, and here's the really good part...

Don Martín -- the one who thought students were lazy good-for-nothings -- now willingly sends his daughter, yes his daughter, to high school. Her name is Marcela and she's also one of our star reading promoters.

Because of Don Martín's ability to change, Marcela has the opportunity to fulfill her potential. She is growing into a capable community leader, and she is bringing books and a love of reading to the children in her community, giving them the opportunity to fulfill their potential. One day she will do the same for her children.

I've always believed it takes just one person to make a difference. Don Martín has proved it's true.

Join Don Martín in making a difference. Honor a dad for Father's Day with a gift to Reading Village.

If you make your donation on Wednesday, June 16, GlobalGiving will match it 50%.

Marcela puts bunny ears on a child for story hour

In 1985 a US Department of Education Commission on Reading shared the results of 10,000 research projects done over 25 years to get at the core of what really works in terms of turning kids into skilled readers. Among its primary findings was this: "The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children." Notice they didn't single out Baby Einstein or flash cards, phonics, homework or worksheets. They discovered that reading aloud to children, both at home and at school -- even after they can read for themselves -- was the greatest predictor of success. I am encouraged by this finding because reading aloud to children is the core of our work in Guatemala. Kids love to be read to, and the more they associate reading with fun, the more they read. The more they read, the better they get at it. The better they get at it the more they like it...This is our engine for developing a culture of reading in Guatemala. So please (1) read to the children in your life and (2) continue supporting us as we encourage the same in impoverished communities where books are scarce and illiteracy is rampant. Thank you for all you do to bring the joy of reading to children!

Links:

• Our Leaders and Readers Program

Reading Village has nearly double the number of teen reading promoters this year as we had last year.

Visit our website for a brief photo update: http://www.readingvillage.org/2010/01/11-teen-reading-promoters-off-to-a-great-start.html

Thank you for all you do to make their dreams come true, Linda

Our teen reading promoters have come a long way in just one year, and we have selected eight new teens to join them next month as school in Guatemala gets underway for the 2010 school year.

You can see their faces and a brief bit on each of them here: http://www.readingvillage.org/2009/12/index.html

Thank you for your support!

Enjoy this inspiring 3-minute video about the exciting local leadership and initiative that is developing in the community where we are working to promote children's literacy in rural Guatemala.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXcrqLoQdCc

I'm headed down to Guatemala at the end of this month to begin recruiting next year's teen reading promoters. We will be doubling the number from six to twelve!

Thanks for your support and please send your friends to our project page: http://www.globalgiving.com/projects/empowering-guatemalan-youth-to-promote-literacy/

We need $6000 to cover the scholarships that will keep these teen leaders in school and leading reading activities for the younger children in their community.

Thank you for your partnership, Linda