Let's Make A Difference!

During any volunteer position, one may be challenged by the feeling that she should do more or, on the other side of the spectrum, that there are just too many projects to do and not enough time or resources.  These are both feelings that I struggle with probably every day and are feelings that now weighs heavily as I am starting to count down my last year of being a volunteer here in Africa.  And so it leaves one with the question of, “What am I going to leave behind?  What difference can I make that will have a lasting effect? 

The most frequent requests I receive here are from students and other community members wanting to learn and improve their English, invoking thoughts for starting an English club.  With a small set of Portuguese reading books, I worked with a few children to improve their literacy skills, invoking thoughts for creating a bigger children’s reading program.  Hoping to continue working with students interested in the sciences since I am not teaching Biology this year, I have thoughts of starting a science club.  Amongst these ideas of forming various clubs and after school programs, I continually run in to the problem of not having the resources nor a proper place to meet with these groups, invoking thoughts for a different project, the creation of the Murrupula Community Library.

Working with a local professor and a community group, our goal is to construct a library and resource center that provides both Portuguese and English books, as well as a space for student and community groups to hold meetings and other secondary library programs like tutoring, English lessons, and children’s reading sessions.  In order to accomplish this, I need your help.  My project has been posted on the Peace Corps donation website:

Donate to Murrupula Community Library

and you could be just one click away from helping my goal become a reality here in Murrupula.  Any donation of any size would be greatly appreciated and put to good use.  We cannot begin building until all of the money has been raised and the clock is ticking away on the amount of time I have left here. 

Imagine growing up without ever having touched a book, trying to learn to read and write in a classroom of 100 or more students, learning another language with no way to practice it outside the classroom.  Help me to begin to tackle some of these issues for my community!  Help me to make a positive, lasting change!  

Thank you in advance for your generosity and continued support. Muito Obrigada!  Kuchukuru!

This is the starting point - We are going to tear down this existing structure and build a new, bigger, taller, one-room building in its place, along with a veranda.