register |  login
› EDGEWATER
Loading Ad
Visit Other Hubs:
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Tower
RECENT STORIES

Lakewood traveler delivers suitcase full of books

Contributed by: Ioanna Athanasopoulos on 4/30/2007

By Sabrina Hall, public information manager, Jefferson County Public Library

When Lakewood resident Linda Behrens traveled to Tanzania for a safari, she hardly imagined that she would return with a mission. Linda, a retired school teacher, traveled through Africa last February on a safari and stopped at a school in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It was there that she met Albin and Alice Evarist, who had started a nursery and primary school to provide quality education for the children in their neighborhood.

"Tanzania's public schools have up to 100 children in each classroom, making individual attention non-existent and quality education merely a dream," Behrens said. "Albin and Alice wanted to change that reality for the children in their neighborhood, so they used their own savings to build a local school constructed of cinderblocks."

Having used almost all of their savings on the construction, the Evarists had few resources left to fund books and materials. After touring the school and seeing first-hand how little they had to teach with, Linda returned home to Lakewood with a new goal of finding ways to enrich the education for Albin and Alice's students.

Linda's friend contacted Jefferson County Library Foundation to determine if they had any books that could be donated to the school. The Foundation provided enough free children's books to fill two suitcases, which Linda brought in-person on a return trip to Dar es Salaam.

"The students and teachers were so excited, you would have thought I brought two suitcases filled with gold," Behrens said. "Other than the mandatory texts required to teach the curriculum, these books are the only books the school has."

Thanks to Linda's determination and the Foundation's donation, 200 children can practice reading for the first time in their lives.

About the Jefferson County Library Foundation
The Jefferson County Library Foundation provides the extra help the Jefferson County Public Library needs to support the literacy programs at its 10 locations, fulfilling its mission of opening the world of reading for our children, inspiring a lifetime of learning for all, and strengthening freedom through knowledge. The Foundation also supports the Traveling Children's Library, a service that brings books, programs and materials to children who reside in low-income areas of Jefferson County.


SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above story



Talk Back : submit comments to the story

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Ioanna Athanasopoulos

Lakewood , CO

Ioanna Athanasopoulos has posted 195 stories and 0 comments since joining on 4/20/2006. Ioanna Athanasopoulos 's average story rating is 5.
SAVE AND SHARE THIS STORY
STORY RSS FEEDS
WANT TO WRITE FOR YOURHUB.COM?
Want to see the stories you write and the photos you shoot featured in the YourHub.com Thursday print section available all over the Front Range and with home subscriptions of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post? All you have to do is register, then post a story or column, start a blog or tell everyone what events are happening in town. We will print the best stories, columns, event listings, photos and blog entries in our print sections.

ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

Loading Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Loading Ad

This YourHub.com community is produced by The Denver Newspaper Agency
Web Development and Channel Analytics provided by Indigio

terms of use //  privacy policy
the staff //  advertise //  help & faq
buy photos