Tuesday, February 14, 2006

The BOOKS for the BARRIOS Program

The BOOKS for the BARRIOS, Inc. (BftB) is a non-profit, all volunteer led corporation which has demonstrated the capability to deliver mass quantities of quality educational materials, procured from donor individuals and the discards of U.S. public school districts, to the most remote disadvantaged schools in the developing countries.

For nearly two decades project staff has succeeded in managing the distribution, without loss or diversion, of hundreds of tons of materials to those students and teachers most in need in remote, deprived areas.

Evaluative responses from recipient officials and studies of the impact of the materials delivered confirm that the specific needs of the children are being met and that their level of educational opportunity has risen dramatically.

Furthermore, the BftB National "Model-of-Excellence School" Program and National Teacher Training Convention programs have provided an excellent method for upgrading the quality of instruction on an area-wide scale.

In the last fourteen years BftB has gathered, transported and distributed over six million primary and secondary textbooks, reference books and educational aids and devices; bringing the opportunity for a high-quality educational experience to twelve million eager youths.

We have formed a network of dedicated volunteers, civic organizations, and government agencies in the United States and overseas to generate and control the educational resources necessary to fundamentally revitalize public education systems on a national scale.

Having demonstrated a successful model of efficiency and impact with the benefit of local community support and major sponsorship grants from the National Geographic Society, LBC Corporation, the Charles and Annabelle Mosser Foundation, APL Ltd, Hedco Foundation, and Contra Costa County Waste Management Authority, BftB is now ready to further develop its organization by capturing this level of interest and propelling itself into a more stable financial standing.

This will enable concentration on institutionalizing the systems and structures, which will ensure our long-term quality control and self-sufficiency. Corporate and foundation financial grants will help BftB achieve this status.

Our goal is to continue to meet the urgent educational needs of the children of the world's barrios by placing two hundred fifty tons of the finest educational resources in their schools each year. Over the entire service-­life of the books, a multiplier effect will guarantee millions of pupils a brighter educational opportunity.

The majority of the books are gathered from textbook publishers' remainder stocks and the discards of local school districts and libraries throughout the Western United States.

Other target sources are bookstores, individual collections and youth book drives conducted by groups of u.s. schoolchildren. Trucks transport the material to the BftB 4000-square-foot production facility in Concord, California.

Trained personnel to insure a quality product routinely inspect all materials. The material is then screened, sorted and packed into cases and palletized for container shipment. American schoolchildren do the work as a school citizenship field trip project.

Upon arrival in the recipient country, our local counterpart organizations develop and execute a detailed plan for handling, storage, transportation and distribution of the materials. Close coordination with the local departments of education is maintained at each step in the distribution process to insure that local needs are specifically addressed. The most remote of the school sites classified as deprived, depressed and under-served are chosen as recipients.

Selected school sites are identified for the BftB National "Model-of-Excellence School" Project. Each is maintained in a high material resource state in order to provide an example of a state-of -the-art education facility.

These sites are tracked over. a six-year evaluation period to demonstrate the effectiveness of the BftB intercession and provide feedback for donation refinements. Host nation public education system authorities are provided with teacher professional training paraphernalia and curriculum materials that are used in developmental workshops.

The program is evaluated as to impact on student scholastic ability by professional education authorities by means of subjective evaluation of teacher satisfaction and standardized testing.

BftB personnel make periodic inspections and continue to require all recipient administrators and teachers to correspond directly with confirmation of delivery and details of the impact of the donation.

The ultimate test of the program is, of course, the resultant change in means and stature of the students. Evaluation of the program in the U.S. takes the form of annual reports to the Board of Directors and an annual financial review by an independent audit agency.

The present work plan is to ship a twenty-foot container van weighing 29,000 pounds at three-week intervals. The material consists of elementary and secondary math, science, spelling, English language, world history and literature books.

Also included will be encyclopedias, dictionaries, reading books, curriculum guides and teachers' professional materials.

BftB seeks financial support in the form of General Program ($40,000) and Major Corporate ($100,000) Sponsorships, as well as single container sponsorships ($10,000.) All donations are tax-deductible. Sponsors may choose the geographic center of the distribution pattern, but recipient site selection is strictly controlled by our organization, on the basis of professional evaluation of need.

A financial grant from corporations in support of this program will enable BOOKS for the BARRIOS to empower more children. The sponsoring corporation will reap the benefit of tremendous positive exposure and recognition from a nation-wide market.

Recipient countries will realize a rejuvenation of their educational delivery system, providing the driving force behind the their national economic recovery programs through empowerment of their nation's youth.
Books for the Barrios

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