Romanian youth collect more than 2,300 books for village library
Over a period of three weeks, the youth joined their high school colleagues to prepare a wonderful surprise for the children of Golaiesti commune – one of the five rural communities where World Vision Romania has worked for the last ten years. All of the students involved in the campaign come from these communities and receive ongoing support from World Vision to continue their highschool education.
“We have a good idea about the state of the public libraries in our villages – the books are few and the ones that do exist are in a pitiful state. It’s hard to think that a child could love reading in these conditions”, said Simona R., one of the students involved in the campaign.
This year, the campaign concentrated on collecting children’s books, as these are the resources most lacking in the Golaiesti library.
“We haven’t received any money for new books in the last five years. The village hall has no funds to spare for us. Last fall, a well known Romanian magazine donated a few boxes of books through World Vision but it was mostly adult books. It broke my heart to have children coming every day in the three square metre room that we call a library and have almost nothing to offer them,” shared Ms. Mariana, the village librarian and World Vision community worker in Golaiesti.
The 2,347 books were donated on April 1st, in celebration of the International Children’s Book Day (April 2nd – Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday). The event took place in a well known bookstore in Iasi city and hosted a story-telling session for a group of about 20 children from Golaiesti commune. The children’s favourite story was “Little Tiny or Thumbelina”, read by Corina A., one of the scholarships students, currently studying to become an actress.
World Vision is one of the few development organisations in Romania working in rural areas. Among its most successful projects are those that invest in children’s education, such as the scholarship project. In Iasi county – one of Romania’s poorest counties – World Vision is supporting more than 100 students from rural communities to continue their highschool education.
“We have a good idea about the state of the public libraries in our villages – the books are few and the ones that do exist are in a pitiful state. It’s hard to think that a child could love reading in these conditions”, said Simona R., one of the students involved in the campaign.
This year, the campaign concentrated on collecting children’s books, as these are the resources most lacking in the Golaiesti library.
“We haven’t received any money for new books in the last five years. The village hall has no funds to spare for us. Last fall, a well known Romanian magazine donated a few boxes of books through World Vision but it was mostly adult books. It broke my heart to have children coming every day in the three square metre room that we call a library and have almost nothing to offer them,” shared Ms. Mariana, the village librarian and World Vision community worker in Golaiesti.
The 2,347 books were donated on April 1st, in celebration of the International Children’s Book Day (April 2nd – Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday). The event took place in a well known bookstore in Iasi city and hosted a story-telling session for a group of about 20 children from Golaiesti commune. The children’s favourite story was “Little Tiny or Thumbelina”, read by Corina A., one of the scholarships students, currently studying to become an actress.
World Vision is one of the few development organisations in Romania working in rural areas. Among its most successful projects are those that invest in children’s education, such as the scholarship project. In Iasi county – one of Romania’s poorest counties – World Vision is supporting more than 100 students from rural communities to continue their highschool education.
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