One Earth Foundation believes in the importance of education. We wanted to work with other local non-profit organizations. Our goal is to foster cooperation with a local non-profit to create a program on how to teach the children “how to fish, and not just give them fish.” Then the idea of building a school library at Centro Básico Tim Hines (named after an American missionary) in Tegucigalpa, Honduras for 500 children between first and ninth grade started in early March in partnership with a Honduran non-profit organization, Chispa Project.
We had 20 days to raise $3,000 to build a room for a school library, supply 700 books, provide a workshop for teachers on how to teach creatively with the books, provide a workshop for parents on how to use books at home and provide a workshop for the children on how to use and care for the books.
We are very grateful to 70 generous donors who helped us raise the $3,000 needed in a very short period of time. Our executive director, Kaye Retardo, went to Honduras from March 26-31, 2018. She brought books from the US to the library, helped with painting the library, helped create an inventory of the books, and met with the principal, teacher and some students of Centro Basico Time Hines.
In the following few months, our local partner, Chispa Project continued to provide workshops and training for teachers, parents, and students in preparation for the library’s completion. The inauguration of the new school library at Centro Básico Tim Hines was on July 10, 2018, with 500 children ready to discover new adventures in the books they are about to read.
