El Salvador Project: Books for Students

Pictures from La Poza Elementary School El Salvador

Spring 2001 When I worked as an educator in the Washington DC area, I could not have imagined teaching without access to good literature. Most teachers I knew were fortunate to have ample classroom libraries, well-stocked school libraries, or at the least a nearby public library. Recently, GWRC, through a generous grant of $1000, put more than 200 books in the hands of students and teachers at the Centro Escolar La Poza in eastern El Salvador. In doing so, GWRC created a library where no classroom, school, or public library previously existed. The families whose children attend classes in the impoverished rural community of La Poza have suffered many losses, first due to the destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch, and more recently due to devastating earthquakes. The hundreds of children living in the community have spent the last two years attending classes in a makeshift set of wood and tin schoolrooms. When the Cooperative Housing Foundation (CHF) International, a Maryland based non-profit organization, built a beautiful new school building there was still something missing. GWRC's donation of books completed the effort to create an educational environment. Upon seeing tables of overflowing with new books, the astonished students pointed at brightly illustrated covers, nudged nearby friends, and chattered excitedly. When they actually had books in their hands they eagerly devoured them, turning to share and laugh with buddies. As she watched her students, the first grade teacher, who has 106 students enrolled in her class, explained that the government distributed textbooks and a small sum of money to La Poza. Unfortunately, after buying supplies such as paper, teachers were only able to purchase eleven trade books for the elementary school's more than 300 students. She went on to describe how her students beg her to read and retell each of the eleven stories over and over. When I taught in Fairfax County, in a school with a largely immigrant population, my colleagues and I frequently complained that those favorite classroom books that were read and reread often disappeared. Secretly, I believe we were all encouraged that our students wanted books so much that they "accidentally" left many of them in their homes for months at a time. I recall going to a student's house and observing neatly arranged on a living room shelf, several of my long lost books, her favorites. After living in El Salvador and visiting many schools, I now understand that my classroom library must have appeared as a veritable feast to my students, many of who came from schools much like La Poza. With its generous donation of books, GWRC provided the students and teachers of La Poza Elementary School, a feast that will surely nourish the minds and spirits of the children of this community for many years. Teresa Velle