What would your childhood have been like without books?
Imagine what your childhood would have been like without books.
Currently, one out of every seven people in the world is illiterate. Local schools and libraries throughout the world lack sufficient reading materials for young students. In those communities that are lucky enough to have books, they are often considered so precious that they are kept under lock and key so that students cannot damage them. Living in a book-rich society like ours, it is hard to believe, but many children around the world have never had an opportunity to enjoy possessing a book of their own.
When I think back to the books that I read as a child, I cannot help but remember the transformative magic that they brought into my life. With The Voices Project, I will use my publishing experience to harness a combination of traditional publishing technologies as well as new Internet and print-on-demand (POD) technologies to share the simple magic of books with children who otherwise have limited or no access.
Using the customization made possible through Internet and POD technologies, combined with existing local publishing infrastructure, I am going to integrate local “voices” into each book. These "voices" - content created by marginalized and under-represented children, elders, neighbors and teachers - will be combined with age-appropriate readings and learning pedagogy. Not only will many children own their first book, local communities will be empowered when they see that their ideas about the present and hopes for the future are going to be shared with readers around the world.
In April 2008, we will officially launch The Voices Project with the construction of a new GeoDiscovery Lab at an Orphanage in Ghana. I am going to donate $2500 towards this goal if I can raise another $2500 from other sources. Will you help?