And it's almost time to go...

So... I didn't really write much in the last post. Things were pretty hectic the last few weeks of school. But tomorrow is our last full day in the U.S.! After that me and Zach are flying out on the same flight together on Sunday to Mumbai. I saw that Zach had wanted to get a chance to write about his goals. I am not really sure who is reading this blog so I will address it as though the reader hasn't been to our meetings. I am really looking forward to getting the community invested in our libraries. We want to stress the importance of reading for fun rather than just reading for technical skill. In order to do this, we know we have to get the community really invested in our libraries. 

We have a committee to work on the maintenance of the libraries. When we get there we want to have dinner with them and stress to them how reading leads to success - in order to gain their investment in the library. To get the kids involved, we are hoping they may want to help us decorate the room, have reading competitions, have English classes, have a library opening celebration, etc. The principal did express interest in having us also teach English classes while we are there.

We also had one meeting with a woman in charge of a program called Africa Library Project. She gave us a lot of invaluable advice on setting up libraries based upon her own experience with setting up libraries in Africa. There was one library she set up that had a 100% pass rate after the opening of her library! She talked a lot about trying to turn the library into a community project rather than something strictly involving the school.

Anyway, I am getting really excited, but it probably won't feel quite real until we are on the plane! Getting everyone to have a long term investment in the library and having some interesting experiences with the kids are my goals. I can't wait to see what happens.