In November 2010 a Greene County, VA school librarian traveled to Ecuador thanks to the Toyota International Teacher Program. While visiting Delia Ibarra Elementary School on Isla Santa Cruz in the Galapagos, she saw that the school needed a library and came up with a plan to help. The Books Below the Equator, ¡Leamos! Project was organized to meet this need. We are a group of teachers, students and Toyota International Teacher Program Alumni dedicated to creating a library for the school children at Delia Ibarra.
We have two goals for the Books Below the Equator, ¡Leamos! Project. First, we want to raise enough money for the books and materials to create the small library at Delia Ibarra Elementary School. Second, we want to raise the funds for a group of our students to travel to the Galapagos Islands on a service trip during the summer of 2012. We are coordinating our efforts in Ecuador with Galapagos ICE, an international charity dedicated to improving education and healthcare for residents of the Galapagos Islands. Galapagos ICE actively involves the Galapagos community in efforts to preserve the natural wonders of the islands.
Over the coming year, we are organizing fund raising events in support of this great cause.
