Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:33 pm by globalturbo
Good People Doing Good Things — Colin Bloom
Posted on June 14, 2023 by jilldennison
Today I would like to introduce you to a young man named Colin Bloom. Colin lives in New York, but has dual U.S.-South African citizenship and spends time each year in South Africa. Back in 2018, during a visit to SA when he was 12 years old, he was awakened to the harsh reality that many children in South Africa do not have access to books at all and many people in South Africa are functionally illiterate. Not only was Colin, a book lover, appalled, but he determined to do something about that. And he did and he is!
Colin firmly believes that reading is a human right, so to help South African youth, he founded Libraries for Literacy. This nonprofit organization builds libraries in some of South Africa’s most marginalized communities in hopes of ensuring every child in the country has access to books, while addressing racial injustice and inequity in literacy that exist as part of Apartheid’s legacy. To make his idea a reality, Colin formed partnerships with schools, libraries, and businesses across South Africa and the United States through which he is able to secure books in Zulu, Xitsonga, Sepedi, and English; transport the books to the libraries; and provide literacy training. Colin understands that ending illiteracy is about more than just providing access to books, so he has made sure to reach out to local teachers, principals, and leaders in the communities where his libraries are built to establish community buy-in and ongoing support once each library has its grand opening.
In 2023, Colin opened his fourth library in South Africa providing access to books for nearly 1500 youth in the northeastern part of the country. Many of those receiving support from Colin’s work are children whose parents are unemployed or are orphans belonging to child-headed households. The students who visit the libraries often bring home books to share with their siblings and parents, increasing the libraries’ reach. Guided by former South African President Nelson Mandela who said “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world,” Colin hopes his work will help children succeed in school and in life.
Colin has a short video telling his story in his own words, and I really hope you’ll take 4 minutes to watch it … I promise you won’t regret it!
And for more about Colin and his efforts, check out this interview he did yesterday with Daily Point of Light!
THANKS TO: https://jilldennison.com/2023/06/14/good-people-doing-good-things-colin-bloom/
Posted on June 14, 2023 by jilldennison
Today I would like to introduce you to a young man named Colin Bloom. Colin lives in New York, but has dual U.S.-South African citizenship and spends time each year in South Africa. Back in 2018, during a visit to SA when he was 12 years old, he was awakened to the harsh reality that many children in South Africa do not have access to books at all and many people in South Africa are functionally illiterate. Not only was Colin, a book lover, appalled, but he determined to do something about that. And he did and he is!
Colin firmly believes that reading is a human right, so to help South African youth, he founded Libraries for Literacy. This nonprofit organization builds libraries in some of South Africa’s most marginalized communities in hopes of ensuring every child in the country has access to books, while addressing racial injustice and inequity in literacy that exist as part of Apartheid’s legacy. To make his idea a reality, Colin formed partnerships with schools, libraries, and businesses across South Africa and the United States through which he is able to secure books in Zulu, Xitsonga, Sepedi, and English; transport the books to the libraries; and provide literacy training. Colin understands that ending illiteracy is about more than just providing access to books, so he has made sure to reach out to local teachers, principals, and leaders in the communities where his libraries are built to establish community buy-in and ongoing support once each library has its grand opening.
In 2023, Colin opened his fourth library in South Africa providing access to books for nearly 1500 youth in the northeastern part of the country. Many of those receiving support from Colin’s work are children whose parents are unemployed or are orphans belonging to child-headed households. The students who visit the libraries often bring home books to share with their siblings and parents, increasing the libraries’ reach. Guided by former South African President Nelson Mandela who said “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world,” Colin hopes his work will help children succeed in school and in life.
Colin has a short video telling his story in his own words, and I really hope you’ll take 4 minutes to watch it … I promise you won’t regret it!
And for more about Colin and his efforts, check out this interview he did yesterday with Daily Point of Light!
THANKS TO: https://jilldennison.com/2023/06/14/good-people-doing-good-things-colin-bloom/
