Day 337

I volunteered at Books for Africa first thing this morning and made it through 2 very cold hours in the warehouse!

There were a lot of volunteers there today, most of them high school kids, so we sorted and packed A LOT of books. The box I was going through was mostly elementary school leisure reading books and some middle school books. I remembered some of the titles from way back when - some things are meant to stay the same :)

Day 283

I took advantage of the Columbus Day holiday and went to volunteer early this morning. I made it back to Books for Africa - Jiten has been going here a lot more than I do, so I figured I'd go back :)

We had a small group of about five volunteers this morning. But the staff there were still so thankful that we would choose to volunteer first thing on a Monday morning. He gave the usual tour and info about what they do and then we got to unpacking and sorting books. I worked on a pallet of college level books, most of them were computer programming books, but I had a few other subjects too. It was an easy sort especially since I didn't have to figure out the grade level. I ended up staying a little later than scheduled so I could finish off my pallet.

I enjoyed volunteering there this morning, and prefer the smaller volunteer groups here because it doesn't get too chaotic. Hopefully I'll get to go back soon!

Day 272

Today I went to Books for Africa. There was a very small group of volunteers there today and we were all busy doing our part with little conversation about college and looking for a job. I packed science books today. Got through an entire pallet of books in the two hours I was there. It was a hot and tiring day today, but I was glad to be able to do my part and in those two hours I packed almost a 1000 books!

Chandni is away at a retreat and has also been able to give while there. Here is what she's been up to:

"So I'm at a mindfulness retreat for a few days and it has been an amazing experience so far. While here we each are assigned a way of giving back to our community here at the monastery by helping with different tasks. We can help with meals, cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the grounds, washing dishes, taking out the trash, or setting up chairs for different events. My groups assignment is to take out the trash after each meal. So even though I'm not able to give in the ways I've done all year, this small giving task is my way of giving back while here at the retreat. There's always an opportunity. We just have to be willing to do it :)".

Day 238

Another travel day, so Jiten went to Books for Africa:

"I was at Books for Africa today. There weren't a lot of volunteers there today so we all got down to doing our part in either sorting or packing the books. We managed to pack five pallets of books of all primary school science and math books. That's a lot of books! It was a good day of volunteering and i'll be back there soon."

Thanks kid!!

Day 221

Thanks for covering kid!!!

"It was the busiest I have ever seen Books for Africa. There were a lot of volunteers there today and in all the commotion of having so many people we all were working in some sort of synchronized fashion. We were in 4 different group, with each group having there own section to be responsible for. I was with 10 other people working on secondary school books. We were sorting, packing, and getting ready for shipments. They also had a pickup today - a container of books went out to Angola and Malawi. There were a lot of good conversations today with an entirely new group of people. We talked about school, and how important it is to volunteer and of course ended up talking about Botswana and South Africa. It was a good day and I'll be back on Thursday to help them with sending out another container load."


~ Jiten

Day 213

So one of the ideas with this project was to get people in my life also involved in giving back, and for them to commit to giving for a certain period of time. As most of the readers know, my brother Jiten has really been involved in helping and this week he is committing to several days. He started off by volunteering with me, then started taking a day here or there for me, and now is taking almost the entire week!

Today he was at his usual - Books for Africa, here's his recap:

"It was a busy day at Books for Africa...there were just 3 volunteers today: me and the 2 okes doing community service. I spent the entire time packing books into boxes and getting them ready for shipping. Also today, one of the volunteers had done some extra volunteering and managed to bring in a donation of almost $60 from collections he had done last weekend at six flags. It just goes to show you can volunteer almost anywhere you are, even when you are out having fun."

Thanks for taking on this week kid!!

Day 209

Between work and traveling from East Georgia to West Georgia I knew I was going to need some help today. Luckily Jiten was, once again, able to help out. He was back at Books for Africa - I think this place means to him what SafeHouse means to me :)

Here's how his day went:

"Another busy day at Books for Africa. There were only 6 of us volunteering today and we had a lot of packing to do. We packed the books into boxes and on pallets for shipping. I packed 4 pallets of boxes today all in the company of my new shawtie from KSU. Another day of good conversations and laughs while we worked. It was a good day overall although very tiring!"

Once again, I'm in awe with how much my brother has helped with this project - thanks kid!!

Day 207

When I'm traveling it's always great to see people help out with the project by helping fill in for me. Today my brother, Jiten, covered for me. He was at Books for Africa, here's his recap:

"It was a busy start to my time at Books for Africa. The Atlanta community bank had a group of volunteers there for the morning, but half way through my time there they all left and there were 5 of us left. We were busy packing books into boxes and getting them ready to be shipped out. I spoke with an elder gentleman today from Atlanta who started volunteering there recently. He was excited to hear that I am from Botswana and we spent the whole time talking about Africa and how African countries are trying hard to rise up against poverty and achieve stable economies. He was very inquisitive about Botswana and southern Africa in general, as to how life is there and how much different it is from America. Overall I had a good day there and had a great conversation. I'll be back on Thursday :)"

Thanks for covering kid!!

Day 195

Jiten covered for me today by going to Books for Africa, here's his recap:

"I was back at Books for Africa today. It was a quiet day today; not many people and not a whole lot to do. They were waiting for a new shipment to come in so we were sorting the few books we had. My cheerleader friend was back again. So we spent the whole time together talking and sorting books out. It was a good time. Ill be back there soon."

Thanks for covering kid!! And yes you will be back there soon :)

Day 178

My brother and cousin volunteered for me today at Books for Africa, here's how it went:

"It was another busy day at Books for Africa. Despite the blazing heat, there were a lot of people there to help out today. A church group as well as some other okes who were just there to volunteer. They received a new truck load of books so everybody was busy with sorting books out. Overall a good group of people and everyone was really just concentrating on getting all those books done."

It was the first time my cousin helped out, here's his quick take on volunteering:

"It was good. Time flew by. I was surprised by how many people were there to volunteer and help out."

Thank you both so much for volunteering today!!

Day 173

It's been a rather hectic day at work so my brother, Jiten, covered for me today. Here's his recap for today:

"I was back at Books for Africa this morning. It was very tiring since there were only 5 volunteers there today. As soon as I got there, I found out what needed to be done and got right to it. I spent a full two hours packing books into boxes preparing them for shipping. I stacked up an entire pallet of 30 boxes filled with leisure reading books for primary school students in standards 1 to 4. The other 4 volunteers were all doing their part. There wasn't much conversation happening today unfortunately, as we were all on different sides of the warehouse... In those 2 hours I packed over 1000 books which will be going to a country in Africa soon. Just 2 hours of helping out made such a huge difference".

He's right - it doesn't take a lot of time to make a difference, but it does take WANTING to make a difference.

Thanks for helping out today kid!! You're definitely making a difference, and making me proud :)

Day 167

Part of this project is getting my family and friends involved in giving back. My little brother, Jiten, has been a big part of this project and always helps out when he can. He covered for me today and went to Books for Africa, here's what he has to say:

"I was back at Books for Africa today. There was a good group with the church group there along with the usual community service outies [people]. They remembered me from last time and were happy to see me back there to help out. We sorted books and listened to some music. A couple of the church outies started breaking it down and dancing and singing with the music. Everyone was having a good time! I helped one of the girls with sorting books, and got to know her a little bit as well. Overall, it was a lot of fun and the time absolutely flew by. Looking forward to heading back soon."

Thanks for volunteering today kid!!!!!!!!!!

Day 61

Jiten filled in for me again today, here's what he has to say:

"Went back to books for africa today and helped with the final packaging for the botswana book project. There were about 20 volunteers there today (the spring break chics were still there :D lol). I worked with an older couple today, Chris and his wife Connie. They are currently helping Pam with her project whilst also trying to make a difference by doing a similar thing in Zimbabwe. They were excited to meet me after hearing that a motswana was helping out on Monday. We were basically just packing all the boxes for shipment today. And also received about 5000 books from a high school in St. Louis, which was totally awesome. We managed to pack about 100 boxes of books and encyclopaedias which will be going to Maun Senior Secondary school. It was a fun day and I was really excited that in a few weeks these books will be all over public schools in Botswana.

Will be looking forward to the next time I'm back there to help out."

Thank you sooooo much for filling in for me kid!

Day 59

Jiten filled in for me today since I am out of town. He went to Books for Africa where they were sorting and packing books to be sent to Botswana (home for us)!! The last time I went I told him I wish I could go when they are sending books there, and the first time he goes that's where they sent books to! Since it was his first time I asked him to send me his thoughts:

"It was fun. I helped sort some books out and also packed a few boxes for Botswana . There were about 20 people helping out today. Some of the volunteers were students on spring break from Michigan State. It was good to see people helping out during their holidays. I met a lady, Pam, who used to be a librarian and then moved to Maun (we lived here for a while!) and decided to start the botswana book project (http://www.botswanabookproject.org/index.html) to help set up libraries in the public schools in Botswana. To date she has helped create over 300 libraries from this project. Overall it was an awesome experience, really enjoyed it and definitely looking forward to going back on Wednesday."

Check out the website for other ways to help the Botswana Book project. Its neat being able to make a difference at home even when we're not there :)

Thanks for filling in for me kid!