Feel Good Friday - Books for Wider Horizons

Did you know this week is National Library Week? What a perfect time to shine a spotlight on Books for Wider Horizons. 

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Oakland, California, Books for Wider Horizons  (BWH) is a program of the Oakland Public Library that recruits, trains, and places volunteer story readers in preschool and childcare centers throughout the city. The program began as a partnership between the Oakland Public Library and the City's Youth Services, and now BWH sends volunteers into Head Start centers and preschool sites each week to read aloud to children who might otherwise rarely experience the joy of a good book.

The mission is simple: support early literacy development and nurture a lifelong love of reading. Many of the kids served by BWH have few books at home and limited access to adults who read aloud to them. Volunteer readers fill that gap in a deeply personal way, showing up week after week to the same classroom, building real relationships with children and teachers, and becoming a familiar, beloved presence. Teachers report that volunteers are treated like rock stars. As someone who started volunteering with this organization at the beginning of the year I can confirm! Our storytime sessions always end with a giant group hug.

Volunteer readers come from all walks of life. They are students, retired teachers, and professionals on their lunch breaks. Bilingual readers are especially welcome, bringing multilingual storytime experiences to classrooms where many children are English language learners. The volunteer training sessions are engaging and informative and leave you well equipped to lead a weekly storytime at your assigned preschool. It’s amazing how much reading, singing and movement you can do in a 25-30 minute session. 

If this sounds like something you'd love to support, here's how you can get involved. Join the waitlist for the next volunteer training at Books for Wider Horizons and bring your joy of reading to an Oakland preschool classroom. You can also amplify their work on social media by following the Oakland Public Library on Bluesky, Facebook or Instagram and sharing their stories of joy and learning with your network.

Happy National Library Week!

 

Speed Building in Siem Reap

Can 15 people really build two houses in 4 days? You can if you've got an organized plan and friends in the neighborhood. 

I arrived in Siem Reap on Sunday and met up with the rest of the volunteer crew. We learned we'd be building houses for two young families under the supervision of the Volunteer Building Cambodia foremen. Our team started by tearing down the house one of the families was living in (the family on the right in the photo below). That only took 45 minutes and repeated shaking off the insects that were also living there and falling out as the walls and roof came down.

I spent most of the day painting my pants, shirt, hat, gloves and also some siding that will go on the house. There are only two VBC builders and the rest of the helpers are people in the neighborhood. Our favorites are a badass grandma and a man we have dubbed Paris Fashion Week because of his Coco Chanel bucket hat and sunglasses. After our crew leaves around noon, these people keep working to make sure we're on track for the 4 day schedule.

Day two started with a blessing before the ground breaking so that it would be a safe build for everyone. Too bad that didn't happen on day one when two of the volunteers had to go to the clinic - one for severe dehydration and the other to get 4 stitches in a cut on her arm. They are both okay now and it was an excellent scared straight way to remind us all to stay hydrated and be careful.

After the blessing, we raised the frame that was assembled while we were visiting the Hero Rats at APOPO. More on that coming up on Feel Good Friday. I spent the rest of the morning painting, varnishing shutters, and helping build scaffolding. It's all going very quickly and I can't wait to see what gone done after we left today.

We finished our day with a visit to the market and a cooking class where we made spring rolls, chicken amok and pumpkin custard inside pumpkins. All very delicious.

The photo dump is below. I'll add photos of me as I get them from other people. In the meantime, please enjoy the stylings of Paris Fashion Week.