Since its inception, Building with Books has made it part of its mission to help populations in developing countries break the cycle of illiteracy and poverty through education.
With a focus on building safe, functional schools for children and providing adult literacy classes for entire communities, BwB currently partners with villagers in rural communities in Haiti, Malawi, Mali, Nepal, Nicaragua and Senegal.
Result? Through its School Construction Program, BwB has built more than 285 schools around the world since 1992, with another 58 schools planned for 2008.
How We Build Schools
BwB’s Construction Methodology is designed to empower people in developing countries to become pro-active in the pursuit of education and self-reliance. Keys to our success include careful site selection, experienced staff, and community participation throughout every aspect of the program.
Refined over 17 years of grass-roots fieldwork, our methodology has proven to be replicable and scalable in every country where we work. Our work is effective because it promotes self-reliance, a key component of sustainable development, and it ensures that community members are empowered to take ownership of pursuing their education and other development goals, well beyond the time of their partnership with BwB.
The BwB Covenant
Before a school construction project begins, villagers and BwB sign a covenant that outlines the expectations the community has of BwB and that we have of them.
BwB promises to provide all construction materials, construction management and skilled labor among other things. Meanwhile, the community elects a project leadership committee and in the covenant the entire community agrees to provide all unskilled labor necessary to build the school. Up to 30 volunteers per day. Many communities contribute more than 3,000 volunteer work days to build a single school. They also commit to providing all locally available materials to build the school. This is their school and they actually build it!
Most importantly, the covenant they sign promises gender balance across all aspects of the project - at least 50% of the students in the new school will be girls and women make up at least 50% of the project leadership committee.
Many villagers, especially in countries with high illiteracy rates, cannot sign their own name and must make their commitment by inking their fingerprint next to their name.
Through this commitment to help build their school, villagers become stakeholders in their futures while instilling pride in their accomplishments. Indeed, community contributions typically equate to 20% - 30% of the cost of each school construction project. Since 1992, villagers have contributed more than 569,000 workdays (at 8 hours per day) to construct their own schools. That’s a lot of pride to go around.
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Gender Equality
BwB’s School Construction Program and Community Education Program help provide increased access to education for both girls and women. When adults sign the BwB Covenant, they commit to sending girls to school in an equal number as boys, and that the project leadership committee and daily volunteers are comprised of at least 50% women.
BwB staff work with each project leadership committee to ensure gender balance in every aspect of the project - during the planning and construction of the school, as well as in the makeup of the student body once the school has been completed.
By requiring 50% female participation in both areas, BwB strives to increase literacy rates in our world's poorest communities. In the words of one Malian village elder, "When you educate a boy, you educate one man. When you educate a girl, you educate an entire family."
Classrooms, Quality and More
What can communities expect from their schools? Sound structures outfitted with multiple classrooms as well as separate latrines for boys and girls.In everything we do, BwB guarantees the quality of the materials and that the community is involved on all levels.
We also assure value for every dollar that goes into the project. There are no middlemen in the construction of BwB schools – we are the builder, and through nearly 20 years' experience in the developing world, we can guarantee the highest quality of materials for the most competitive prices, using our leverage of buying in bulk and through a highly transparent vendor bidding process.
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