The organization works throughout the year on a short story anthology to send overseas to help teachers build generations of English-literate students.
Junior Taylor Finch, writing partners team lead for the group, said there is one overarching concern the group hopes to address: the lack of resources available in ?Rwanda.
“Books & Beyond is a literacy outreach program which helps to reduce the book famine in Rwanda,” Finch said.
Sophomore Loida ?Rodriguez, Rwandan culture and communication team lead, elaborated on the goals of the group.
“Books & Beyond is a service-learning group, and what we focus on is spreading literacy and also having students interact on the state level within IU, the national level with students in Newark, New Jersey and also on the international level with children in Rwanda,” Rodriguez said.
According to Rodriguez, the club formed out of necessity when Rwanda changed its national language from French to English. The change left many teachers and students unprepared for the upcoming school years because they had minimal experience teaching in English.
“Now a lot of the students and teachers are being taught English, but there aren’t enough books there that are in English,” Rodriguez said. “It’s hard to learn a language if you don’t have books written in that language.”
Rodriguez said the group aims to make enough books for all the students at the Kabwende Primary School, located in the Musanze Province of Rwanda. Each year, the group tries to make at least 2,0000 books, Rodriguez said.
In Newark last weekend, the team met with junior high students to collaboratively write and illustrate the stories for the anthology. This year, Finch said, the team decided to go a slightly different route than in years past.
“We first got there and bonded with the students, got to know each other for a little bit, then we created the stories, illustrated them,” Finch said. “The kids in Rwanda also write stories, and this year we incorporated them into ?the books.”
Rodriguez said her role on this trip was more of an informative one, as she was in charge of educating the Newark students on life in Rwanda.
“My role during this trip was to try to show the Newark students a little about Rwanda, and I actually had a mixture of a presentation and interactive quiz to see how much the students were learning about, like the food, religion, ethnic groups, just some things that we kind of take for granted about the culture,” Rodriguez said.
Newly-appointed student director Abigail Hamilton said the trip also helped unify the students at IU with the students in Newark for this common good.
“Not only did we finish writing all the stories like we intended, I think we bonded a lot both as a Books & Beyond organization and with the team of students,” Hamilton said. “We got a lot of time to hang out and talk about either middle school or high school and tell the kids about college and the Midwest.”
Finch, who served as a volunteer in previous years, said acting as a lead this year was a different but no less rewarding experience.
“It was good to know that the process we’ve been using has been very effective,” Finch said. “Everyone partnering, sharing, helping each other be creative was the best way, I suppose, to do this sort of thing. All this enthusiasm, all this energy takes place so it was very good I’d say.”
Rodriguez said the part she found most rewarding this trip was seeing how their experience inspired the students in Newark.
“I think it was very motivating to see all the work we do and how we’re involving and also influencing students in New Jersey and in Rwanda,” Rodriguez said. “When they talked about IU, they also talked about how we’re an ?influence.”
The next step now that the books have been completed is the summer trip to Rwanda to deliver the books to Kabwende students. At least two Books and Beyond members are attending the trip, which is organized through ?a class.
Hamilton, a junior, went on the trip during the summer of 2014, and it left her with strong impressions.
“It was a really amazing experience. It was my first time being out of the country, so it was a large difference,” Hamilton said. “For me it was really impactful to see how the B&B books were being used in Rwanda, to see how much the kids appreciated receiving the book.”
Rodriguez said even though she has not yet gone to Rwanda, she looks forward to helping the club make the finished product.
“If I would have the opportunity, I would love to go to Rwanda,” Rodriguez said. “What I’m looking forward to the most is finishing the year off strong and making sure the stories are published.”
Hamilton said this sort of volunteerism really makes her grateful for her experiences.
“It makes me feel very involved and very much a part of something outside of just my little corner of IU,” Hamilton said. “It connects me with people across the globe.”
Rodriguez said she encourages anyone interested in learning more about Rwanda or just being involved with the project to definitely try joining Books & Beyond.
“If they’re looking to get more involved in clubs here at IU, although Books & Beyond might be small now, 66 members or so, it’d be a great opportunity if someone wants to become involved in the team,” Rodriguez said.
