1/13/2006
A promise kept
Paul and I started to work on acquiring books for India. He and his Rotary Club of Madras began to assess schools and libraries in their city that were most in need. Eventually, they compiled a list of 100 schools and libraries and the types of books needed.
On this end, we collected books from individuals, Citizens Library, the local chapter of the American Association of University Women and from another Rotary Club that had acquired books from an elementary school in Uniontown that had closed. But most of the books came to us from textbook publishers through Brother's Brother Foundation, the Pittsburgh-based charity that is a partner with Books for the World.
In the middle of this effort, something terrible happened: the tsunami. The southeastern coast of India, all the way up to Madras (now called Chennai) was ravaged by the waves, and some off the schools meant to receive our books were damaged or destroyed. Shortly after the calamity, I wrote Paul to offer condolences and suspend our project. "I'm sure you have much greater concerns now," I wrote. But Paul, whose club was busy assembling first-aid kits and emergency packages for victims, was insistent that our project proceed as scheduled. The books were needed now more than ever, he wrote.
One Dec. 1, nine tons of books - 8,544 of them - were packed in a 20-foot container and shipped to India. The cargo arrived at the port of Chennai on Jan. 5, and the Rotary Club of Madras is currently waiting for the books to clear customs.
None of the books will be going to that pathetic university library that provided the inspiration for Books for the World. But certainly, some of the future students of that university will have benefitted from the gift of books made by the people of Washington and Greene counties - books that were provided to their schools when they were most in need.
