In December of 2008, United Planet volunteer Gloria Wells went on a two-week Quest to Tibet. When she returned, she knew she wanted to do more for the amazing children she had worked with as a volunteer. After speaking with the English teacher at “Number One Middle School” in the Yushu region of Tibet, she discovered that while all students are required to study English, they had very few books from which to read. This is Gloria’s story.

I was so impressed by Tenzin’s commitment to his students, his passion for teaching, and the amazing students at his school that I decided that I had to do something to increase the number of English books in their library.

In January 2009, I threw a party at my house here in Phoenix. I invited everyone I could think of and asked that instead of bringing a hostess gift or a bottle of wine as they normally would, that they bring a book for the wonderful students that I had met in Tibet. The turn-out was amazing! People had such a great time either shopping for their favorite books or bringing a treasure from their childhood. One woman even brought her entire collection of mint condition Nancy Drew Mysteries. She told me that at first it was difficult to part with the beloved treasures, but once she realized that some child would be able to enjoy them as much as she did, it was an easy decision. In the end, I collected 650 books at that party.

In the meantime my cousin, who is a teacher, worked with her school librarian and started a competition to collect more books. We made large posters of the students and other people I had met in Tibet and the school created a fair-like event for the collections. The children at the Palo Verde Middle School loved this event. They collected over 1000 books within a week! This year they changed the goal to raising funds to help me ship the books.

As you can see, this small project has grown quite a lot. People continue to bring me books for Tibet. I use the USPS one-rate box and so far I have been very fortunate that all the books have reached the school without incident. Shipping costs just went up again, though, so it now costs well over $50 to ship each box. To compensate, I have decided to sponsor another party this year to collect donations for the shipments to Tibet. I am currently expecting 75 people and have already had some people send me donations!

All of this started with one small volunteer mission to Tibet through United Planet. I think it’s always amazing to watch such a small idea grow all around you!

To help Gloria reach her goal of sending over 1,000 books to Tibet, please email her at Gloria.Wells@eclipsys.com or mail a donation to: 13726 North Ambush Lane, Fort McDowell, AZ. 85264

Inspired? Plan your own Quest on our website.

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Tags: books, culture, donate, Tibet

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