Give a Book – Change a Life

Norma Yvonne,
aka Mrs. Dowbrigade, has a heart as high as the Andes and as deep as
the Pacific Ocean. Upon seeing first hand the neglect and cultural decay
which has set in in her home town, the agricultural market town of Chone,
Ecuador, she decided she had to do something about it.

A big part of the problem, symptom and source as well, is the rampant
unemployment, over 50% among teenagers and 20-somethings.  And since
there is no real educational or edifying entertainment in Chone, these
young people hang out on all of the street corners, whiling away the
hours drinking, smoking and gossiping.  Norma decided what they
needed was some good books to read!

What passes for a public library in Chone is a sad joke – no acquisitions
in the past 20 years and a physical plant more rundown than the local
dogcatcher’s kennel.  So she decided to sponsor and create a private,
free, lending library.  Her mother, the Dowbrigade mother-in-law
(at this moment snoring away in our guest bedroom, here in Manta for
a visit) has a lovely apartment on the second floor of a large building
right at the crossroads at the entry to the "downtown" area.  Actually,
she owns the whole building, and rents the 4 storefronts on the first
floor to a variety of local businesses; an ice cream shop, corner store,
and a weird Metaphysics office/store that is never open.

The fourth storefront is currently unoccupied, and Annie (strangely,
a not uncommon first name in these parts) has offered the space to her
daughter for the library.  Now all we need are some books!

The Dowbrigade has started things off with about 100 tomes we sent down
from Boston via US postal mail bag (the cheapest way to send books and
printed materials).  We would like to solicit right now, any old,
used, unneeded books you all might have or be able to get your hands
on, in ENGLISH or SPANISH, for a very worthy cause.

This is a chance to help some deserving dead-end kids cop a little culture
– a charitable donation which will go directly into the hands of the
people who need them – no overhead or diverted resources at all.  If
any of you, loyal readers, have books you no longer need, don’t throw
them out, send them to:

Guadalupe Moreira de Intriago (Norma’s sister, acting as chief librarian
in absentia)
Correo Central
Chone – Manabi
Ecuador – South America

Anything at al will be appreciated – fiction or non-fiction, hard cover
or paperback, magazines or encyclopedias. We will try to acknowledge
all contributions – you might even get a shelf named after you!  And
if you ever happen to be in Chone, Ecuador, you can drop in and visit
your tomes.

Do a good deed – sponsor literacy and give some idle youth a chance
to auto-educate. A good book can change a life.