{"id":63897,"date":"2016-06-29T15:19:37","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T15:19:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oglethorpe.edu\/news\/books-for-benin-service-learning-project-global-reach\/"},"modified":"2025-02-10T21:47:27","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T21:47:27","slug":"books-for-benin-service-learning-project-global-reach","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/oglethorpe.edu\/news\/books-for-benin-service-learning-project-global-reach\/","title":{"rendered":"Students with Purpose: ‘Books for Benin’ Service Learning Project Has Global Reach"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the end of the spring semester, 13 picture books written by Oglethorpe students were delivered to children in Benin<\/a>, a French-speaking West African nation, in which approximately one-third of the population lives below the international poverty line.<\/p>\n

“Books for Benin,” a\u00a0global effort to supply books to that nation, was a project of the spring semester’s French 201 service learning class, taught by Professor\u00a0Iona Wynter Parks<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0Service learning is a type of experiential learning that integrates academic learning with community involvement.<\/p>\n

Books for Benin was \u201ca perfect project for students in this class,” according to Prof. Wynter Parks, “because it allowed each student to work at his or her level of French and it eliminated the worry of class content being too advanced for some students and not advanced enough for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Benin<\/a>
Lujan Rodriguez with her book “Nourbese et see amis animaux.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As part of the planning and writing process, the students attended a series of workshops led by award-winning author\u00a0and Oglethorpe professor Jessica Handler<\/strong>. \u201cThe workshops were key to getting us through the process,” said Lujan Rodriguez ’16<\/strong>. “Professor Handler helped us find where to begin, and how to find the inspiration that we needed to write our books.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lujan\u00a0<\/strong>adapted the story of her niece, who had a very rare type of eye cancer, for her inspirational book,\u00a0“Nourbese et\u00a0ses amis animaux<\/a><\/em>”\u00a0(“Nourbese and her animal friends”).\u00a0<\/i>“(My)\u00a0story includes talking animals and a little girl who is like my niece,\u201d said Lujan, who hopes that children who read her book will be encouraged to never lose hope and to believe in something bigger than themselves.<\/p>\n

When Victoria Lindbergh ’18<\/strong> began writing \u201cLa\u00a0Grande Aventure de G\u00e9rard<\/strong><\/a><\/em>\u201d, she knew that she wanted to write something that would allow the children of Benin to understand the importance of reading and independence. \u201cIf you want to go places, you have to trust yourself,” said Victoria, “and while it may be important to work with other people, you can\u2019t rely on them to get you where you want to go.”<\/p>\n

Kayla Stone ’18 <\/strong>was overflowing with ideas when she began the writing process—so much so that she didn\u2019t know where to begin, even though she says \u201cmy dream was to write a book.” Now, she’s looking forward to writing another. To ensure her book\u00a0\u201cArmel du Soleil<\/a>\u201d<\/em> would actively engage children, Kayla inserted several upside down pages and has her readers follow a ball as it \u201cbounces\u201d across multiple pages.<\/p>\n

Other\u00a0students who participated in the project were:\u00a0Carina Barreto, Nancy Dau,\u00a0Wesley Johnson, Lindsay Ramirez, Anna Rash, Fanny Rivera, Emily Taylor, MarNique Turner, Rebecca\u00a0White<\/strong>, and Aliyah\u00a0<\/strong>Zeigler. \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

In addition, Aliyah Ziegler, Kayla Stone and Rebecca White presented the service learning project at Oglethorpe\u2019s annual Liberal Arts and Sciences Symposium<\/a> on April 28. Watch their presentation here:<\/p>\n