ESL

On Nov. 11, Dhi Qar University in Nasiriyah, Iraq received our first shipment of English language learning material at an event organized by our partner in Iraq, the Michael Scott Mater Foundation, with support from the 402nd Army Field Support Brigade. Dhi Qar University Chancellor Dr. Ali Ismael Obeidi Al Snafi attended with other faculty members, including the director of Dhi Qar's "American Corner" library, and representatives of the Cultural Affairs Office of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad were also present.

Our second shipment of Headway English textbooks has just reached the Darfur refugee camps of eastern Chad. The following report and photos from our on-the-ground partner CORD capture the moment the refugees received this "lifeline." We are now half way to meeting the needs of the English classes in the camps, and ask for your support to enable additional shipments.

It was smiles all round in Chad as the second consignment of English text books from Book Wish were distributed to the teachers and students of CORD’s Education programme.

Our second shipment of Headway ESL books has just arrived in Hadjer Hadid, Chad, the staging point for our partner CORD's relief efforts in the Bredjing, Treguine, and Gaga refugee camps. The books will soon be in the hands of hundreds of Darfur refugees hoping that learning English will be their "road to freedom." This real improvement in the lives of Darfuris is happening because of donations from you, the public, and the critical support of Oxford University Press and Air France.

Exciting news from the refugee camps about the impact of our first shipment of Headway English language learning material. Despite the large amount of work to be accomplished in the fields during the summer rainy season, the refugees have chosen to continue their English studies through the summer school break! The Education Program Manager for our on-the-ground partner CORD, Anne Goddard, reports:

"In legacy of our high school that fostered learning and success," alumni of Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis, Indiana have donated $300 to the Book Wish Foundation's reading relief project in eastern Chad, completing the funding for a second shipment of ESL books for Darfur refugees learning English.

Under the leadership of Class President Kenneth D. Adams, Jr., the Crispus Attucks High School Alumni Class of 1954 identified the Book Wish project as an "opportunity to be of service."

Hippocrene Books, one of America’s foremost publishers of foreign-language reference books and ethnic cookbooks, has donated 75 of its popular English-Arabic/Arabic-English dictionaries to our reading relief project in the Bredjing, Treguine, and Gaga refugee camps in eastern Chad. The brand new copies of the Hippocrene Standard Dictionary: Arabic-English/English-Arabic, the Arabic Compact Dictionary: Arabic-English/English-Arabic, and the Arabic Practical Dictionary: Arabic-English/English-Arabic will help to advance the Darfur refugees along their "road to freedom," learning English.

June 26 was a day for celebration in the Bredjing Refugee Camp in eastern Chad, as the Book Wish Foundation's first shipment of books from the Headway English course arrived. Despite serious security incidents in the area, which had paralyzed transportation, our partners on the ground, CORD, safely delivered the 269 books to the grateful Darfuris, who place so much hope in learning English.

The first shipment of Headway English Language books for the Darfur refugees in Chad leave London's Heathrow Airport. Pictured are Brian Godfrey of Air France, and his team of handlers, who ensured a speedy delivery to the Chadian capital N'Djamena, via Paris.

The educational dreams of hundreds of refugees from Darfur came one step closer to reality on May 14, 2008. In Oxford, England, at the headquarters of renowned publisher Oxford University Press, Book Wish Foundation's UK-based partner CORD received the first group of Headway English language learning books destined for refugee camps in eastern Chad. Headway's publishing manager, Judith King, participated in the handover.