To Life!
GENERATIONS
Book Power from page 35
BwB Details
Kids at the new Building with Books pri-
mary school in Mali, West Africa.
Donna and Maddy, 5, of West Bloomfield watch Marc Friedman's Lone Pine
Elementary School presentation.
Motivation And Impact
Friedman said he was inspired to do
nonprofit work by family friend Agnes
Scott, now deceased, who was the first
woman on the West Bloomfield Board
of Education and, later, vice president of
development for WTVS, Channel 56.
"She was such a community activist:'
he said. "What I'm doing now is very
rewarding and satisfying. I love watch-
ing the kids grow up and to see that this
organization has helped them."
His parents, Dr. Irving and Honey
Friedman, say they're "in awe" of what
their son has taken on. The longtime
West Bloomfield residents attend BwB's
annual meetings, such as the one last
year in Chicago where U.S. Sen. Barack
Obama, Dill., was keynote speaker. "I
love to hear what the kids have to say:'
his mom said.
"It changed my life Andover High
School senior Scott Kirsch says of the
21/2 weeks he spent building a school in
Mali last spring. "We take education for
granted and here's a whole village corn-
ing to build a school. I try not to look at
things the way I used to!'
Ten students, including classmate Jody
Schecter of Bloomfield Hills, two teach-
ers and three BwB coordinators worked
alongside the villagers to put up the
school. The students, he said, took shifts,
but the villagers worked all day.
"It's had a huge impact on my life
said Schechter, who now is interested in
going into developmental economics and
is choosing among Georgetown, Tufts
and the University of Michigan. "I think
36
April 19. 2007
I have a better sense of economic levels
around the world."
"I was very impressed by the people
who were so warm and friendly:' said
Schechter, vice president for community
services for the Andover BwB program.
The students stayed with host families
who cleared out a hut, she said, where
they slept on grass-lined cots under mos-
quito nets.
Kirsch, a West Bloomfield resident
who is president of the Andover BwB
program, says he
tries to give 10
hours a month
to community
service. "We held
a fashion show
and a bingo
night to raise
money for a
school," he said.
He'll join more than 150 BwB students
throughout Metro Detroit on Saturday,
April 21, at Cass Park to help Recycle
Detroit kick off a new program for the
city. Students will help clean up and
plant flowers at the park, introduce a
new color-coded recycling program,
and put on a fashion show made out of
recycled materials, said Dianne Mishra,
Michigan program supervisor.
Scott Kirsch helps native West Africans
build the new BwB school in Mali.
In fact, Kirsch, who is headed to U-M
this fall, has applied to get into a particu-
lar dormitory (Couzens) because it fea-
tures a community service club. "I think
it's very important:' he said.
As they build schools, they also are
building friendship for the United States,
Friedman said. "We don't usually talk
politics, but as we put up more schools,
they're grateful to us and their opinion of
the U.S. is favorable."
Village chiefs have been known to ride
Village chiefs have been known to
ride their bicycles for two days to ask
a visiting BwB representative for a
school to be built in their village.
The Service Component
A 2004 study by Brandeis University
showed that 31 percent more BwB stu-
dents than comparison students expected
to be actively involved in their communi-
ties within the next three years.
their bicycles for two days to ask a visit-
ing BwB representative for a school to
be built in their village, Friedman said.
They often carry petitions signed by the
people in the village, usually with their
thumbprints because most can't write.
Most of Friedman's time is spent fund-
raising and developing strategy in the
U.S., but when he goes to the villages, he
particularly enjoys attending the adult
literacy classes.
"My favorite part of working in the
village is digging the school's foundation
and making the bricks:' he said. "I love
working side by side with the locals. I
make good friends in these villages!'
n
Building with Books (BwB) was found-
ed in 1991 with a mission to enhance
education and empower youth in
the United States to make a posi-
tive difference in their communities,
while helping people of developing
countries increase their self-reliance
through education.
To fulfill the mission, BwB works in
two interconnected program areas:
an after-school youth development
program for teenagers in the United
States and a community-based
schoolhouse construction and adult
education program in developing
countries.
Since its founding, BwB students in
more than 90 U.S. high schools have
helped build 200 schools in remote
villages in nine countries on four con-
tinents. More than 85,000 children
and adults in the developing world
have had the opportunity to become
self-reliant through education.
In the past year, students in the
United States contributed nearly
70,000 hours of service working with
senior citizens, homeless and young
children through BwB. The majority
of these students attend inner-city
high schools. Ninety-seven percent
of American high school students in
BwB programs over the last five years
have gone on to college.
General Electric Co. and the
McGraw-Hill Companies were initial
sponsors followed by corporate,
educational and individual donations
that provide BwB's $3 million annual
budget. Other major sponsors are the
Thomson Corporation (publishers) and
CitiGroup. GE also donates space for
many of the satellite offices that run
its U.S.-based youth programs.
International Academy Principal
Bert Okma is on its advisory board.
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-III., was
keynote speaker for its annual con-
ference last year and is an honorary
member of the BwB board.
Charity Navigator, an independent,
non-profit that evaluates American
charities, gives BwB its top 4-star rat-
ing. It notes that 83.7 percent of its
revenues go directly into programs.
More information is available at
www.buildingwithbooks.org or by
calling its Southfield office at (248)
262-2714.
- Judith goner Berne