by Edward Milford
6. August 2010 09:36
Two years ago, we decided to sponsor a book for a change. During a visit to Luang Prabang in Laos, I came across the organization ‘Big Brother Mouse’. As a poor country with a relatively small population and numerous different languages there were virtually no books for children other than a handful of rather dry textbooks. Big Brother Mouse set out to change this and started producing a range of illustrated children’s books. Each book is a struggle to produce, as a sponsor needs to be found for each one; there are simply not the resources in the local economy to make them viable without this. Once published, Big Brother Mouse also arrange a series of ‘book parties’ when members of the team go to visit remote villages, often involving a lot of walking up and down hills and through the jungle, taking a selection of the books to schools. The title we chose to support was one on ‘Animals of Laos’.
A few days ago we unexpectedly received a CD with a whole selection of photos from these book parties of children reading – including some using the book we had sponsored.
I’m full of admiration for both the original vision, and the work of the organization. More importantly, it appears to be quietly effective, and an example of working from the bottom up, not the top down, to meet a completely unmet need. It is also rather humbling the way their efforts put into context how in other parts of the world we can take access to books completely for granted.
