Loading books for the Solomons ... Rotary Club Brisbane
Planetarium members Leigh Moody, Errol Richardson, Col Beardmore
and Clive Corke, with author and War Child Australia Chair
Nick Earls. (Photo courtesy Quest Newspapers.)
War Child Australia together with the Rotary Club of Brisbane Planetarium and
14 Australian children's book publishers are sending over 5,000 books to libraries
throughout the Solomon Islands.
Author Nick Earls, Chair of War Child Australia, is grateful for the generosity
of the Australian publishers who have donated the books, which will be used as
education tools for Solomon Islands' children.
"This year, War Child Australia has been supporting field work in Afghanistan,
Iraq and Congo, and the opportunity to team up with Rotary and Australia's children's
publishers has enabled us to do something closer to home," said Nick.
"We really appreciate the support of Australia's children's publishers -
their generous donation of these books is simply turning a good idea into a major
project," he said.
Laura Harris from Penguin Books is coordinating the publishing end of the War
Child-Rotary Solomon Islands children's book project.
"The work that War Child does in the field throughout the world is inspiring
and to be able to assist a community so close to our own shores, where instability
has significantly impacted children's literacy and education, is a cause worthy
of our attention," Laura said.
Continuing its association with War Child Australia, Melbourne-based software
consultancy Sound Logic has contributed funds for a set of Encyclopaedia Britannica
reference books to be donated to the National Library in Honiara. The reference
books include a 26 volume set of Compton's encyclopaedia, a 13 volume set of My
First Britannica and a Concise Encyclopaedia.
Earlier this year, Sound Logic also provided financial support for a project to
provide books for child care centres in Afghanistan.
"We tend to take access to books and educational resources for granted,"
says Sound Logic Principal, Dave Sanders, "but many children in the Solomon
Islands are not as lucky as those in Australia, particularly since the recent
conflict, and more recently since Cyclone Namu."
The books will be transported from Brisbane to the Solomon Islands through Rotary's
'Donations in Kind' program, then distributed to school libraries in communities
throughout the Solomon Islands by the Rotary Club of Honiara.
The Rotary 'Donations in Kind' project is one of many undertaken by Rotary Australia
World Community Service (RAWCS) and coordinates the dispatch and delivery of items
that are needed in the developing world.
"The 'Donations in Kind' program is supported by Rotary Clubs throughout
Australia and primarily provides items such as books, school supplies and hospital
supplies to countries that do not have these things that we take for granted in
Australia" said Clive Cooke, President of Rotary Brisbane Planetarium.
"It is wonderful that Australian book publishers, War Child and Sound Logic
have joined forces for this project because these books will provide hours of
enjoyment for many children - hopefully making a small but significant difference
in their lives," he said.
War Child Australia's Chair Nick Earls
values the partnership it has formed with Rotary, Australia's
children's publishers and Sound Logic.
"Gaining the support of these organisations demonstrates
how quickly even a small organisation can make a difference,"
Nick said.
"War Child Australia was only registered in July last
year and already we're making a significant contribution to
War Child's world-wide work," he said.
The recently published Kid's Night In, a collection
of short stories, poems and illustrations from the who's who
of Australian and international kid's writers, is now available
at all good booksellers. All royalties from the sale of Kid's
Night In will be donated to War Child.
"Kids Night In helped give our Solomons book
project momentum - using a great line-up of Australian and
international children's writers and then channelling the
money raised to help children around the world meant that
it caught the attention of the industry," Nick said.
"Since 1999 the four published War Child anthologies
have raised more than $2 million to support children - but
Kids' Night In was the first to act as a catalyst
for large-scale field work project."
About the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an independent country consisting of
an archipelago of ten islands to the north-east of Australia.
Its capital, Honiara, is only three hours flying time from
Brisbane. The population of Solomon Islands, estimated at
465,000 in 2003, is predominantly Melanesian although there
are smaller Polynesian, Micronesian, Chinese and European
communities. Australia enjoys a close relationship with the
Solomon Islands (source: www.dfat.gov.au).
About Sound Logic
Sound Logic
offers a complete range of services for the successful delivery
of IT projects, from analysis to deployment and system monitoring.
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