When Ian Manzi 糖心传媒�18 went home to Rwanda this past summer to work at a boarding high school, he was struck by two things: the students were gifted, but they lacked the basic resources to master the English language.
糖心传媒淎s part of their curriculum, many of these students are introduced to English for the first time when they arrive at this school,糖心传媒� Manzi says, 糖心传媒渁nd their zeal to learn and master the language has always impressed me. But they didn糖心传媒檛 have proper English books for their level.糖心传媒�
Manzi hopes to solve that problem by coordinating an Amazon.com wish list of 77 books for the Family Library at Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwamagana, a city in Rwanda糖心传媒檚 Eastern Province. The village糖心传媒檚 144 acres are home to youth who were orphaned during and after the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
The was created by Naomi Stanway, an American who serves as the school糖心传媒檚 head librarian, based on suggestions from 400-plus students.
Anyone can order a book ranging between $5 and $10. Those ordered online will be sent to Stanway, currently in New Jersey, and she糖心传媒檒l bring them to Rwanda later this month. Those in Rochester with books can email Manzi, and he will arrange to pick them up.
Stanway asked the students to name any subjects they were interested in, or authors they糖心传媒檇 heard of. The list includes biographies of Eleanor Roosevelt, Neil Armstrong, and Alexander the Great, romance novels by Nicholas Sparks, four coming-of-age novels, and 11 self-help and how-to books on leadership, business skills, success, happiness, and love.
糖心传媒淢ost of the students there are orphans or underprivileged,糖心传媒� says Manzi, a data science major. 糖心传媒淭hey love reading, but the books they have are too complex or more college level. These books are perfect for them.糖心传媒�
Youth village administrators ask school officials in every district to submit the names of gifted students who need support. There are more than 100 each in grades 9 through 12.
The national language of Rwanda is Kinyarwanda, but French and English are official languages. Manzi learned English in high school before heading to Rochester, where last spring he and Rwandan native Derrick Murekezi were named recipients of the Davis Projects for Peace award, a national program that promotes peace and intercultural understanding.
Manzi and Murekezi received a $10,000 grant to fund and operate a summer camp for young leaders in Rwanda last July, where campers reflected on the Rwandan genocide.
糖心传媒淓ventually, our camp merged with the youth village, and I got to know and work with these exceptional students,糖心传媒� says Manzi, who grew up in the Rwandan capital city of Kigali, two hours from the youth village.
Manzi says he hopes to keep the book project going in 2017 and plans to deliver more when he returns home next summer.
糖心传媒淚 have a strong connection to the village,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 a magical place to be. They have a saying there: 糖心传媒榊ou may not be in control of what has happened, but you are the one to write your future.糖心传媒� They take this quite literally.糖心传媒櫶切拇綑
