The Book Bus in Ecuador is gearing up to start working with five schools in Puerto Lopez from 24th June 2013. Following discussions with the teachers we are developing a 10 week programme of reading activities based on themes relevant to the national curriculum, everyday local topics and, to add international flavour, to our other Book Bus projects in Africa and India. The schools in Ecuador are especially keen to develop links with schools in Africa and you can see why. The children here live much of their lives on the beach; whales, dolphins and sharks are commonly sighted and their family income is made from the sea. Compare this to life at our South Luangwa project in land-locked Zambia, where elephants, hippos and crocodiles can be seen on the way to school and where many of the families live off subsistence farming.
It's gratifying to know that children from these two very different communities have excelled at school, progressed to further education college and won scholarships to universities in the USA and Canada. The Book Bus continues to improve child literacy rates by working with teachers and pupils alike so that more children can have the opportunity to boost their education and their prospects for the future.
