Book Wish Foundation - AIDS Orphans

Videos Showing Our Impact

logan — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:43:33 +0000

Watch videos below. To help demonstrate the impact our donors are having, and to show what is really happening in education in the refugee camps in eastern Chad, we sent a Flip camcorder and memory stick to our field partner CORD. The many videos that came back far exceed our expectations, and we'll be sharing them gradually over the next several weeks.

We begin with three videos inside English language classes in the Bredjing and Treguine Refugee Camps, showing the Headway textbooks our donors helped to purchase, and an interview with the Head Teacher in one of the schools in Bredjing, who is also a major force behind the English program. Watch below and be sure to subscribe to our CORD's Education Programme Manager with four years' experience in the daily challenges and triumphs of education in these camps.

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University of Toronto English Language Program Donates Course Material

logan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:08:04 +0000

The University of Toronto English Language Program has generously donated 149 books, 236 audio cassettes, and 105 video cassettes for use in our Iraq project! The material includes English for International Business, TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), the MOSAIC and QUEST series, and other resources to aid students and teachers with reading, writing, listening, and pronunciation.

Book Wish will match the donation as carefully as possible with the needs in Iraq or other projects where students are trying to learn to read English, but lack quality instructional material. Almost every request we receive – from more than 20 countries throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America – includes an English component. Learning to read English is a goal for many even in the most desperate crises, a source of hope for future prosperity and opportunities.

Thank you, University of Toronto English Language Program!

To learn about some of the impact we are having supporting ESL programs, read this recent report from Bredjing Refugee Camp in eastern Chad.

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ESL Material Arrives at Dhi Qar University

logan — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:22:08 +0000

On Nov. 11, Dhi Qar University in Nasiriyah, Iraq received our first shipment of English language learning material at an event organized by our partner in Iraq, the Michael Scott Mater Foundation, with support from the 402nd Army Field Support Brigade. Dhi Qar University Chancellor Dr. Ali Ismael Obeidi Al Snafi attended with other faculty members, including the director of Dhi Qar's "American Corner" library, and representatives of the Cultural Affairs Office of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad were also present.

In Nasiriyah, Iraq, Dhi Qar University faculty examine an Oxford Wordpower Dictionary for Arabic-Speaking Learners of English, part of the Book Wish donation. Chancellor Dr. Ali Ismael Obeidi Al Snafi looks on at left. (PHOTO: Nita R. Fulford)

This shipment of books and audio from the American Headway course, multilingual dictionaries, and specialized ESL material for engineering and business was made possible by a generous discount from publisher Oxford University Press. It is designed to help develop Dhi Qar University's English program, with a special emphasis on helping students better understand engineering textbooks donated by Oregon State University, with whom Dhi Qar is exploring an exchange program. Making the knowledge contained in these books more accessible to Iraqi students is critical to the future reconstruction of the country.

As we assess the impact of this material and the University's remaining English learning needs, we will be posting about specific ways the public can become involved. For now, you can show your support by making a donation earmarked for Dhi Qar University English Studies. Promoting English education in Iraq is a way to improve its stability and relations with the English-speaking world.

For more information about the book event at Dhi Qar University, please

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Dhi Qar University English Studies

logan — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 06:23:14 +0000

Book Wish Foundation is excited to join a partnership delivering educational aid to prepare future leaders of reconstruction efforts in Iraq. Spearheaded by the Michael Scott Mater Foundation, the project focuses on Dhi Qar University in Nasiriyah. Book Wish will provide English as a Second Language material to Dhi Qar, building on our experience in Chad and our sponsorship from leading publisher Oxford University Press. This will fill a longstanding void in English instruction at the University, and help it maximize the value of modern engineering textbooks donated by Oregon State University's School of Engineering.

Jinnie Lee, Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad explains that: "Thirty years of academic isolation has left Iraqi English teaching professionals starved for contact and resources. The level of English language ability is generally dismal. Lack of exposure to native speakers leaves Iraqis prone to reinforcing elementary errors. Teachers express unbounded enthusiasm and commitment to resurrecting English language learning."

Thanks to a generous discount from Oxford, we were able to send a preliminary group of English materials to Iraq in mid-October, 2008, sufficient to serve as a basis for assessment of Dhi Qar's remaining ESL needs. This shipment of 220 books and CDs included:

a complete English course from its world-renowned American Headway series
Oxford English for Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
Oxford English for Informational Technology
two types of English dictionaries for Arabic-speaking learners of English (Picture and Wordpower)
Oxford Business English Dictionary

Together with OSU's engineering textbooks, our ESL material will be flown from Joint Base Balad to Nasiriyah on October 31 November 11, and transferred to Dhi Qar University officials by the Mater Foundation. Once the faculty and students have had time to familiarize themselves with these items, we will compile a Wish List of their remaining English needs. You can show your support even now, though, by