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Month: April 2017

First Nations inmates start to build furniture for W2R libraries

Bob and JohnProject Leader Bob Blacker reports that the BC CORRECTIONAL SERVICE, through two of their facilities on Vancouver Island, have agreed to build furniture for Write to Read llibraries. This furniture to be built will include bookshelves, computer stations, coffee tables and any other custom work that may be required. The photo in this article (Bob and donor John McFarlane) reveals that shelving does need custom fitting.

Bob will be forwarding plans and designs for the shelves along with the material that we would need and in return the Correctional Facilities will build the furniture. Another positive aspect of the agreement is First Nation inmates will be able to help with the building of the furniture, certainly a win/win for all involved. The first library to be outfitted will be Lax Kw’alaams (Prince Rupert) for their new school that will be delivered and opened May 2015. Hats off to all concerned.

Top W2R volunteer off to university

Toosey 5Shirley-Pat Chamberlain from the Williams Lake Daybreak Rotary Club has been a top volunteer for Write to Read in the Cariboo region, assisting with the development of libraries in several First Nations communities. While it is bad news that W2R will be losing her services, the great news is that she has been accepted at prestigious Edinburgh University for a PHD in Interdisciplinary Studies. The interesting thing is that Shirley-Pat’s thesis will be focussed on the Write to Read Project and what effect it has made to communities, relationships with aboriginal peoples in British Columbia.

Many people have remarked that the Write to Read Project is a “blueprint” that can be copied in other Canadian provinces, and also in other aboriginal communities around the world. Literacy is always the first step towards self-determination. Here is hoping that Shirley-Pat’s thesis will go a long way towards creating a written version of that blueprint, to be copied everywhere!

Aboriginal Literacy Statistics

Canadian Aboriginal Literacy Levels Need to Improve

Williams Lake Daybreak Rotary Club president Shirley-Pat Gale with children in the Toosey library
Kids at the new Toosey band library at Riske Creek (near Williams Lake in central BC). The portable structure for the library was donated by Britco Structures of Langley, BC. The books and funding for the library were donated by the Langley Central Rotary Club and the Williams Lake Daybreak Rotary Club. Williams Lake Daybreak Rotary Club president Shirley-Pat Gale (centre) is the coordinator of the project.

Articles in recent newspapers, such as the Vancouver Sun, have unearthed a worrisome trend. While computer and general literacy levels are high in Canada (92.5 percent in British Columbia) in aboriginal communities they remain very low.

Nobody knows for sure the literacy levels of B.C.’s aboriginal population. Across the country, rates have only been measured in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The results of that 2003 survey were alarming. About 72 per cent of urban Manitoban adult first nations scored below the benchmark level three literacy level, as did 70 per cent of first nations in urban Saskatchewan.

Those working on the ground say levels in B.C. are likely just as troubling, especially in the northern and central parts of the province. Estimates that up to 75 per cent of this region’s adult aboriginal population would need literacy upgrading before they could apply to a university. Read more

New W2R video for TV broadcast produced

Toosey 5The Write to Read Project has been largely a secret until recently, but it may soon be time to spread the word. A 60-second PSA (click here) for TV has been produced and will soon be distributed to BC television stations. The message is simple. Our project is an aboriginal literacy initiative that seeks to assist remote communities gain access to reading. To get involved, simply call your local Rotary club. W2R is looking for books, computers, donations and volunteers.

The main expense of the project is transportation. Britco Structures has kindly donated 10 modular buildings, but shipping them to remote reserves is not always easy or inexpensive. While BC Ferries has assisted by waiving fees, sometimes its necessary to rent barges and trucks. Donations to offset costs are welcome, and Government House can issue a tax receipt for larger gifts.

Viewers are encouraged to forward the link to the PSA to friends and colleagues. It only takes a minute, and the 60 seconds it takes to watch the video may be the best expenditure of time any of us can make in our day. Spread the word!

Countess helps cut ribbon at Ditidaht library opening

Library 8
Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, and her husband Edward, the Earl of Wessex, were among those dignitaries who cut the ribbon at the opening of the Ditidaht library on September 15. Click here for video. The Countess donated an entire bag full of collected books (“stories about English children”) to the library, and talked about the importance of reading to the many Ditidaht children that attended the opening.

The moment the ribbon was cut, all of the children in attendance made a rush for the library door. As well as functioning as a full library with over 4,000 books, the Ditidaht library will also act as a community centre, sporting several tabletop games like a pool table. A side room contains new computers donated by London Drugs. The computers are connected to the Internet. The library is a project of the North Delta Rotary Club, who raised all the necessary funds and assisted with the renovation of the former Ditidaht school

Featured

Moving the Hobbit House to Metlakatla in 2014

Hobbit House being taken to Metlakatla

The next delivery of a library is now in the planning stages. Project Coordinator Bob Blacker reports that the “hobbit house,” the “office on wheels” kindly donated by recently Western Camera Buildings, will be taken up to the far northern community of Metlakatla soon. Located just north of Prince Rupert, it’s a long way to drive to deliver anything, but the small library, equipped with computers and shelving and books, will make an impact in that community as all library deliveries have accomplished to date.

In a new development, Bob will be bringing a camera and video recorder with him and will be shooting video footage of the entire trip. The footage will come in useful as W2R plans to produce a documentary about our aboriginal library project soon. To date the problem has been a lack of video content. It’s not easy to transport libraries to remote destinations, and it’s not easy to shoot video footage while juggling many others tasks, but Bob is going to give it a go. Let’s stay tuned and see what happens.

Hobbit House being loaded onto the ferry

Libraries & Dentists Year-End Update of 2014

WRITE TO READ PROJECT UPDATE – JANUARY 1, 2015

Library already installed
1. Toosey (Williams Lake Daybreak, Langley Central Rotary Clubs)
2. Yunesitin (Williams Lake, Sechelt & Commerce City Colorado Rotary Clubs)
3. Halalt (Steveston Rotary Club)
4. Old Masset (Langley Central Rotary Club)
5. Bella Bella (Steveston Rotary Club)
6. Wuikinuxv – Rivers Inlet (North Vancouver Lionsgate)
7. Malahat (South Cowichan Rotary Club)
8. Fort Rupert (Burnaby Metrotown, Port McNeil, Port Hardy Rotary Clubs)
9. Ditidaht (North Delta Rotary Club)
10. Metlakatla (Steveston Rotary Club)

On the Radar – to be visited before the end of 2015
1. Nemiah (to be visited)
2. Klemtu (to be visited)
3. Tsay Key Deneh (North Williston Lake to be visited)
4. Kwadatcha (North Williston Lake to be visited)
5. Lx’Kwalaams (Prince Rupert – visited and plans are now being made for the library)
6. New Aiyansh (Initial discussions have taken place – planning for the team to visit the community)
7. Tl’entinqox (Anaham Chilcotin) – agreement to install community library when new school and library are built. Construction in progress.
8. Toquaht (Uclulet, Vancouver Island) – to be visited request made by community to assist them with a library.
9. Nooaitch – visiting community in December 2014 plus meeting with Merritt Rotary Clubs (Merritt Sunrise to work with the community Dec 4th)
10. Snuneymuxw (Nanaimo) First Nations. – Community to be visited; building will come from the Oak Bay Tennis Club. W2R project engineer to examine the buildings; more work to be done with potential Rotary Club to adopt the community.

Sponsors & Partners
1. Britco Structures
2. BC Ferries
3. RCMP
4. U-LOCK Mini Storage
5. TLD Computers (London Drugs)
6. Bandstra Transportation
7. Hewlett Packard
8. Investors Group
9. Western Buildings
10. BC Hydro
11. Frontier College
12. Success By 6
13. Accent Inns
14. BC Corrections Service

First Nations communities benefited from Dental Clinics

1. Penelakut Island
2. Halalt
3. Lyackson
4. Malahat
5. Chemainus
6. Anaham
7. Alexis Creek
8. Yunesitin
9. Toosey

Planned Dental Clinics for 2015

Clinics are in the planning process for July 2015 at DITIDAHT (Vancouver Island) and ANAHAM (Chilcotin – Williams Lake)

Library Furniture

BC Corrections Service, Vancouver Island and Nanaimo Correctional facilities have agreed to build furniture for all new libraries.

Summer Literacy Camps

Frontier College has partnered with W2R to conduct summer literacy camps at all of the communities libraries have been installed. These camps are set to start in summer of 2015.

All 12 of the buildings donated by BRITCO have been assigned to communities. We just have to work through the process of getting the buildings and books to the communities. By the end of 2015 BRITCO will be donating 4 more modules as a result of sponsoring the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George. There is more interest from Rotary Clubs as there are communities. Total modules from BRITCO 16.

Approximate value of all buildings so far: $1,200,000.00

Total number of books sent and sorted to libraries so far: 35,000
Total number of computers 27.

The impact of the libraries: Priceless!

TELUS TO EXPLORE CONNECTIVITY FOR W2R COMMUNITIES

As a result of great work by our W2R team member Christoph Neufeld of Britco Structures, TELUS is now working with W2R to study the viability of connectivity for our First Nations communities.

This can mean that W2R libraries are becoming truly the hub and gathering place envisioned in earlier planning. Our implementation team is now working hard to set up our newest library, NOOAITCH. We are calling this library W2R Version 3.1 because NOOAITCH will become our template for future libraries. Each will contain a computer lab, a tablet lab, video conferencing, and a fully stocked aboriginal library along with other books. The modular building that Britco has supplied to the Canada Winter Games will be the structure will use for our Version 3.1. TELUS is studying the viability of connectivity for the community that could enable video conferencing capabilities and allow NOOAITCH to be the prototype for future libraries..<

Sue Sterling and Andrea Inwards from the Merritt Sunrise Club are the spark plugs for this project and have already secured funding from both the Merritt Clubs (Sunrise and Noon club) to purchase aboriginal books plus the furniture to go into the building. Our implementation team of Christoph Neufeld, Brian Van Sickle, Margaret Fletcher and Bob Blacker will be going up to Merritt to meet with the community to confirm the final configuration for the library.

TELUS has asked for coordinates of all our existing libraries,< to see what connectivity they currently possess. We will build our future network from there. For the libraries already functioning, we will verify if we can also install video conferencing and tablet labs. So, another giant step for the entire Write to Read Project!

Three politicians

Ditidaht library opening now on video

Library 8Members of the Royal Family officially openedthe new Write to Read library in Ditidaht, a small village on Vancouver Island, last summer. A video of that event has been produced and can be viewed at the link below. Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and Princess Sophie, Countess of
Wessex, cut the ribbon.  A feat was held and a ceremony honoured the “champion” of the library, teacher Eva Clarke. Log on to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OROrvJsv73s