Building Libraries in China

“Children’s books are a luxury to have in Asia, and a rarity in an orphanage.”

–from The Library Project

Thomas Stader has a vision to build libraries for children living in orphanages and rural areas around Asia.

Stader is one of those rare people who come to China with big plans and a bigger heart. He came to help and began to put his plan into action in 1998. To accompany Stader’s big heart, is a well organized plan rife with several clever ideas. Instead of trying to organize all of the complex processes that would be required to build libraries, Stader uses pre-existing supply chains and forms cooperative agreements with local NGOs and corporationg for funding and logistics. These tactics, combined with the lower overhead costs in Asia, allow him to build libraries for $150-$300 USD each–without comprimising the structural quality or integrity of the libraries. Welcome to an age when quality NGO work combined with smart marketing and good business sense can transform a philanthropic daydream into a sound reality.

The Project has made remarkable progress. In 2006, Stader was able to create two libraries for approximately $300 USD and some help from Aston Education, JinaLive, and the Dalian Charity Federation. In 2007, The Library Project will expand to do work in Xian and Jinan. By the end of the year, the project plans to create 15 new libraries to schools and orphanages with a total project cost under $15,000 USD.

Here’s a list of the typical costs from one of the recent library projects:

Hard cover book, 100 pages: $3
Soft cover book, 100 pages: $2
Harry Potte Series: $15
Color comic book: $1
Black and white comic book: .5
Book shelf: $25
Table and chairs: $50
Plants, posters, mats: $25

The Library Project plans to have 80 libraries running in China, Cambodia, and Vietnam by 2009. You can help by clicking here.

Note: all pictures featured here come from The Library Project’s site.

There will be follow-up articles on this worthy endeavor soon…..

First China and Now the Gays: Google Goes Homosinophobic

It all started a while back when Google agreed to censor itself to move into China. A screenshot captures the story well. Despite a defense from Bill Gates, human rights groups and others aren’t really impressed. Oh, and Wired does a pretty good job of summing up the who, what, where, when, and why of the whole thing. I thhought the following summed up effectively why I’m not a big fan of this move:

Google’s decision rankled Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog group that has sharply criticized Internet companies including Yahoo and Microsoft’s MSN.com for submitting to China’s censorship regime.

“This is a real shame,” said Julien Pain, head of Reporters Without Borders’ internet desk. “When a search engine collaborates with the government like this, it makes it much easier for the Chinese government to control what is being said on the internet.”

On one hand, I have to say that I’m not really a fan of Google censoring itself to make it into China. However, I’m also willing (at least partly) to buy their argument that “some information is better than no information.” The more access the more people get to more information, the better. Okay. I just worry that Google’s dug itself a whole it won’t be able to dig out of. For a company with a motto of “don’t be evil,” they seem to be taking a step back.

But it gets worse. I read Scott-O-Rama, a delightful and quirky gay blog, and found this. What? I wanted to believe it was an isolated incident…until I found that they weren’t the only ones. Leafing through the comments, I found this:

Thank you for this post and it is important for you and your readers to know that this is not an isolated case. We have received hundreds of emails from gay sites that contained appropriate content and were harassed and targeted by the HOMOPHOBIC GOOGLE GORILLA.

Please also note: the article at BEST GAY BLOGS was about us, We posted that original article of 1/18/07 and part 2 on 1/23/07. BEST GAY BLOGS simply re-posted our article on their front page for their readers.

All right. Now they aren’t just helping to maintain high levels of censorship, but they’re also getting homophobic when the boys show a little skin or sell some undies. Here, the story gets more confusing. As I searched, I found that PinkNews, another gay new source I trust, posted this article about Google laying the smackdown on a homophobic website. So while Google may not be comfortable showing gay skin, they don’t seem to take too kindly to the homophobes either. I’m generous enough to believe Google is a big company and the homohating Scott and company experienced had more to do with some middle managers advertising issues than with a political move against homos worldwide. So thank you Google, for only sort of being sinohomophobic. You make my heart all a-flutter.

My gay skin: Graham Ackerman, an openly gay Olympic gymnast.

That said, I think Mother Jones sums it all up too well with the simple Is Google Evil?

So can you trust Google only as far as you can trust the Bush administration? “I don’t know,” Wong replied. “I’ve never been asked that question before.”

I’ve leave this up to you.

So you got to China and did what?

I’ve been an English teacher in Macau, on and off, for the past 8 months. It’s all a very long story that I will, at some point, get around to telling on this blog. Never heard of Macau? Don’t worry: you’re not alone. Aside from its recent notice for being indirectly involved in the N. Korea nuclear problems and having its gambling revenue outstrip that of Las Vegas, Macau is an odd piece of colonial history and South China culture that no one can quite manage to love or hate except the 50,000 residents of the three islands.

Mostly, I’m going to write stories here about my expeiences teaching these students. Some of them are hilarious, a few are just odd, and some are just sad. And mostly, I’m going to write stories that reflect China in a good light.

I know, I know. I hear you. I feel your pain. “But they’re…communists! Damned commie pinko faggots! Kill the reds, kill the reds!” But as much as I love, like my fellow red(blue?)-blooded Americans, to stamp out the last remnants of communism in the world, I have to say that China ain’t really communist anymore. And as crazy as China is, as scary as it can be, it’s a place with a lot of good people, and a place that’s changing rapidly for the better.

So: stories about my students, links and comments on Chinese current events, and the other random things that pop up as I travel through China. Interested? Keep reading.