[pn] Books for Jolo

[Mark Warschauer]

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I don't normally send out fund appeals, but since this is from one of 
my oldest and dearest friends, and the cause is an important one, I 
can't resist.  Madge Kho has long been active in the movement for 
democracy and human rights in the Philippines.  She is now organizing 
a project to send books to her hometown of Jolo, the capital of Sulu 
province which has been the site of a long-term rebel insurgency and 
counter-insurgency.  She is seeking book donations and/or monetary 
donations for the shipment of donated books.

Madge's contact information is below.  Thanks for your consideration--
Mark

-----------------------------------
To: markw@uci.edu
Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2003 03:27:07 -0400
Subject: Books for Jolo
From: Chongga Reyes <chongga@juno.com>

Hi Mark,
I have started a project to send books to my hometown of Jolo.  The books
are going to school libraries there.  Attached is a short description of
the situation. 

I am getting books from the Somerville Public Library weekly.  These are
their discards for their book sale in October.  I have gotten over 3000
books from them for the month of June alone, and will be getting more
(2-3,000 each month) until their October book sale.  After the book sale,
they will give me everything that  they do not sell.  They estimate
another 30-40 boxes (5-6,000 books).

My biggest headache is the shipping cost.  It costs $120 for each
24x24x24 to ship from here to Jolo.  I have shipped 6 boxes of 3000 books
so far.  If you can help in this endeavor would be greatly appreciated.
Any assistance you can give, either book donation or monetary
contribution towards the shipping cost would be great or simply sharing
this appeal to your friends or colleagues.

Thanks for your help.
Madge

============

BOOKS FOR JOLO.  Access to Books Critical for Education
  by Madge Kho

Did you know that the Philippines has one of the highest literacy 
rates in Asia, estimated at 95 percent? But the population's access 
to a wide range of  books is still elusive.  Of the ninety-six 
percent of children enrolled in primary schools, only about 50 % 
finish secondary school.  The remaining 4%, approximately 5 million 
children who do not attend school work and 2 million of them work in 
hazardous conditions.  We can assume that those who do not finish 
secondary school end up working as well to help support their 
families.

The high drop out rate is a result of the poverty that confronts this 
country of 87 million. According to Orlando de Guzman, a reporter for 
NPR Radio, nearly 40 percent of all Filipinos live in poverty; 
three-fourths of the poor live in rural areas and forty percent of 
the population works in agriculture. The average annual income per 
capita is $1,040.

The statistics for Mindanao and Sulu, the region where the Moro 
people live, is much worse than the national average. The Moros, the 
country's Muslim minority makes up about 9 percent of the population.

Sulu is considered one of the 10 poorest provinces in the country 
with poverty hovering around 75.7 %.  For every 10 families, eight 
are poor.  Malnutrition for children under the age of 5  is as high 
as 48.38 percent.  Life expectancy is 47.7 years.

There is a lack of health services in the area and basic health care 
needs are barely met.  The occupancy rate at the only hospital in 
Jolo is 153.5 % in 2000.  One nurse is on duty for every 35 patients 
and the surgery ward has been limited to gunshot wounds.

Literacy rate is a mere 32.3% compared with the national average of 
95%.  According to a report by Marites Vitug of the Center for 
Investigative Reporting,  for every 10 children entering elementary 
school, only two are able to finish.

The island of Jolo is the largest island in the Sulu Archipelago. It 
was formally integrated into the Philippine Republic in 1946 after 
being occupied by the U.S. from 1898-1946.  The people of Jolo are 
called Tausug and majority are of the Muslim faith. The town of Jolo 
is the capital of the Province of Sulu and is located on the island 
of Jolo.  The Sulu Province together with the rest of Mindanao are 
one of the poorest areas of the Philippines.  The poverty has bred 
despair over the years and generated more frustration towards the 
central government of the Philippines and spurred armed resistance 
since 1972.

The town of Jolo was the scene of a fierce battle between rebel 
forces of the Moro National Liberation Front and the Philippine 
military in 1974. The town was completely destroyed by bombardment 
from government troops. Thousands of civilians died from the 
indiscriminate bombing, homes and schools destroyed.   Among those 
damaged were the libraries in the schools.

The Books for Jolo project attempts to provide educational resources 
to the people of Jolo.  Books will be housed in public libraries 
(Jolo Public Library, Mindanao State University and the Sulu 
Provincial Library) and in private institutions like the Notre Dame 
of Jolo College.

Books and other reading materials are rare in Jolo. Because people 
cannot afford to buy these materials, stores rarely sell books other 
than what schools require of their students for their classroom 
needs. What we in the West take for granted --- accessibility to 
bookstores, online book outlets, book clubs of all types, used book 
sales, public libraries, yard & garage & church book sales, private 
school libraries --are what the people of Jolo hope one day they 
would have. 

Books are empowering tools for everyone.  It is vital for the 
intellectual growth of a people. Growing up in Jolo in the 1960s, I 
remember, we never had enough books to read. There was no public 
library at the time. The college library was very small and had books 
only related to our school work.  There was only 1 tiny bookstore 
that had no more than 10 dozen titles on its shelf.  That bookstore 
is gone now.  Books were and continue to be expensive in the 
Philippines and not affordable to everyone. 

You can make a difference.  Donate $10, $25 towards the shipping cost 
of books that are being sent by the "Books for Jolo Project" 
initiated by the Jolo Culture and Historical Society.  Thousands of 
books donated by Massachusetts public libraries are being shipped 
monthly to Jolo. If you want to help in any other ways, please 
contact: Madge Kho at Chongga@juno.com.  Donations can be sent to: 
Books for Jolo, c/o Madge Kho, 48 Liberty Avenue, Somerville, MA 
02144.