In Honduras, our partner Asociación Compartir continues to expand its community and mobile library programs and provide access to books, snacks, tutoring, music and art programs to more than 5,000 children around the capital city of Tegucigalpa.Today, Compartir is reaching more than 1,080 boys and girls with the mobile library, improving their reading and writing skills and giving them a unique opportunity to have direct contact with books- a privilege that many of the children have never had.

Compartir’s longtime volunteer, Gerson, has seen the incredible impact of the mobile library firsthand:

Hi! I’m Gerson Ortiz. I volunteer at Compartir and I have been working with the mobile library program for three years now.It is a very beautiful experience, and I would not change it for anything. To see those children so full of joy when they see us coming with new books and music-- they love it so much! What I admire most about the children is that they are so full of love, joy and respect.What we try to do at Compartir is encourage reading, traditions and art through books in order to change the concept that books are boring.I love the saying, “a child who reads will be an adult who thinks,” and that is what we try to do: change the thoughts of children to teach them that they can go very far as long as they study and work hard for what they want, that the words “I can’t” don’t exist in their vocabulary.This year, Compartir advanced their library system to make it more efficient and to offer a better experience to the children who it serves. They increased training for volunteers, and 12 volunteers and educators have graduated and received diplomas in Organization and Management of Information Sources. Now, Compartir is able to track the exact number of books in each library, know which books are in high demand, and most importantly, loan books to children who visit the libraries.Compartir continues to offer classes in theater, folk dance, music, painting, drawing and photography. Through the programs, our students have been able to share their talents at community events. Almost 300 students have participated in 2018 alone. The theater program at Compartir was front and center last month, when the young thespians performed three plays titled My Rights, My Happiness at the Manuel Bonilla National Theater, one of Honduras’ most renowned stages.

CLICK HERE to help keep the JustWorld Mobile Library on the streets of Honduras; providing literacy, assistance, and nutritive snacks to the children of Tegucigalpa.