When Mrs. Marquardt returned to Mariner High School in Everett, WA after visiting us in Nicaragua she was passionate about connecting students from Salinas Grande with her own students. Her stories about the learning conditions in our small fishing village inspired a group of passionate young ladies to present a project at Washington Global Issues Network Conference. Their dream is to open the world to the students of La Tribu Radiante by helping them learn to read and giving them access to literature. It takes about 15 days of work to afford a book in the local economy. This is where the dream for a community library was born.
Artist rendering of the eco-library at La Tribu Radiante
Our goal is to build a library with as much recycled material as possible. This will create a fun space for learning while reducing the amount of trash in the community. We’ll encourage our students to take ownership of the project by showing them how to make an eco-brick. Using funds raised by the students at Mariner, we’ll then purchase those eco-bricks and hire local tradesmen to construct the library. Trash will be kept out of the ocean and surrounding area while the people of the community will receive an opportunity to earn a little extra cash. To make it fun we’ve decided on a ship theme for the library. Part of the library (the cabin of the ship) will be constructed to be water tight so the books will stay clean and dry for years to come. The bow of the boat will provide multiple spaces to sit in the shade and sail away with a good story. We can use all the help we can get to make the Library Ship a reality. If you are feeling adventurous, we’d love to have you come experience life in Salinas for yourself. You could haul down books or help with construction. Even a project using recycled material takes money. Of course we are excited to fill the library with books, so donations to the project are much appreciated. 100% of all funds donated will go toward the construction of the Library and filling it with books.