Reading is AWESOME

At this very moment, your brain is taking a bunch of letters and translating them into information that you are now registering. Or something like that anyway. Later, you might go read your biology textbook. You’ll log into Facebook for a distraction, reading memes, statuses, and comments. No matter where you are, reading is a key. It’s just as important as writing, except that reading tends to come first when learning. Why do we read? What value is there in reading?

We are taught from a very young age that reading is absolutely necessary. It helps us read stories, birthday cards from your grandparents, and maps. Being able to read is way of listening, taking in information. We learn when we read. We are entertained when we read. Reading gives you the intellectual means to sail across the Atlantic or start your own business.

Now imagine a world where this isn’t an option. There are no books to read, no knowledge to consume. Even worse, picture having books but not being able to know what the markings on its pages mean. At first someone might think, hey, less work for me! But after a while, curiosity or just a mere desire lead right back to reading. That is why I love the mission of the Book Wish Foundation.

If you are not aware of Book Wish, the mission is getting books to refugees and AIDS orphans in Darfur. They provide literacy programs and all supplies needed for reading and writing (lights, pens, pencils, notebooks, even glasses). They raise money through the work of their volunteers. These volunteers design the webpage (bookwish.org), make designs for their products (shirts and other such things), and because of this, about 95 percent of the money they raise actually goes to program services.

It is incredible what Book Wish has accomplished thus far. Currently, they are selling a book, What You Wish For. It is a compilation of poems and short stories by award winning authors. These are people like Meg Cabot, R. L. Stine, and John Green. The proceeds from this book? They go to the next project: building libraries. They also intend on providing specific books requested by refugees.

It’s an incredible project, changing lives for the better. Knowing how big of an impact reading can have on someone, cherish the moments you get to sit down and escape into an infinite and new universe. That’s what Book Wish gives these people; amidst the terrible things they have seen in their lives, there is still a spark of hope.