Belmont...Give Your Books!

Introduction

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At the end of the semester, when your classes are finished, would YOU be willing to give up a textbook to change the world?

It's quite amazing how easily we take information for granted. The Internet. Google. Wikipedia. Libraries. Book Stores. Television. Radio. We can check sports scores on our phones while sitting in class learning about ancient history. We can write essay after essay just by accessing the web. There is so much knowledge at our fingertips that we don't even know what to do with it, but what if that wasn't there? What if we stripped away all of this convenience and were left without the kind of access that we've grown so accustom to?

That's how millions of people are living in Africa.

In South Africa, the richest country in Africa with the 20th highest GDP out of any nation in the world, there are millions who live without this kind of information. They are the first African nation to be hosting the World Cup in 2010. They have one of the most democratically advanced constitutions in the world (even more-so than our own) yet AIDS has infected 1/3 of the population. The apartheid government that ended in 1994 created a system that has left millions living in crime and disease-infested townships. They don't receive the right kind of education which creates the chance to get out and they don't have access to information so they can study.

Even in America, the homeless can walk freely into the public library and read and learn and study about anything they wish.

What if as a university, we could offer a community, an organization, a single person the means to learn and educate themselves with resources not currently available to provide hope and a future that might not be possible any other way? Would you give up a single textbook for that?

WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY? HOW?

HOW?

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This is the toughest question of all. We can advertise like crazy. We can create a list of every major, even every textbook that is needed. We can design a website and a facebook group and put up signs all over campus. We can set up drop-off points in every major building so that no one can escape this project. We can make everything as simple as possible for everyone else but the only way this book drive is going to be even remotely successful is with YOUR help.

YOU have to look within yourself and ask if a single textbook is really worth the money that you might be getting back. If you don't own one of the books listed, or you have never bought one from the subjects listed, then surely you have twenty dollars that you could give up to help with shipping costs or to buy other books. The only way this will work is with your help.

Twenty more students and three faculty members will be going back next May. You might be one of them. Wouldn't it be amazing if they arrived in Cape Town with extra bags full of textbooks? What a sight that would be...

WHY?

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Last May, twenty of your fellow classmates became part of school history when they formed the first Belmont study-abroad group to journey to Africa. They traveled a total of 19,000 miles to the countries of South Africa and Botswana. While in Cape Town, they worked with an organization called Living Hope. As an organization, their mission is to be as actively involved with the local community townships as possible:

They have a radio station which was the first post-apartheid radio station in the country.
They run a hospice that houses patients with HIV/AIDS and TB.
They go into schools and teach kids about abstinence and morals.
They offer jobs to locals who have been trained and are part of the organization itself.
They work with homeless, youth, sick, and underprivileged by helping them regain strength and courage that was lost during the apartheid.
They were recipients of the 2007 "Courageous Leadership Award" presented by Willow Creek Community Church and World Vision for leadership in the worldwide fight against AIDS.

Click on the videos to the right ---> Go on. They won't bite.
(it won't even redirect you to a new site, or open in a new window, or anything!)

Without the internet, those in the townships and even the workers at Living Hope don't have access to basic knowledge that we take for granted. With books, they will be able to read about a subject, broaden their knowledge and enhance their work as an organization, plus distribute the texts to others which will start the cycle all over again. As a university filled with information and textbooks, we have a chance to do something profound, yet simple: use the abundance of books in our very own backpacks (most of which we sell back for $10 or don't ever use again) to help people who are in desperate need of textbooks, knowledge, and information.

Basically, we are trying to fill a need of an organization that has done and continues to do wonders in Cape Town, South Africa. We need your help though, and all it takes is a single textbook. If each student gave one, we'd have thousands of books and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of information which translates into hope for these people across the ocean.

WHERE?

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The drop-off locations will be all over campus.

There will be BLUE TUBS in:

Beaman Lobby

Wilson Music Building Lobby

Massey Lobby

Inman Lobby (hopefully)

Near the bookstore.

We are also trying to have large boxes in every clubhouse, Thrailkill and the Wright/Maddox lobby...but if that doesn't happen, just bring them over to the other locations. =)

WHEN?

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We don't want to interfere with your studying because we know that some of you actually use your textbooks! Therefore, our dates will accommodate finals but also be available for anyone who wants to get rid of your books as soon as classes finish.

Wed. December 5th to Wed. December 12th

WHAT?

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The 1st BIG Belmont Africa Book Drive!

it's kind of self-explanatory...

We are having a huge book drive at the end of the semester for some friends we made in Africa. Ever heard of something like that happening at Belmont? We haven't either... This is new territory for us, but we're trying to get the word out in every way we know how. We also couldn't shove everything we wanted to say onto a single flyer or hand-out, so that's why you have been directed to this site.

WHO?

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Every single Belmont student and faculty member is invited to take part in this momentous occasion. Anyone who has ever bought a textbook on one of these subjects can participate:

Audio & Video Production
Audio Engineering Technology

Christian Leadership

Church Music

Commercial Music

Early Childhood Education

Entertainment Industry Studies

Entrepreneurship

Health

Journalism

Management

Marketing

Music Business

Music Education

Music Composition

Music Performance

Music Theory

Musical Theatre

Nursing

Physical Education

Piano Pedagogy

Public Relations

Social Work

Songwriting

Theatre and Drama

This list was compiled by people we actually met in South Africa who were given a list of majors at Belmont. With such a vast array of subjects, surely every single person at Belmont owns at least one textbook from the above mentioned list, or knows someone who does.

This book drive does not work unless YOU are willing to give up one of YOUR own textbooks. We all buy books that are used for a semester and never opened again (if we even opened them at all!). Just think of how many books our entire student body has compiled over the duration of our stay at Belmont. We have endless resources and instead of getting a few dollars back for a book that meant nothing to us, we can send them to someone whose life might be changed forever after opening the cover and reading about a brand new subject.

If you want to know why a certain subject has been requested, just ask!

Pictures from Africa

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The community of Masiphumelele:

as described in the video, "Living Hope pt. 2"

The community of Ocean View:

The community of Capricorn:

The community of Red Hill:

Living Hope:

A worker tends the fields which provide food for the patients

Locals make crafts as described in the video, "Living Hope pt. 2"

Patients in the Living Hope hospice eat a midday meal

Cape Town Points of Interest:

Cape Point -- Right side, Indian Ocean. Left side, Atlantic Ocean.

The jail cell on Robben Island that housed Nelson Mandela for 27 years.

Long Beach: Where the study-abroad group stayed.

The view from the top of Table Mountain overlooking Cape Town

One of only two places on the continent that is home to African Penguins

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Books

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To be honest, the most needed resources are business, music business, nursing, health, education, and music books. Any book that could teach someone who has no prior knowledge on the subject is acceptable. Advanced Calculus 4 probably wouldn't do much for them, but basic introductory books are optimal and will be most beneficial.

More Pictures from Africa

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The "Real" Africa

The Gaborone Orphanages
(Most of these children have lost their parents to AIDS)

Safari
How could we leave out the animals!

Mavoso, the dominant male in the breeding herd...as he was chasing us

Page 1 of Pictures