Library for Laos: Non-Profit IMLP Entrepreneurialism
ibraryForLaos.Org seeks to gain donations to buy books for children5 days. $5,000 for books.
During the last week in April, GE Healthcare IMLP Ryan Graves and his business partner Allen Burt launched a web effort to raise $5,000 USD for the children of Laos in 5 days, communicating their goal through social media: web, twitter, e-mail blasts, & facebook.
According to his website, Graves is an avid traveler and technologist- with many side projects like Library for Laos in addition to his full-time job as an IMLP!
The team of Graves & Burt partnered with Big Brother Mouse, a local publisher, to print and distribute the books to local children.
With an average cost of $1.80 per book, the Library for Laos team has a goal to provide a large amount of books to children who may have never seen a book before.
Why Laos? Why Books?
The country of Laos is in a devastating state of poverty and the children of rural villages are suffering. Of a population of roughly 6 million, over half are under the age of 21.
Access to books in rural villages is sparse. Some children have shared textbooks while others have never seen a book at all. Workers at Big Brother Mouse (the organization Graves & Burt partnered with) explained that many children don’t understand how books work:
“Look, you can turn the page and get more,” or “No, you don’t have to read the copyright page, it’s okay to jump ahead to the good part.”
We wish Ryan all the best on his philanthropic venture! If you're interested in getting involved in this project, or just want to share your thoughts with Ryan, visit the Library for Laos website.
Healthcare, IMLP, library for laos, networking, projects, ryan graves, social media, volunteer | in Community, GE, IMLP
Reader Comments (1)
Thanks for sharing LibraryforLaos.org on the blog! We really appreciate the support. Check out http://libraryforlaos.org/blog for updates on the fund raising and the "book parties". Recently, Allen got to help out with a reading program working with Big Brother Mouse. His post about the experience and the pictures he took are powerful!
Thanks again for the support!
Cheers,
Ryan