Oakville, Ontario CANADA
When it started, whats now, whats next?
Books With No Bounds
officially started in June 2012, however, we started buying
‘like new’ books since June of 2011. Over the
course of a year we spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars
of our own money, buying ‘like new’books, to
be donated. We had heard about the desperate need of books
for Aboriginal Children in Northern Ontario, but we weren’t
quite sure where to donate the books.
In March of 2012, my sister Emma Mogus
had served a term as an Ontario Legislative Page with our
Provincial Government. It was here she learned of the Lieutenant
Governor’s Aboriginal Summer Reading Book Drive for
the Children and Teens of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation(NAN)
Communities in remote Northern Ontario. Thisliteracy initiative
was started by Ontario’s first Aboriginal Lieutenant
Governor, James Bartleman, in 2004. He said, “My ticket
out of a life of poverty was reading”.
When Emma and I learned our current Lieutenant
Governor had cancelled the Aboriginal Summer ReadingBook
Drive, with no plans to resume... we knew something had
to be done. When we learned First Nation Children were 3
to 4 years behind in literacy skills... we knew something
must be done. When we learned children in these communities
did not have access to books in their libraries and homes...
we knew something must be done.When we learned suicide rates
were high and they had lost hope... we chose to do something.
Emma and I have always loved reading and
we believe it has opened the door to many incredible opportunities
in our lives. We want to foster this love of reading by
providing the necessary tools to the Aboriginal Children
and Youth of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation Communities. We believe
every child deserves access to an ENORMOUS supply of books...
it should not just be the privilege of some. And so, we
are determined to bring an ENORMOUS supply of reading material
to our brothers and sisters to the north!
Presently we have 3000 books that have
been sorted, recorded and ready to go... and another thousand
waiting. We will continue to collect books and have them
shipped during the warmer months of the year. We hope to
show the Aboriginal children and youth... that they are
not forgotten and we CARE! Our former Ontario Lieutenant
Governor Honourable David Onley once said, “Without
books, children cannot truly become literate. Without books,
they cannot dream great dreams, learn about the world outside
their own small community, or imagine their place in that
world.” http://www.lt.gov.on.ca/en/Inquiries/Book%20Drive%202009%20Speakers%20Notes.pdf
Ups and downs
We recently had a meeting with the Ontario
Regional Grand Chief Stan Beardy and he told us that these
kids don’t need a little bit of books... they need
a lot of books.
When we met him face to face he was shocked
at how young we were, but impressed at our determination
to bring about positive change to the children and teens
of theNishnawbe Aski Nation communities. Along our way we
have been met with much support and generosity. In particular,
a local Town Councillor, Pam Damoff, has been instrumental
in securing a drop off location at Hopedale Mall, for donations
and motivating other politicians to lend a hand... politicians
such as MPP Kevin Flynn who has generously helped us secure
support in our community. Councillor Pam has worked tirelessly
with the media and dedicated countless hours in our efforts
to improve literacy amongst First Nations. In addition we
are extremely grateful at the support of our community,
fellow peers, and businesses who continue to aid in our
plight.
Our only obstacle has been in our efforts
to pay for shipping. We have secured a 90 percent discount
to have the books flown in to these remote communities,
by WasayaAirways, however it is still costly to ship heavy
books. We are currently fundraising around the clock to
pay for shipping and pursing our Provincial and Federal
government for support.
Sometimes Emma and I do wish we had more hours in the day
because at the end of the day we know so much more still
has to be done. We know those children and teens in NAN
deserve the best... we just can’t work fast enough.
Have books arrived over there?
Not yet. We have over 29 boxes sitting
at our Hopedale Mall location ready to be shipped. We are
presently fundraising around the clock to secure funds to
pay the high costs of shipping these books by airplane to
28 ‘fly-in only’ locations. Within the next
few weeks we hope to have our first shipment of books sent
to NAN.
Does it make a difference?
Absolutely! A recent study from the University
of Nevada,shows children who grew up with books in their
homes reached a higher level of education than those who
did not. In this study, Dr. Mariah Evans says this is regardless
of nationality, level of education or economic status...
the best predictor of a child’s academic success was
the presence of books in the home. Children in the Nishnawbe
Aski Nation Communities have empty libraries and live in
improvised conditions... books are not accessible, yet Emma
and I do have access to an ENORMOUS supply of books if we
choose. We hope our efforts to bring books to First Nations
Kids will provide them with the tools to reach higher levels
of education and academic success.
What reactions did you get?
We have been overwhelmed with positive
support throughout our communities and even across North
America. It really is incredible to see children come up
to us and ask what they can do to help and to be offered
assistance by big corporations.
Are you in touch with the remote
communities via online video?
Unfortunately not... we can only imagine the difficulty
in securing technology, such as internet, for these isolated
communities, some only accessible by plane. For other communities
in the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, we have been in contact with
various not for profit organizations and local groups. We
hope to establish correspondence with the educational leaders
of these communities.
How can people help?
We are asking people to ‘LIKE’
our facebook page to show support. We hope to inspire other
youth across our country to take on a leadership role and
to help those who have little access to books or educational
tools. With many hands involved, we know we can bridge the
inequalities of literacy between Aboriginal Youth and Non-Aboriginal
Youth.
We are also asking for help with our shipping
costs. We use 100 percent of all money donated to pay for
shipping, so we are desperately asking for help to get these
books to the hands of those children and teens. Our motto,
‘Nishnawbe Aski Nation or BUST’ reflects our
determination to get these books to the remote and isolated
communities. We are even willing to bring the books in a
truck with our parents to Thunder Bay and after that we
need a plane... so if anyone has a plane we can borrow,
that would be great!!!
Again, what's next? More ideas?
We hope to begin a sister-school initiative, where schools
in our own communities would correspond with students in
NAN communities, via regular mail. We hope to bring in new
educational equipment and technologies to help children
with special needs and tools for learning, like pencils,
pens, crayons, paper, backpacks...
We want to raise awareness of other incredible
organizations in our communities who are bringing about
positive change for Aboriginal Children and Youth. We want
to inspire other youths to take on initiatives to improve
the lives of our fellow brothers and sisters to the North!
Every child deserves equality!
What does it make you feel?
At times we feel guilty for what we have
in our own lives and then sad when we look around at the
waste in our society. We don’t understand how children
in our own country are so many years behind in reading and
considering suicide. We are sadden they haven’t read
all the wonderful books we have grown up with and given
the same opportunities. We are sadden to learn of the inequalities
Aboriginal Children and Youth must face day to day.
When we pack our boxes of books, we try hard to squeeze
as many books as we can in those boxes and then we realize
there really isn’t a box big enough to hold all the
books we want to send. We wished we could send a million
books to each of the 49 communities in NAN.
Today when we sold Candy Kabobs at Whole
Foods Organic Farmers Market, we felt good telling everyone
who bought a Kabob, how their money was going to be spent.
We felt good knowing the hours we spent making the Kabobs
was helping to ship books, and so we made a poster telling
everyone... Buy a Kabob and send a book to a child in NAN.
Biggest downer?
Money seems to be the biggest obstacle.
Emma and I have spent all our own money, from gifts and
doing chores in the house... we don’t’ need
any money for ourselves... we just need money to pay for
shipping.
It’s also very sad to see books
end up in landfills and we wish more people would consider
donating them to re-use charities and organizations. Books
that are no longer useful can be at least recycled. Throwing
a book in the garbage should never be an option. It just
hurts the environment.
Biggest challenge?
Convincing adults we are serious. I just
turned 15 and my sister is 13 and we have worked very hard.
This past summer we have spent 6-10 hours a day preparing
these books all by ourselves. In addition we have continued
to volunteer at a local ‘soup kitchen’ making
breakfast for the less fortunate... we have taught a workshop
on the environment to young children at a camp... we have
volunteered over a hundred hours for a local provincial
park as Junior Naturalists in a nature centre... and sometimes
we did kid stuff like ride our bikes. Biggest challenge
was trying to make time to read, which was quite funny because
we do love reading!!
Biggest surprises during the project?
The biggest surprise was having a local
Town councillor, Pam Damoff, help us in meeting with the
Ontario Regional Grand Chief Stan Beardy in Toronto. It
was an honor to meet such a great and inspirational man.
It was also a surprise to learn how misinformed we are about
the statistics of the Aboriginal People and a HUGE surprise
to learn how appreciative and supportive Chief Beardy was
with our efforts. He told us he was very impressed with
what we are doing and how important books are to those children
and teens.
Other good things happening at your school?
Emma and I are both enrolled in the Accelerated
Learning Program (Pre IB) at White Oaks Secondary School
in Oakville. We are involved in many organizations, such
as Key Club, Activism Awareness Association, CYAN (Community
Youth Action Network), Volunteer Halton, Debate Club and
so much more. We are both former Ontario Provincial Level
Competitive Figure Skaters.
So, you yourself, --- are you big reading fans?
We do LOVE to read!! We grew up with no
cable TV, so reading is something we did on a daily basis.
Ourfavourite series is HARRY POTTER! We believe reading
has opened many doors for us and has helped us to have the
courage to start ‘Books With No Bounds!’
IF SO ... What's your greatest secret tips to your age group
and young
ones? A Top Ten of the two of you?
If there is an idea in your head to make
a positive difference in the lives of others... don’t
ignore it. Stand up and say you can do it... and then do
it.
Here’s our TOP TEN
10.Be yourself and don’t be afraid
to be different
9.Buy used... a new book will cost you almost 90% more
8.Donate your used book (except anything Harry Potterbecause
we love to read it over and over again)
7. Turn the TV off and READ... it’s more fun if you
use your imagination
6. Help a younger child to read... it’s always fun
to hear those stories again!
5. Grow-ups aren’t perfect, we just let them think
they are (sorry mom and dad)
4. It is okay to be wrong... just ask our younger brothers
3. Nothing is impossible... that’s why we have backup
plans
2. We learned if one door closes on you, another one will
always open
1. Everyone deserves access to an ENORMOUS supply of books
Do you have favourite native american tales?
We wished we did, but unfortunately we
know in our society we do not know enough about Aboriginal
Culture, History and Heritage. What we are taught in our
elementary school is outdated and sometimes incorrect. We
need to learn more about the cultures and traditions of
our brothers and sisters to the north. We hope one day to
see a more accurate account of the Aboriginal People in
our schools and in our curriculum. We know we have a lot
to learn.
Are you actually Native American?
What tribe / nation?
Emma and I are not Native American...
we are both bornin Canada and from European descents. I
haven’t heard of the term Native American, but in
Canada reference is made to Aboriginal People, comprising
the First Nations, Inuitand Métis. The Nishnawbe
Aski Nation Communities is an Aboriginal political organization
representing 49 First Nation Communities.
TEENS ON A MISSION!!!
Your friends,
Julia and Emma Mogus
Books With No Bounds
web site: http://www.bookswithnobounds.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookswithnobounds
|
