" Paying it Forward "

(October 2)This expression means to pay a favor not back, but forward--doing good deeds without needing to be paid back. With this great opportunity I can contribute to organizations building schools and inspire the students to pay it forward by helping the less fortunate too!

The harder it’ll be for a country to develop, the more illiterate their people are. Earlier in history, educated people were usually kings, queens and sultans while uneducated people were slaves, guardians and assistants. They didn't ask to be lower but people superior in education made them so. This has terrible effects on society, so illiteracy rates must be cut down! (:

And now, for some interesting background on Haiti~
Many of Haiti’s educational institutes have been demolished. It costs the governments 10 billion to achieve universal  primary education, around what Americans yearly spend on ice cream!
I discovered governments in poorer countries need to overcome many obstacles in order to achieve primary education for their children, like:

·         Lack of Teachers

·         Unaffordable

·         They need to earn money for their families instead of going to school.

·         Unavailability of schools

CNN reports learning institutes across Haiti were wrecked as a result of the earthquake and Haiti's students are worrying their futures have been buried among the remains. Countless students are missing and years of learning, lost. This worsened the educational situation in a country already straining to produce adequate graduates.

I've vacationed in many countries and when I went to the United States and Hong Kong, they were very prosperous. Every day, kids in uniforms would be surrounding the city, I didn't see (or notice) a single child that could not go to school, but when I went to places like Vietnam and Southern China, countless people were in poverty and many homeless children were forced to sell lottery tickets and packages of gum. Most of who were under the age of 7. I also noticed that children already having families faked that they were poor to beg for money or stole people's belongings when they were not attentive. This leads me to assume the educational system in Vietnam isn’t that great. I’ve witnessed these kids personally but the internet is telling me otherwise. The most recent time I went to Vietnam was 4 years ago, maybe things have improved since then.

My book search is getting difficult! I’m stuck between ‘Stones over Schools’ and ‘Three cups of Tea’.

‘Three cups of Tea’ is a #1 bestseller but, so are a billion other books I despise. This book talks about Mortenson's failed attempt to climb Pakistan’s K2 (second highest mountain in the world), to establish schools in the remote communities of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He later successfully brings education and hope to remote regions in Asia.
Meanwhile, 'Stones into Schools' (already posted a review on Blog 1)picks up where 'Three Cups of Tea' left off.
See?! How can you pick after reading both reviews ? 

Here's a little bit about Greg Mortenson. 

In efforts to raise money, his only reply was an '100' dollar check from NBC's Tom Brokaw out of the 580 people he sent letters to. He raised only $2,400 after selling everything he had. A group of elementary students in River Falls, Wisconsin donated $623.40, inspiring adults to take action. Since then, Mortenson has established 78 schools. I was considering asking him to come to our school and lecture, so I read some speaking requests. Apparently, Mortenson wants $30,000 to lecture or make an appearance. What the f--?! I’m very sorry, but i DO NOT have that much money available.

In addition, the amount could increase depending on event location, event size, number of attendees, and travel expenses including the guidelines that you HAVE to follow. That’s a little MUCH isn’t it?! Mariatu Kamara came for FREE. How nice of her.