International Children’s Day!

On June 1st many places around the world recognized International Children’s Day, and BiblioWorks was of course one of them!

Children are our future, and by empowering them with literacy we are able to help them reach their full potential. In such light children around the globe deserve to be both acknowledged and appreciated. One child in particular stands out amongst the crowd: Lizeth Onofre.

Liz is a ten-year-old girl who lives at the bottom of the Churuquella Mountain in a part of Sucre, Bolivia known as Recoleta. Every morning at 7 am Liz wakes up, gets dressed and quickly scarfs down a piece of bread and a cup of coffee before heading off to school where she attends fifth grade.

While her morning routine of getting ready and going to school may seem commonplace for a child of her age, Lizeth’s life is anything but typical. After lunch, she changes into her work attire and heads to Plaza 25 de Mayo where she spends the rest of her afternoon selling magazines and popcorn to passerbyers. At the end of her day Liz retreats home and gives all of her earnings to her family in an effort to help them support themselves. Despite her strenuous schedule Liz finds time to complete her school work, and even assist her classmates in their studies!

Liz’s love of learning and reading is palpable not only in her school environment, where her teachers consistently comment on how studious and engaged she is, but also in her community, where she participates in many activities and clubs that are designed to promote literacy among the youth in Sucre.

One such activity are the weekly Stories in the Plaza which are put on every Friday by BiblioWorks in Plaza 25 de Mayo. Each week around 10 children gather in the plaza to read books aloud and participate in various activities concerning the stories they read. Liz is always an avid participant in the readings, and graciously helps out her fellow peers in understanding the material. Often times Liz’s teachers will even stop by the Friday event and gaze on in admiration of Liz’s innate passion for education and reading.

Liz’s community participation doesn’t stop there. She is also a leader of FE.D.N.Y.J.Ts.CH (the Federation of Children and Young Workers in Chiquisaca), an organiation whose principal objective is to protect and promote the rights of children.

Liz serves as an inspiration for many children in her school and community. Her hard work and determination represent the plight that children around the world experience in their efforts to improve their literacy. To Liz and to all children globally, we at BiblioWorks honor and support you!

Liz group foto

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