The San Jose (CA) Mercury News reported July 10 on an Indonesian village library project begun by Dr. Elizabeth Collins, Professor of World Religions at Ohio University’s College of Arts & Sciences.
OAKLAND — Elizabeth Collins visited Girl Scout Troop 32103 on the morning of June 22 to thank the Brownies for their recent fundraising efforts to restock a library in the Indonesian village of Purwakarta with books.
Collins is a professor of world religions at Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio, and an expert on Southeast Asia. She also chairs the Berkeley-based nonprofit “People to Aid People in Support of Nurani Dunia,” which she founded in 1999 with an Indonesian colleague, Imam Prasodjo.
Collins gave the girls a brief pictorial-based history of the island nation, touching on the tsunami that devastated the country in 2004. Collins also introduced the girls to the children that their donation would help. The girls will send letters and photos to the Indonesian children, establishing a pen pal relationship.
“They are starved for books. Books are like magic,” said Collins, who explained that Indonesian children do not have books in their homes. All the books are at the community centers and libraries.
Collins went on to explain that in the past there were few books in Indonesia, especially outside of the capital city, Jakarta, showing the girls photos of the empty shelves. Collins became part of a nationwide campaign, “Read Indonesia.”
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