Program Reviews

My experience opening a library with Village Book Builders in the village of Darwin in Peru was incredible! To bring that resource to this community was life changing for me as well as the people of Darwin. The coordinators from Village Book did an excellent job making sure the volunteers had everything needed to do our jobs. Our comfort and safety was always a priority with them. The children of Darwin were so excited to have us in their village. They were thirsty for the knowledge the library was bringing. We visited every home in the village to share the news of the new library and promote family reading. The people were so gracious and grateful to us. It was a very humbling experience, one I will never forget. I highly recommend Village Book Builders. You can be sure every dime is going to improve the lives of people who truly need it! I plan to volunteer on another library with them soon!

If you want to plant a seed of good in this world and at the same time have fun, meet new friends in a great place and fulfil your propose in life this is the place for you. So sign now and enjoy life!! You are not going to regret it!!!!!
The experience of Build a Village Library in Mexico was amazing in so many ways. We have the opportunity to make a huge change in children lives and maybe for you and me sound easy because we have access to some many things but for them reading gives them the opportunity to dream, to expand their dream and ergo to achieve more for their own families, community, country. region and who could know... maybe even the world. Besides we had the opportunity to meet new friends, eat a lot of different and really tasty food while we visit one of the world wonders.

Going to Africa with Village Book Builders was not only a life changing experience for those who benefited from the library but a life changing experience for me. The group was well organized, and costs were lower than expected. We worked our tails off, but then had time for fun after our work was complete. All expectations were met and exceeded. We got to know the people, help and serve the entire community, and help individuals one on one. With the people of the village, we built a library, stocked it with books, then taught them how to use it. We saw their excitement in seeing a book for the first time. We taught them how to use the English Language Tutors on the computer. Then we celebrated with a grand opening of the new library! I saw first hand the difference a book can make in someone's life.

Our trip to Mexico with Village Bookbuilders was one of the best personal experiences I have had in a foreign country. The growing organization is well-managed our trip was well planned. We were able to enjoy a couple of side trips to add to our vacation but the best part was being with the people of Mexico and making a difference in the lives. I would recommend Village Bookbuilders to everyone. Everyone should send their teenagers on one of these trips. We had a choice to live with one of the families we were helping or stay in a nice hotel. My wife and I chose the hotel. After seeing how much fun my son-in-law and my grand son had staying with a family we will definitely try that next time. Travel arraignments were great food was good the company was great!

My wife Kaylin and I had such a fulfilling trip with Village Book Builders in the Yucatan. The cultural immersion was my favorite part. We didn't spend the entire time building a structure. We taught classes to the children and went into the community to speak with the villagers about why we were there. We were even invited to spend new year's eve at a local home and experience their traditions.

As a cherry in top, we had an amazing time seeing the local sites. We swam in a cenote, saw pyramids and snorkeled with moray eels.

I cannot recommend this experience enough. We will go on another expedition as soon as we can.

Or group had a diverse group ranging from students to older folks. We had couples, kids and solo travelers. Everyone got along incredibly well.

We spent this trip in a small village that overlooked the city of Nauta, right off the Amazon River. It was here where we spent long days raising up the walls of the library and showcasing the resources of the library to children who flipped through pages faster than we could read. Here where we stayed nights under the Peruvian stars, cataloging books before returning to our sleeping quarters, crossing amazonian swampland via wobbling wooden bridge. Although the physical construction of the library is essential to the VBB's mission of globally spreading a culture of reading around the word, it was not the construction that keeps kids yearning to learn more. Instead, this is accomplished through the display of volunteer excitement in books, promoting the avenues that reading opens for bibliophiles. Books can provide an escape from poverty. They do this both mentally through the emotional outlet they provide in fantastic stories (both by reading and writing them!); but they also do this logistically through their intrinsic connection to education, driving interest while opening opportunities for social mobility.

There has yet to be a day passing in which I don't think about the dedication that the village had in providing this asset for future generations. Although we had many late nights in Darwin Grandes, giving it our all for the week we were there, it will be the village who sustains the library. I have no doubt that our collaboration with them will be fruitful for generations to come, and I can't wait to hear about their progress.

My experience with Village Book Builders is one I’ll never forgot! I loved working so closely with the community and it was incredible to see the impact our work had on those wonderful people. It was really fun getting to additionally travel all around Mexico and experience the culture. I feel so blessed that I was able to find such an amazing group to go with! I would definitely recommend Village Book Builders to anyone who is looking for a way to serve. Another great thing about this group is that they build libraries! This is something that really makes a positive impact wherever you go! Some other humanitarian projects can sometimes cause problems for third world villages they visit, but this group betters the community and strengthens education!

Oh my goodness. If you want to volunteer in Nepal GO WITH VBB! Seriously the most immersive and unique experience of my life. We lived among the community for the whole time we were there and got to experience the beautiful life they live. Since we were teaching classes in the school the kids and their families knew us and took us around the village every day. One day they took us to their local dairy farm and the textile factory. It was so neat. We went to a few local temples as well. It was amazing. Did I mention Nepal is just GORGEOUS.

The people are the most genuine, honest, and loving people I've met. And that's down to every single person I met. Their culture is so rich and beautiful. On one day we did a sunrise hike up to a breathtaking lookout point to watch the sun rise above the Himalayas. Unforgettable.

The kids helped us in the library and the opening day was amazing. They got us traditional celebration clothing so we could all celebrate together. Many local authorities came, including a member of the Nepali Congress and ex-minister of defense. When they toured the library they were amazed and so grateful. The member of congress said this was the very first public library in all of Nepal! He donated a sum to help pay the staff and asked to support Village Book Builders for future trips to Nepal.

We get reports on how the library is going even after we return from the trip. Within three weeks of it running they had an average of 400 hundred people using it. They say people travel from surrounding communities to access the books! Amazing. So grateful to have been a part of it.

My husband and I took a little leap out of our comfort zone when we signed up for this trip. We knew we would be sacrificing to make it happen and hoped it would be worth our money. What drew our attention in the first place was the organizations focus on cultural immersion while serving there. And boy did it deliver!!! We could tell the village had been anxiously awaiting our arrival. They had prepared everything for us and even invited us to participate in their village festivities and activities. The neatest part was when we visited their homes. I didn't think they would be comfortable with us coming by, but nearly all of them knew who we were and what we were doing in their village. They warmly invited us into their homes and shared their culture with us. Some of them taught us how they weave their hammocks; some of them taught us how they make their tamales; and others simply told us about their family. We loved sharing literacy with them. Many of them expressed their gratitude for coming to their village and helping supply the resources to make a difference for their children's future. The kids greeted us at the school so enthusiastically every day for classes. I could go on and on about the amazing experience, but it was hands down 3000 times better than I could have imagined. On the opening day of the library the entire village lined up at the door to take a peek. I will never forget the looks on their faces and the light in their eyes as they picked up the books and told their friends, "I'm checking out this one first!" Worth it would be an understatement.

After traveling with this group to Mexico, I took a second trip with them to Nepal. Tostart, here are some of the highlights. While in Nepal, we had a full cultural immersion. We stayed with Nepali host families. We ate the food they ate. We got to learn some of their language and what they like to do and really see how they live. This made it even more enjoyable to serve them. Teaching the importance of education and building a library is something I will never forget. The smiles on the faces of children and adults alike as they had the opportunity to have a library for the first time ever!
Because of our local contacts we were able to visit less touristy places that had some serious WOW factor to them. We hike to the top of a hill to a Hindu temple and spent time meditating there. River rafting on the trisuli river. And hiked for an amazing sunrise hike with the sun over the Himalayas. This trip was phenomenal and would highly recommend to anyone!