Become a local HERO! Book Lovers needed in Latin America!

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!

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.

I have not yet gone to Belize yet, but I will be this December. I have always loved service and spent two years in Ghana serving the people there. I will be with my wife and a number of friends and family as we build the library. Working with our local leader and hearing about the many locations they want to take us, just gets me more excited about everything we will experience. Service has brought me the greatest amount of joy in my life and I am excited to be serving 100% of my time again, while still enjoying one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Did I mention we are going cave tubing to some ancient Mayan ruins! Yes we are doing that, from everything I have heard from past volunteers I know this is going to be an amazing experience!

Beautiful Country, Beautiful People! It was a life changing experience and more than I could of ever hoped for. I just wanted something where I could be with friends doing some good, I had no idea that I would be changed in the process. I loved being part of the Mayan community they invited us into their homes even allowing us to celebrate New Years with them, we eat with them, danced with them and then did an amazing firework show!! They even let us break apart our own Pinata! By far though my favorite experience was the celebration at the end of the week where we introduced the entire community to the new library, and seeing those kids open those books for the first time was amazing!! I would go again in a heart beat and would love to go with my family!

I loved my time with Village Book Builders, it was life changing in so many ways. I am so glad I made the decision to go outside of my comfort zone and go to the foreign country to serve. Being able to work alongside the people there and crying together as we all left was the best and hardest experience of my life. The excursions we went on were amazing from river rafting down an ancient canyon to seeing ancient ruins, it was amazing! The leaders were a huge support and were always giving encouragement and direction when needed. If you knew what you were doing though they let you go at it! Which is how I like it, as I am very independent and like to do things myself after given direction. I would go again with Village Book Builders any time!

I loved travelling with Village Book Builders. It's a smaller organization, which I loved because it's more personal. You really get to know the coordinators and people you're travelling with. Each volunteer is assigned responsibilities according to their personal interests and talents.

We didn't just visit the village to work on the library, we lived there with the people for the duration of the trip. They welcomed us into their community with love. We got to live how they live, in small humble homes sleeping in hammocks. They invited us to their new years celebration at their local church and to eat and celebrate with them in their homes.

This was one of the happiest times of my life because each day was spent working to give to these people. I spent hours with the kids in the village, playing with them and helping them prepare for the library. It was so meaningful to me because I knew that we would be leaving something behind that would continue to give back.

Mexico with Village Book Builders was a once in a lifetime experience!! The people were so happy we were there, and truly appreciated the library we were building! I loved going out everyday and visiting the homes of the kids with the kids leading us along the mountain paths. When we would arrive at a home without fail they would invite us inside and begin to feed us and feed us, it was hard to fit it all in! Sitting there talking with the parents through our interpreter I loved hearing about their lives and their hopes for their children, they have the same hopes and dreams that we have. They were so excited that their children were getting something they or their parents have never had before, a library. I would go back with village book in a heart beat!!