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The Kid Works By The Book
 While
other children around the world are luxuriating in summer recess, in New York
City seventeen year old Andrew Titley is working away for the second year to
provide school books for students in the Northeastern part of Thailand.
“During August 2004, I had the opportunity of visiting a small village that is
located in the SiSaKet Province located approximately 50 miles from both the
Laos and Cambodian borders and about 400 miles from Bangkok. The people
there are quite poor, with many earning less than $1000 dollars a year.
Very few of the houses have electricity, telephones, in-door toilets or other
amenities. I visited the local elementary school where there were 6
classes of children aged from 4 to 10 years old. Each class had about 30
students and all of the students are required to learn English. Although
the Thai government supplies each student with a uniform, the students have very
few books in English, and those they have are worn out, shared between students
and are not the most appropriate for them to use to learn a different language.
I told the teachers that I would do my best to obtain books for them.”
So far with hard work and permission from some patient and encouraging parents
to allow Andrew to fill up the Titley Oceanside, New York home with donated
books, the young fellow who is now in Thailand where this picture was snapped
recently, has delivered more than 50,000 books to 64 Elementary Schools
throughout SisSaKet Province.
Air cargo has helped too with BDP International, CDS Worldwide, and Triway
Logistics (Thailand) providing the transport to get the books to these kids
halfway around the world.
For his part, despite living in conditions most children his age in America and
elsewhere cannot imagine, Andrew has remained bright, driven and even cheerful
as he goes from village to village with the books.
“The Thais are kind
and wonderful, happy and generous. If as a result of these books we helped
moved another generation along, the effort has been well worthwhile.”
Andrew says he hopes
to come back again with computers next year.
Andrew is maintaining
a daily log to track his progress or to help this great young man go to: www.ThaiBookDrive.com.
And to Richard Bolte Jr., President of BDP (www.bdpint.com),
Joe Yau President of CDS Worldwide (www.cds-worldwide.com),
and Lim Kok Wee Managing Director of Triways Logistics (www.Triways.com),
special thanks from this quarter of air cargo, for making us all look good.
(Geoffrey Arend)
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