One Book Can Empower a Child
In many places in the world,/children cannot go to school.// This is the story of those children/and of Shanti Volunteer Association (SVA),/a Japanese NGO,/which is trying to help them.//
　　Phea is a thirteen-year-old girl/living in a village in Cambodia.// Every morning/she goes to the river and into the forest/to get fish and fruit,/which she sells in town.// She used to go to school.// But when she was in the fourth grade,/her family could no longer pay the daily 30-yen fee.// She had to quit school.//
　　Phea says shyly,/“I can write my name,/but I’ve forgotten many things.// I wonder/if I can get a decent job.”//
　　Hak is fourteen.// When he was in the second grade,/he left school to go to work.// He collects plastic bottles and metal fragments/in a dump in the slums of Phnom Penh/for about 100 yen a day.//
　　“I envy my friends who attend school,”/he says.// “I wish I could study, too.”//
　　It is reported/that more than 70 million children around the world/cannot go to school.// To help children like Phea and Hak,/SVA has been working/to give every child an opportunity to learn.//

　　SVA works not only in Cambodia/but also in Afghanistan,/Thailand,/Myanmar,/Laos,/and Nepal.// It cooperates with local governments and communities/to build schools and libraries,/and also to send books to children.//
　　One of those children is Nool,/who lives in Afghanistan.// He used to live with his father/in his home village.// His father raised cows,/and Nool helped him take the cows out to the field.// Then one day,/their village was bombed.// Nool and his father/just managed to escape with their lives.//
　　They had to move to a nearby town.// Their lives were extremely difficult.// Their house had a leaky roof/patched up with pieces of plastic.// They didn’t even have blankets/to keep themselves warm.// They lacked food,/so they only had tea for breakfast.// Nool was still afraid of bombing.// His daily life was not happy.//
　　Then, one day,/Nool had an opportunity/to visit an SVA library.// Now he has a purpose in life.// He says,/“I really enjoy going to the library.// I have lots of fun there.// I will study hard.// I promise.”// He dreams of being able to read books/and study at a school.//

　　Orathai is another child/whose life changed for the better/thanks to SVA.// She lives in Thailand.// As a child,/she lived in a slum area in Bangkok.// Both parents were illiterate.//
　　When Orathai was four,/an SVA library truck/pulled up in her slum.// Kids gathered around,/and a volunteer read them a picture book,/The Giant Turnip.// It is a story about an old couple/who grow a turnip so big/that they need their granddaughter,/a dog,/a cat,/and a mouse/to pull it out of the ground.//
　　Orathai never forgot that moment.// She says,/“The story taught me/that if people want to achieve something big,/they have to work together.”//
　　When Orathai was eight,/SVA built a library near her house.// It became a second home for her.// She read books/and took part in activities/like singing and dancing.// She still remembers/SVA’s helping her expand her world.//
　　Orathai is now a successful Thai diplomat.//

　　An SVA staff member in Myanmar says,/“Children seem to have learned thinking skills/through reading.// Kids love storytelling sessions/and are absorbed in the world of picture books.”// Her dream is/to put a picture book in every child’s hand.// SVA tries to make that dream come true.// It takes a lot of books.//
　　SVA collects about 18,000 books a year/in Japan.// The SVA staff translate the books/into other Asian languages/and print the translated passages on stickers.// Then, volunteers paste the stickers/over the Japanese words.// It takes a volunteer about one hour/to finish one book.// A lot of helping hands are needed.//
　　One volunteer says,/“I was interested in doing some volunteer work,/and it was an easy first step forward/to make a small change in my life.”//
　　Another says,/“I used to enjoy reading picture books/to my kids.// Now that they have grown up,/it gives me joy/to imagine kids all over Asia/enjoying picture books I help to make.”//
　　One picture book can change a life/and empower a child.// Just ask Orathai,/the Thai diplomat/who has never forgotten The Giant Turnip.//