The IU Books & Beyond Project, established in 2008, is an award-winning intercultural storytelling and literacy exchange created by students for students in the United States and Rwanda. Books & Beyond has partnered with several middle and primary schools in Rwanda and US.
We aim to develop globally-minded students, develop models for intercultural teaching and learning, and help young authors and readers create and acquire books for their personal use.
The student leaders of the project believe that every partnership should be reciprocal so that no one is solely giving or taking, but that all partners have an investment in the project and that all partners’ needs are met. They view experiential learning as an effective means of student-led, project-based inquiry and collaboration. They believe that students must acquire the knowledge, dispositions, skills, tools, and resources necessary to be productive leaders. And finally, they recognize that each partner brings to the collaboration prior knowledge, life experiences, and a wealth of skills that serve to enhance the project.
Located in the Musanze Province of Rwanda, Kabwende serves 2000 students in grades 1–6. The Rwandan government recently mandated that all classroom instruction must be in English (formerly teachers had the option of using French or Ikinyarwanda). Without training, teachers are struggling to learn English and teach their students in a new language. Kabwende students in grades 5 and 6 co-author and illustrate stories for Books & Beyond.
In the Fall of 2015, we had to say goodbye to our friends at TEAM Schools in Newark, New Jersey, and paved the way for a collaborative partnership with one of the local elementary schools in Bloomington, Indiana. We work with students ages 9–12 to compile the stories for our anthology, The World Is Our Home.
IU alumna Nancy Uslan travels to Rwanda. Upon returning Nancy approaches IU and TEAM Schools about developing a project for Kabwende Primary School.
TEAM Schools send Ali Nagle to Kabwende Primary School to perform a needs assessment.
FallIU School of Education Professor Beth Lewis Samuelson becomes a Faculty advisor to Books & Beyond and develops a research agenda based on the project. Books & Beyond launches with 25 Global Village and 16 TEAM School students.
Students raise over $20,000 to support travel and printing of 2000 Copies of “The World is Our Home: Volume I”. Professor Samuelson creates a curriculum to aid the teachers at the Kabwende Primary School in using the books to teach critical literacy.
SummerA team of eleven representatives from IU and TEAM Schools travels to Rwanda to deliver 2000 copies of the book to the Kabwende Primary School and host curriculum workshops for the teachers.
FallThe second year of Books & Beyond launches with 16 TEAM Schools’ students visiting IU to begin the writing process. 40 Global Village students and 30 Kabwende Primary School students also join the project.
Students raise $45,000 to fund the project. The World is Our Home: Volume II is published containing 47 stories written by Kabwende, TEAM, and Global Village students.
SummerA team of five representatives travel to Rwanda to deliver 2100 copies of the book, conduct student writing workshops and teacher development training at Kabwende Primary School.
FallThe third year of the project kicks off with 60 Global Village students and 16 TEAM Schools students. A team of four AmeriCorps Service-Engagement Corps members serves as the project’s first leadership team. TEAM Schools students travel to IU to begin work on their stories.
Global Village students travel to Newark, New Jersey, for the third year in a row and complete their stories with their writing partners. The World is Our Home: Volume III is prepared for publication by April 2011.
SummerEight students and teachers from the Global Village and TEAM schools travel to Rwanda to deliver the third volume of the book. While at Kabwende, the delegation holds English conversation circles for students and teachers, workshops in writing and illustrating, and a community dialogue about the future of the project. 15 Rwandan students write and illustrate stories for the next volume of the book.
FallBooks & Beyond enters its fourth year with 72 Global Village students and 14 TEAM Schools students. The student leadership team is expanded to include a total of nine student leaders, including five AmeriCorps Service-Engagement Corps members.
IU Students travel to Newark, New Jersey to collaborate with their writing partners and complete their stories for The World is Our Home: Volume IV. Additionally, IU students create multiple fundraisers for B&B.
SummerA delegation of 8 IU students, 4 TEAM Students, and their supervisors travel to Rwanda in order to teach at B&B’s first Kabwende Holiday Camp, where students learned English and writing skills in addition to receiving Volume IV of The World is Our Home.
FallThe fifth year of the project begins and students from TEAM and IU meet each other during TEAM’s October trip to IU. New students learn about Rwanda and the purpose of the project and writing partners begin to brainstorm and write their stories.
IU Students visit their TEAM writing partners in Newark, New Jersey to finish their stories. Additionally, B&B raised $8,000 so that TEAM students could go to Rwanda during the summer.
SummerA delegation of IU and TEAM students, staff, and faculty travel to Rwanda to teach at the second Kabwende holiday camp and to give copies of The World is Our Home: Volume V to Kabwende students participating in the camp.
FallB&B enters its sixth year with 37 Global Village students and multiple fundraising and outreach events. Additionally, the B&B faculty advisor and alumni publish an article about the effects of B&B.
IU students visit their TEAM School writing partners in Newark, New Jersey to complete their stories. Furthermore, Global Village continues outreach by sponsoring a Rwandan film series and holding a fundraising dinner.
SummerNine students from IU and TEAM Schools and their supervisors travel to Rwanda to deliver the year’s anthology and to teach at the third annual Kabwende Holiday Camp.
A team of nine IU students travel to Rwanda. We establish the first Kabwende Primary Center Library, and deliver 2,000 copies of The World Is Our Home.
SummerTEAM Schools in Newark, NJ is replaced by Bloomington elementary schools in Bloomington, IN.
