THIS IS YOUR DAY
Remember the poor – it costs nothing.
-Mark Twain
If Shannon Daley-Harris had her way, we would all remember the poor – as a distant memory. And it could even cost next to nothing. In her new book, “Our Day to End Poverty: 24 Ways You Can Make a Difference,” co-authored with Jeffrey Keenan, she offers a host of concrete actions that each of us can take to help alleviate world poverty. “This isn’t a book to convince you to care about global poverty,” she writes in the preface. “We trust that you already do. This is a book for those of us who have felt hopeless or helpless – a book to show what each of us can do to make a difference.” So instead of beating the drum about disease and deprivation – which can dishearten even the most committed – she presents an upbeat litany of small but practical steps that can lead to big results. Some of her suggestions are even fun!
Organized around a typical day, each of the book’s 24 chapters focuses on a specific worldwide problem, such as hunger, illiteracy or lack of access to healthcare. Readers are first encouraged to “Learn” about the problem through a resource list of books, Web sites and documentaries. They can then “Contribute,” not only by writing a check to a worthy organization, but by donating used suitcases and cell phones, hosting fundraisers, or supporting socially responsible stores and businesses. Volunteer opportunities are covered in a section called “Serve,” which proposes such creative alternatives as offering computer expertise or helping low-income workers with free tax preparation.
The final section of each chapter, called “Live,” offers more personal ways to help, such as investing in a microcredit-financing institution, running for office, or simply taking a moment at mealtimes to remember those who don’t have enough to eat.
Packed with more than 400 concrete and creative action items, “Our Day to End Poverty” includes some small thing that everyone should be able to do. Spare a few bucks for playpumps.org, a group that installs innovative water pumps in rural Africa which double as children’s merry-go-rounds. Tutor an adult who can’t read. Talk to children in a homeless shelter. Help local growers by shopping at a farmers’ market. Support local dentists who provide pro bono care. Be a mentor. Be a mensch. In the words of Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund, “If you don’t like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.”
Shannon Daley-Harris lives on Capitol Hill with her husband and two children and credits Port City Java with sustaining her during the writing of “Our Day to End Poverty.” She formerly directed religious affairs for the Children’s Defense Fund and continues to work as an advisor and writer for CDF and other organizations concerned with children’s issues, poverty and healthcare.
DEAR WRITER
Have you ever been so moved by a book that you wanted to sit down and write the author a letter? “Letters About Literature,” a national contest sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, invited readers in grades 4 through 12 to do just that. Contestants were asked to write a personal letter to an author, living or dead, explaining how a particular work changed their view of the world or of themselves. More than 56,000 entries were judged in three categories: Level I (grades 4-6), Level II (grades 7-8), and Level III (grades 9-12), and both national and regional winners of the 2006-07 contest were announced in June. The six national winners will read their letters at the National Book Festival on the Mall, Sept. 29.
The top local winners represent the rich diversity of DC with their lively, thoughtful and compassionate entries. Abigail Melick (Level I) was “inspired beyond words” by “Chew On This,” a teen adaptation of Eric Schlosser’s best-selling “Fast Food Nation.” In her letter to Schlosser and co-author Charles Wilson, she confesses her love of fast food but says that reading their book turned her around. “I vowed I would never set foot, much less eat a single fry from any fast food place EVER again,” she writes. Now she’s trying to convert others. “Some people respond…with a ‘Come on, Abby, it’s just a hamburger, how bad can it be?’ Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to be rude, but with every greasy bite, McDonalds grows stronger, and someone out there in the world grows weaker.”
John Nessman, who took first place in Level II, gained newfound sensitivity by reading “Flowers for Algernon,” the story of a mentally-challenged man named Charlie Gordon. “I have a severely autistic uncle,” he writes to author Daniel Keyes. “After reading about Charlie Gordon…I was inspired to talk with my mother about her childhood and the difficulties of growing up with an autistic brother. I now admire the strength of my mother and her family for standing by Chris all these years.” His new perspective also comes with a burden. “It saddens me that prejudice towards the mentally ill continues to exist,” he writes. But he hopes that the book will move others “to make life a bit easier for the mentally disabled.”
The Level III winner, Talia Harris, read Sister Souljah’s gritty 1992 memoir, “No Disrespect,” at a bad time in her own life. “I had fallen deep inside myself,” she writes. “I didn’t know which way to turn or who to turn to.” Initially, she was “not totally on the same page” as the author, but the book slowly drew her in. “The words wrapped their letters around me, and the periods hit me on top of my head. Your book touched the innermost part of me… It opened my eyes to how I appreciate myself and life.” In the end, she writes, “I’ve learned that everyone is different, but at the same time alike. By the end of your book, I felt as though we not only belonged to the same book, but the same page.”
Patricia Pasqual of the DC Public Library coordinates the local component of “Letters About Literature” and encourages readers to get in touch with her for the 2008 contest guidelines, which will be available in August. E-mail patricia.pasqual@dc.gov, or call 202-727-2313.
SUMMER QUEST and HOLLA’BACK
The DC Public Library’s summer reading programs are in full swing. Summer Quest encourages children from infants to 14 years old to join Sneaks the Cat for a Reading Road Trip. Storytelling, magic and puppet shows and digital photography workshops help show how entertaining reading can be. Holla’Back@DCPL zeroes in on the 12- to 19-year-old crowd, featuring science and drama workshops, electronic and board games, and discussion groups. Both programs offer prizes and are free. Visit your local branch library to register. For more information and a schedule of activities, go to www.dclibrary.org. Here’s what’s coming up at our local branches:
SUMMER QUEST
Bill Mayhew: Storyteller
Northeast: July 6, 10:30 AM
Postcards for a Reading Road Trip (photography)
Northeast: July 24, 31, 1:30 PM
Southeast: August 2, 16, 1:30 PM
Candace Wolf: Storyteller
Northeast: July 16, 1:30 PM
Southeast: July 16, 10:30 AM
Holla’Back@DCPL
“What’s the Matter?” (Maryland Science Center Programs)
Northeast: July 27, 10:30 AM
Southeast: July 27, 2:30 PM
“All That Drama”
Northeast: July 11, 18, 25, Aug. 1, 4:30 PM
Southeast: July 10, 17, 24, 31, 4:30 PM
“Are You Being Played?” (electronic and board games)
Northeast: July 9, 16, 23, 30, 6:30 PM
Southeast: July 5, 12, 19, 26, 6:30 PM
BOOK DATES
DC PUBLIC LIBRARIES
www.dclibrary.org
Northeast Neighborhood Library
330 Seventh St. NE, 202-698-3320
Capitol Hill Mystery Book Club: first Monday of the month, 6:30 PM
Toddler Times: Tuesdays, 10:15 and 11:15 AM; Thursdays, 11:15 AM
Story time (ages 3-8): Wednesdays, 4 PM; third Saturday, 10:30 AM
Puppet Show: fourth Saturday, 10:30 AM
Chess Club: second and third Saturdays, 1:30 PM
Southeast Neighborhood Library
403 Seventh St. SE, 202-698-3377
Baby/Toddler story time (infant-2): Mondays, 11 AM
Preschool story time (ages 3-5): Wednesdays, 10:15 AM
Chess Class: Tuesdays, 7 PM, Wednesdays, 4 PM
ESL Class: Tuesdays, 7 PM
Capitol Hill Book Club (nonfiction): third Tuesday, 6:30 PM.
Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol St. SE www.folger.edu, 202-544-4600
Box Office: 202-544-7077
Exhibition
“Shakespeare in American Life”
Mon.-Sat., 10 AM-4 PM
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
www.loc.gov, 202-707-0911
Poetry at Noon
Be a guest poet for the 2007/08 season. Submission deadline July 15. Guidelines at www.loc.gov/poetry/poetrynoon.html.
Genealogy Research Orientation
Learn about library resources, records, databases. Free. Register at 202-707-5537.
Biweekly. July 11 and 25, 10-11:30 AM
Gallery Talk
Shakespeare walking tour of Jefferson Building
July 17, 3 PM
Capitol Hill Books
657 C St. SE www.capitolhillbooks-dc.com, 202-544-1621
Second Saturday: discounts on books; wine & cheese 4-7 PM
June’s Dead Author Program features Edith Wharton (extra 20 percent off).
Riverby Books
417 East Capitol St. SE www.riverby.com, 202-543-4342
‘A Space Inside’ Reading Series
Last Wednesday, 7 PM