Today after school I decided to take a trip to my friend's house. After traveling for about 30 minutes, I finally arrived. My friend is named Zaiyadi. He is a close friend of mine. Although I am still in school, we have now grown up and gone our separate ways. He became a religious teacher that works on his own terms, while I became a teacher at a prominent school in my city.
When I arrived at his house I noticed that he had set up a small stall nearby. We smiled at each other and asked how we were each doing. Suddenly my eyes lit up with shock. Would you like to know why? I was amazed to see that my friend had set up a free library for school children. I really liked the way that it looked. His close proximity to several schools means that he'll be able to provide reading material for the neighborhood children in order to help with their creative skill sets.
He provided various books ranging from general reading all the way up to religious textbooks. It seems obvious that this will catch the attention of many students. I took some pictures while the students were reading and looking at the books that were there.
I am so happy to see how eager each of the students are to read the books that my friend provided. One by one they open each book and take turns looking at it. I can't help but think how wonderful my friend is for advancing the education of the local children. With this little stall he was able to create a small library. Just imagine if he was able to purchase a large shop. Then he would be able to provide a much bigger library.
I also think to myself that if any other organizations close to the school wanted to create such a library it would be very useful for other students in advancing their knowledge. A restaurant could provide books that the children could read while they eat. There could even be stalls with books in the village. In my opinion, it's a really good idea to do what my friend has done. I feel very proud of his ability to think creatively.
The lesson I can take from my friend is that we as teachers should always think of new ideas in developing the quality of education for students and non students alike.
In the following video you can see that when the student chooses a book, the instructor uses an encouraging voice in order to create an inducement for him to gain a desire to read. This library also offers a book borrowing system for the children so that they can read books at home.
After viewing the library together my friend and I sat for a long time and discussed memories from the past. We also began to imagine our future. We finally had to part because the afternoon had arrived. I took a few pictures with him to remember this occasion. I think my friend is very creative.
