The bookfrog

In some countries, many children can't attend school unless they can provide their own notepads and writing utensils. So it was my pleasure, as a part of my recent trip to Madagascar, to try to do a little good while I was there and to provide rural village children with pencils and books.

Rather than buy notebooks in, I chose to make them, meaning that I could dictate how many pages were in each and also make sure that the books produced were eco friendly, using no plastics or metal spiral bindings. So having spent many a night manufacturing as many A5 books as I could carry,  I was able to travel with enough books to give to three remote villages and a collection of very excited Malagassy children. Of course, being children, they were also very excited to see photos of themselves on the digital screen of my camera.

We believe that education is vital, not only for the children to reach their potential, but also to help countries, such as Madagascar, educate their children on issues such as wildlife and conservation, increasing awareness of their environment. Many countries, through education, have come to realise that responsible tourism is much more profitable to them than slash and burn agriculture or the exotic pet trade and started to do something about it. After all you can only sell an exotic pet once, but you can charge a tourist to see it in the wild again and again. We hope that through providing the right tools, these children can grow to adults who want to make a difference.

It was such a success and so easy to do, that we have decided to do it again, under the pinkfrog banner, and take as many items as we can carry on our next trip which is likely to be Costa Rica next September. I am anticipating many evenings filled with notebook manufacture between now and then...

If you would like to help – don't worry we won't get you making the books – just email Angie and we will put you in touch with charities who are working towards the same goal.
Books for Africa is just one of the many charities working with poor countries like Madagascar, you can find out more about their projects here...>

Save the children also run a textbook scheme. You can find more about it here...>

Any links to charitable ventures are purely for information purposes. Pinkfrog do not endorse these charities nor is pinkfrog creative affiliated with these charities in any way.