WITH A SINCERE passion to help Guyana’s children explore through reading and invest in their own account of knowledge, Guyana-born United States Citizen Veronica Creech has travelled home to deliver books to a people of whom she knows little of. Thus heralds the birth of ‘Book Bridges Guyana’.

Creech left Guyana with her mom in 1970, the year of her birth and has returned for the first time days ago with inspiration from her mother Dorothy Hunt of Berbice, who always talked about some of the children whose performances in school were marred by the lack of resources.
As part of her work with charitable and non-profit organizations she travelled the world distributing books to English-speaking countries, and decided that this time, on her own, she would ensure her life’s work benefits children of the land of her birth.

“My inspiration for taking on this investigation is to honor my mother and father Clement Pereira from Bartica…I always had this compassion to come back when my mom told us why we left and how difficult it was here. I always remembered that and then I had the good fortune of actually growing up in America. I had a lot of resources. I always knew that I would come back and do something to honor my mom and my dad,” she told Pepperpot Magazine.

She said this first visit was a mission to investigate the needs of the country’s education system and other organizations for children, and establish genuine partnerships to ensure the mission of the project was accomplished. She did not arrive empty-handed. When the interview began, she had already distributed 500 brand new story books to children from birth to eight-years-old.

She worked in the non-profit sector, in NGOs in the United States of America (USA) with the most memorable part of her profession being her work with First Book, which can be located online at www.firstbook.org.
“So my whole career was preparing ways to make life and systems better so that people can have a better way of life. I had done that in the US with community organizing, health and education and connecting thelow income family to the internet to ensure all were connected to enjoy the opportunities offered by the worldwide web.”

She described the organization’s project as an ongoing resource of brand new high-quality books for children ages zero to 18. During her four year stint with them she introduced organizations in the US who serve low income families, to First Book, and headed up the organization’s global investigation to find out what the impact would possibly be if they reached out globally and provide resources to organizations that served low-income children and families.
“So when I left that organization and I am working with the internet company, I thought I still wanted to connect that resource to the people in Guyana. Since I’ve been here… we went to the orphanage, we met the children and we talked with them, and I am seeing Dora the Explorer, I’m seeing Disney and I’m seeing all of the characters that make kids excited and that’s exactly the kind of book that we brought,” Creech said.

She was also able to donate some of the books to the Ministry of Education in Region 3, where she connected through the project to the Director of Regional Education, Director of Nursery Education and the Region’s Social Worker.
Connecting with people who live here and understands Guyana’s culture, she sees a public, private sector partnership as the only way Guyana will accomplish true progress in its various sectors.
This trip was about investigating what’s the need, and then who are the right partners on the ground that can help build those bridges into the right places, she said.

“If I send the books are they gonna sit on the docks? Who is gonna pick them up? Who is gonna be responsible for the duty? Hopefully there is no duty because they are being donated… and then physically to take the books and put them in a vehicle? Who is gonna pay for a vehicle? Who is gonna pay for transportation?” she asked.
Creech said her dream for Book Bridges Guyana is great, and she hopes to establish connection with the President’s 5b’s program in which he plans to include the distribution of books to children across the country.

“I know that President Granger has devoted the current 3Bs and the next 2Bs are going to be books and breakfast, so that’s where I’m thinking. Upon evaluating my experiences here, I have learned that books are very much needed and wanted in Guyana. It is my aim to build book bridges that deliver 10,000 brand new books to Guyana every year. This goal will only be met if it is created as a public/private partnership. I welcome people and companies to be in contact if they want to be a part of this effort. We need corporate sponsorship and a shipping partner who is able to assist with shipping and associated costs.”
Creech recognized that a “book is a luxury” and said it posed a challenge when children could not read by Grade 3.

“The third grade is where we go from learning to read, to read to learn. So if our kids can’t read to learn, then they haven’t learned to read… we’re having a big struggle right now, a big push to focus on reading,” she told this magazine.
While a book is just one precious gift, one small tool, she said, “parents and educators are the biggest tools we have,” and suggested that parents use reading with their children as an opportunity to bond and demonstrate the importance of reading.
She has also distributed books to the St Joseph Ursuline Convent; the National Library; HeadStart Georgetown. She has been supported here by her stepmom Pam Pereira and Aunt Joan Amo.