Alicia Van Borssum was one of 11 teachers and librarians from the United States who volunteered their time to changing the lives of children living in one of the poorest countries in the world. She traveled to Ethiopia—where only 43 percent of Ethiopian adults can read and write—to bring hope, vision, and educational skills to Ethiopian children.

Van Borssum, an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher at Craig Hill Elementary School in the Greece Central School District and a doctoral student pursuing her Ed.D. in teaching and curriculum at the Warner School, participated in Ethiopia Reads, a nonprofit organization that strives to establish and stock children’s libraries in communities and schools, publish children’s literature, and train educators in effective literacy strategies to create a culture of literacy and cultivate a love of books among Ethiopian children.

Van Borssum, along with other Ethiopia Reads volunteers, began her mission by raising funds that bought wordless picture books and materials that enabled her to train educators to teach reading and writing to Ethiopian children, many of whom have never seen a book before. “I started raising money a year before my trip,” explains Van Borssum. “My goal was to raise $5,000, and I surpassed that goal by collecting $10,000 from clubs, churches, organizations, and individuals. I sent all of the picture books over ahead of time so the first that I saw all 500 books was when I arrived in Ethiopia.”

During her first trip in June 2007, she shared the books and demonstrated literacy strategies and techniques to 38 Ethiopian teachers and librarians, who came for training on how to use picture books to develop children’s literacy. Her decision to use wordless picture books was driven in part by the great success that she had when using these books with her ESOL students in the past. After teacher training, she spent some time modeling strategies for the librarians at the Shola Library, the first free public library for children in a country of 77 million people.

Upon her arrival back to the United States, Van Borssum started planning her second trip to Ethiopia, which took place six months later in December. During this visit, she focused her time and energy on collecting data. As an observer and a listener, she learned about what was taking place literacy-wise in the classrooms and new school libraries and talked with teachers and librarians about their perceived needs for improvements. With the guidance of her Warner School advisor, Mary Jane Curry, Van Borssum is now learning how to analyze the data, with the hope that this data will guide her in her dissertation research at Warner.

Adults and children in Ethiopia are not the only ones who have benefited tremendously from Ethiopia Reads. Van Borssum explains how she has grown as a student and as a teacher from this experience. “As a student, this has given me a goal to work with, and it’s real tangible work,” she says. “As a professional, this has expanded and intensified my mission as an ESOL teacher. I am modeling new strategies for other teachers. Additionally, the whole school is now interested in learning about Ethiopia.”

Van Borssum, who is described as being energetic, compassionate, and determined by her colleagues, continues to share photographs, clothing, toys, and experiences that she brought back with students and teachers at Craig Hill Elementary School and organizations in the Rochester area.

She also has established a new pen pal system between Ethiopian children and her own students, who also played an instrumental role in raising money for her trips. “The most rewarding part of this experience is the personal friendships that I made in Ethiopia and the new friendships that I helped to create between my students in Greece and Ethiopian children,” adds Van Borssum as a smile glistens across her face.