USAID International Book Bank and FHI 360 Donate Books to Strengthen Technical Education Institutions

“The best students and teachers who are constantly seeking to grow do not depend solely on the hours of instruction and professional development designated by the institution as their vehicle to learn new concepts and methodologies. One way to continue to grow as an educator and as a student is to infuse learning environments with books that are aligned with both academic and professional/workplace perspectives.” With these words, Juan Carlos Rodríguez, the Honduras Country Program Director for the Advance Program, initiated the Symbolic Donation Ceremony for books donated by USAID, the International Book Bank, and FHI 360 to educational institutions in Honduras.

The event was attended by 34 participants, one third of them representing educational institutions including Universidad Cristiana Evangélica Nuevo Milenio (UCENM), Centro Universitario Tecnológico (CEUTEC), Universidad Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH), National Vocational Training Institute (INFOP)and Central American Polytechnic Institute (IPC). The Honduras Advance Program staff also attended the event, including the group of young people who helped to classify, package and organize the books.

USAID/Honduras representative, Ana Carolina Rubí, addressed the audience and explained that the donation consists of 25,000 books, with an estimated value of US $ 2.5 million, and is intended to strengthen the libraries of educational institutions in Honduras that offer tertiary and non-tertiary technical education programs. She also indicated that the donation includes more than 150 book titles in areas such as marketing, health, business management, engineering, physics, accounting, finance, economics, sociology, psychology, mathematics and pedagogy, among others.

The ceremony continued with the symbolic delivery of the books to the representatives of UCENM, CEUTEC, UNAH, INFOP and IPC. Through close coordination with these institutions, the distribution will be scheduled during the second half of 2017. To close the ceremony, Rector of the UCENM, Attorney María Antonia Fernández de Suazo, delivered a thank you message, including several transcendental messages, among them, that “the donation has a cultural nature, given that books have been and will be the universal source of knowledge” and that “in the contemporary world, strategic partnerships are tools to advocate for human and institutional development.”

The recipient Institutions will develop strategies to promote the effective use of books, which could include the design of campaigns to publicize the contents to students, as well as teachers, to be used as a reference to support regular coursework.