Aside: A Little Christmas Wish from Read or Die
Posted on 10. Dec, 2007 by Khursten in News
Well, this isn’t really manga related, but it is related to reading. I know you and I have the luxury to read, but many Filipinos don’t even have an access to a book. Two years ago my friends and I decided to start a book club of sorts named Read or Die. Yes, we are otakus this way, but it’s really just a book club! After some while, we discovered that the Philippines has a big literacy problem. Sure, the market has books but not everyone can afford it. More so, the books available are not extensive. 80% of books in Manila are ripped off from the NY Times Bestseller list. If we want variety, we probably won’t get it.
So we decided to launch initiatives. First, is to encourage literacy. We tried provide books for the common masses to read. And not just any book, but books of great intellectual or cultural value. Second is to culture a nurturing community of readers and writers, one wherein readers would understand the world of the writer, and the other for writers to receive inspiration from their readers.
Last year we managed to conduct a successful Read or Die convention wherein writers had an opportunity to meet their readers. There were also lots of books donated and gathered from different institutions. It was a successful event and we’re hoping to bring more events like this to Filipino readers and writers in the future. But to pull this off, we need your help.
We’re opening a Christmas Donation drive and we’re hoping to earn as much as $2,000 dollars by the end of December. If you guys have a spare dollar and would like to give high school kids a chance to read great books and well, for my cause, great comics and mangas that could teach them valuable lessons in life, then please donate a dollar or two to our cause. You can check the widget at the side bar saying “Read or Die” and click “Chip In!” and donate to our cause. Please. :3
You can read more about Read or Die and our initiatives at our website.
MangaBlog » Blog Archive » In other news…
Dec 11th, 2007
[...] and sponsoring a convention where readers and writers can meet each other. They are having a fund-raiser right now, so if you have a bit of extra cash rattling around in the bottom of your PayPal account, [...]
Tintin Pantoja
Dec 12th, 2007
hey, i’m going to manila soon. how can i help/ donate in the philippines?
Khursten
Dec 12th, 2007
Wai~! Thanks for taking interest in our drive! I’m really happy my little advertisement worked! Thanks a lot! I just kind of figured a Filipino elsewhere could be reading my blog
If you are interested to donate books or cash, we will have an event on Dec. 15 at Powerbooks Trinoma (For Charlson Ong’s Talk for one of our Initiatives, Write or Die). At the same time, there will be a book reading in Powerbooks Greenbelt on the same day. Both schedules are in the afternoon so you can look for either Tin Mandigma or ask for an organizer for read or die.
If you can’t either way, you can either mail me and leave your contact details and we’ll try to coordinate meeting you when you’d like to donate anything.
This really has made me jump with joy. Thanks a lot!