Over 400 books have been donated, cleaned, freighted and delivered to a school in Bengaluru, India. We believe every child has the right to be educated and have access to the information and the tools to achieve their dreams. Each book has a sticker of the Australian flag on the inside, to remind the students that someone far away is thinking of them and wish them well in their pursuit of knowledge.
To donate, please make a DIRECT DEPOSIT to the Arts Nexus GIFT FUND. Email us at admin@artsnexus.com.au to request a TAX DEDUCTIBLE RECEIPT. Be sure to add a note to your deposit with your name so we can trace your deposit. Your gifts are appreciate.
Arts Nexus GIFT FUND BSB# 633 000 Account# 131 042 830
Thank you to all the friends of Arts Nexus Inc., Queensland, Australia, that contributed books, time and donations, to share these books with the students and their community of St. Alphonsus Acadamy, St.Thomas Town, Bengaluru.
“Respected Mellisa, Thank you for the generous contribution of books and your continued follow-up. Most of the books are in the process of being incorporated into our main library. Thank you once again for your support. Warm regards, Fr. John Mathew.” St. Alphonsus Academy
The Story – How the book idea came about
In 2018, Melissa Robertson graduated in the Arts Leaders Program for the Australia Council for the Arts (now Creative Australia). From this, Melissa was awarded a bursary to travel to India to meet with members of the Council and observe their arts practices. Choosing to travel to Bengaluru in 2019, Melissa found herself in the company of Madhumita Dsouza who she met through colleagues of the Arts Leaders Program.
Madhumita donates her time to support school programs as a dentist, teaching the students how to care for their teeth and about the bad effects of tobacco. She also volunteers her time to teach Hindi, inspiring her students to have high attendance at the school. Madhumita takes her inspiration from her daughter, Ruam Mukherjee. Ruam showed a thirst for knowledge and a love of books from an early age and now teaches literacy to young people. Excited to introduce her new friend, Madhumita took Melissa to meet the inspirational School Director, Father John Mathew. At the school they had a tour of the newly renovated facilities including science labs, cafeteria, auditorium with performance facilities and the library.
The library! Father John had an idea. A boarded-up room, dusty and neglected, was being revamped, using old church pews for bookshelves. Father John’s vision was to create a university-standard library which would provide genuine learning pathways for his students and their community. Now students, who come from the surrounding areas, arrive each day with their hair impeccable, uniforms pristine and ready to learn.
As luck would have it, Melissa’s mother Meryll, once a school librarian, owns much-loved Rainy Day Books, a second-hand bookshop in Melbourne, Australia. Knowledgable and inspired, Melissa, (who was event manager for the Cairns Tropical Writers Festival at the time and had visited the Literary Festivals in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata), offered to support the initiative and promised to find as many books as possible to donate. She set about raising money, collecting books and finding ways to get the books to India.
Together, Madhumita and Melissa believe that knowledge and a love of reading will save any child and provide opportunities for their future.
Over 400 books were gathered and re-conditioned. From children’s story books, reference, art, geography, travel, information, dictionaries, anything that was thought to be Australian content or of interest to school aged children. Affecting the whole world, the pandemic came and delayed all shipments for almost two years.
Persistence won the day, even when roadblocks, paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork, as well as lack of money, threatened the cause. A chance meeting with Timmy in Cairns turned the tables when he was able to offer assistance through his colleague Daniel in India. FINALLY! The books arrived in Bengaluru! After four long years of planning, collecting, talking, including a whole year of freight and customs negotiations, the books are now in place and being read by the students.
PLEASE DONATE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS INITIATIVE
We still have some accounts to pay and now a program has begun to work with the students and their families, to engage with the Australia Collection and learn more about the world they live in.
If you can find a place in your budget and would like to be a part of this intercontinental exchange of books and good will, please make a DIRECT DEPOSIT to the Arts Nexus GIFT FUND. Email us at admin@artsnexus.com.au to request a TAX DEDUCTIBLE RECEIPT. Be sure to add a note to your deposit with your name so we can trace your deposit. Your gifts are appreciate.
Arts Nexus GIFT FUND BSB# 633 000 Account# 131 042 830
With gratitude we give special thanks to:-
- Abraham Daniel Charles and Timmy Vanderputt (Cairns and Chennai)
- Gail Rogers, Specialised Speech Services (Far North Queensland)
- Mike Adams and the team at Psalm Walk Gallery (Babinda, Qld)
- Paul Barrett and Joann Schmider from ComUnityACCETs (Cairns, Qld)
- Meryll Williams from Rainy Day Books (Melbourne, Victoria)
- Brett and Maree Duck
- Jana and her daughter
- Jane Ann Spoto and daughter
- Korena Jane Spoto
- Ruby and Philippe Boussard
- Bernadette Curnuck
- Neal Robinson and Eben Love
- Jenuarrie, Di Forsyth and the committee members of Arts Nexus Inc.