Andrea Wild-Botero

Today I volunteered for the day with an organization called GiveABook.org on the outskirts of London. I am an avid reader so I really wanted to get involved with something that had to do with the power of books. Today we unpacked, sorted, curated and re-packed over 2,000 books in 50 boxes for prisoners across the UK.

Specifically, the books were for a group called "First Nighters". These are people who just got arrested, people who are in that transition phase that can last up to a few months, between a holding cell, getting convicted and being transferred to an actual prison.

A big element of the packing for "First Nighters" was making sure that you made a selection that was entertaining, optimistic, maybe something they could learn of, and not anything too depressing that would "add fuel to the fire" of their situation. I was happy to see that I had read about 80% of the selection we had available so I curated my boxes very carefully. I tried to create epic collections of memoirs, novels, biographies, motivation, non-fiction, crossword puzzles and even a little "Eat, Pray, Love". Some of the recipients of these books will unfortunately be teenagers so we had to think of what could possibly be a tiny light of 'happiness' in their situation.

What I love about this organization is that it takes something small like a book, that might be insignificant to others, and they give it value. They take the time to reach out to the big publishers who send new, fresh, beautiful copies; they select every single book with joy and care knowing that books really do have the power to transport you, heal you, teach you something, provide an escape and so much more.

For prisoners, once they are stripped of their belongings, choosing a book to pass the time is essentially one of the very few choices they will have. This thought really made me value the hundreds of choices, big and small, that I get to make every single day just because I'm free.

Thank you so much Andrea.
Life is about choices we make in any given situation.
Love and TOY Monique