5k for charity raises funds to build libraries


The USC chapter of the World is Just a Book Away raised funds to build libraries for underprivileged children in Indonesia, Mexico and Los Angeles at its sixth-annual 5K run on Saturday.

Founded in 2008 by James Owens, an associate professor of clinical management communication at the Marshall School of Business, WIJABA seeks to promote literacy among children who would otherwise have little access to educational resources.

“I decided to start a charity in 2008 to build a library in Sidoarjo, Indonesia — the region most deeply affected by the world’s worst mud flow disaster — and in 2009 we built the first library,” Owens said. “If we give children access to books, they can grow and learn to experience the world in different ways.”

WIJABA Director Jacobi Wade helped organize this year’s event with the USC chapter. Wade joined WIJABA five years ago as a volunteer and became a full-time director in January 2015. Like Owens, Wade is a firm believer that access to books can lead to world change.

“The simplest way to make sure that we raise children who contribute to our growing world is to teach them to read and to show them that reading is a pleasurable activity,” Wade said. “If there is anything that reading books has taught me, it is that our world does not have to remain the way it is now. Things can be different.”

Since its founding, this global non-profit organization has distributed over 50,000 books, built 49 libraries and reached 27,000 children worldwide. WIJABA’s first annual 5K run raised enough money to build a library in Padang, Indonesia, and since then, membership has grown and new programs have been implemented.

One such program is Roots and Shoots, which is a partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute that aims to equip children with the knowledge, tools and motivation to improve the quality of their local environments.

“Roots and Shoots is a five-week educational program held at a library where the kids learn all about the environment and their role in the environment,” Owens said. “It culminates with the kids forming their own Roots and Shoots chapter where they decide what they want to change about their own local environments.”

Owens recalled how happy the local children felt when the construction of WIJABA’s Los Angeles library was completed.

“At our Los Angeles library opening, one little boy looked at a book and then at one of our board members and asked ‘Can I pick it up?’” Owens said. “He didn’t understand the concept that he had the right to pick up a book. Another little girl looked around the library and said ‘I don’t have any money for books,’ so we had to explain the concept of what a library meant to her.”

Owens plans to keep building libraries with WIJABA in developing countries, hoping that this will help these children change the world.

“Children who have access to something positive have the opportunity to change their lives, and, when children change their lives, they can change the world,” Owens said.