RAs at Italy church help combat illiteracy along Rio Grande

ITALY—The smile on Noah Steinmetz's face after he had used the power screwdriver to place the first screw in a bookcase increased the wattage on an already bright Saturday afternoon.

Since the bookcase will go to impoverished children living in colonias along the banks of the Rio Grande, it doesn't take much to imagine his smile being replicated by the child who is a recipient of his handiwork.

The Royal Ambassadors at Central Baptist Church in Italy built 15 bookcases to help fight illiteracy in Texas. The plans for the bookcases were included in the Texas Baptist Men website, along with directions on how to cut up a piece of plywood most efficiently so waste would be kept to minimum.

In Italy, Ronnie Hyles' Home Supply donated all the wood and a local man not involved with the RAs cut it to size. So, all the boys had to do was focus on assembly.

Studies show the presence of books in a child's home make a significant difference in that child's capacity to learn, but poverty limits many children's early access to books and dampens that experience of early learning.

The Royal Ambassadors at Central Baptist Church and RAs all across the state working to level the playing field through Books for the Border in partnership with Literacy Connexus, a nonprofit entity that helps churches throughout Texas help people with literacy needs.

Rocklin Ginnett concentrates on driving a screw straight into a shelf for Books for the Border bookcase. (PHOTOS/George Henson)

Families living in colonias will receive the bookcases they are building and the books that are going in them. The colonias are unincorporated, isolated settlements that often lack water and sewage systems, electricity, health facilities, paved roads, and safe and sanitary housing.

There are about 2,300 colonias along the Texas-Mexico border, and they are home to about 500,000 people.

Since many of these homes are so substandard that they don't have floors, books, newspapers and magazines are a luxury the families cannot afford.

Rocklin Ginnett, an Italy third-grader summed it up: "These are for kids that don't have books or bookcases like we do. In some ways, their lives are just hopeless."

"We're just trying to help kids who need help," Steinmetz added.

Central Baptist Church's RA director Mike Britt emphasized the importance of helping the boys understand the impact of what they were doing. "We try very hard to explain it to them, but it can be hard for them to understand," he said.

But Steinmetz caught the gist of what he and his friends were doing. "We're just trying to help kids who need help," he said.

In addition to building the 15 bookcases, the RAs also planned to send $30 with each bookcase to buy books. These beginning libraries will include a children's Bible story book, a Gospel of John, the health literacy book What to Do When Your Child is Sick, a Rock-A-Bye Baby Reader, and other age-appropriate books.

The books and bookcases are presented to the families at a family reading fair where they are given a chance to personalize their bookcase with paint or stickers.

Royal Ambassadors from across the state planned to bring their bookcases to the state campout and Missions Mania event at Latham Springs Encampment in mid-November.

The project is one that is greatly beneficial for the boys as well, Britt said.

"It's a hands-on activity for them, and a lot of them don't get that opportunity very often. They may not have someone who will sit down with them and teach them how to do these things," he said.

Murrie Wainscott, a RA worker at Central Baptist Church who also is a part of the state RA committee, agreed.

"The value of godly men teaching boys how to use tools and having an impact on their lives never goes out of style.