Teenage Volunteers Return From Successful 3-Month Trip to Help Education and Development in Tanzania

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bricks + Books Foundation (www.bricksandbooks.org), a youth-led 501(c)3 organization, is pleased to announce the successful completion of its 4th annual volunteer trip to Tanzania to help develop sustainable educational infrastructure.

"We believe that the Bricks + Books Foundation has reached an important milestone. Not only have we touched the lives of thousands in Tanzania, but we have also begun to mobilize our generation to affect change in communities abroad," said Ashley Speyer, 19, one of the founders of the organization.

This year's team spent three months and accomplished 3 major goals.

• The Bricks + Books team constructed 16 new latrines at Imbaseni Primary School. This is a collective effort between Bricks + Books and the local community of Imbaseni to ensure the continued education of the children living in this rural village. Once threatened with closure due to health hazards, the school can now continue to operate with the new latrines.
• Bricks + Books are working on connecting the students of Tanzania with their peers in the rest of the world. This year, through the Pen-Pal Project, they have connected two schools in Tanzania with three schools in the US. Over 200 students in Tanzania have been assigned pen-pals in the US and have begun exchanging letters and photographs.
• For the "A Path Less Traveled" project, this year's team traveled around Tanzania, visiting 40 non-governmental organizations. Information gathered will be used to create an online database for volunteers and provide a forum where NGOs can collaborate.

"While this year's trip has been successful, we are working hard in a challenging fundraising environment. We want to reach out to more people and seek additional support to achieve our goals," said Jessica Schwartz, 20, co-founder of Bricks + Books.

Businesses and individuals interested in contributing can contact Bricks + Books at: 202.657.3296

ABOUT BRICKS + BOOKS FOUNDATION

Founded in 2007 by a group of inspired American high school and college students after their first volunteer trip to Tanzania, Bricks + Books Foundation has raised funds to successfully build a village school in Moivaro and implemented various educational projects in rural Tanzania.

SOURCE Bricks + Books Foundation