Founded in 2016 by Tamra Ewing and Hayley Morrison from New Zealand, Motorbike Book Club (M.B.C.) aims to support poor/disadvantaged children in rural areas to develop their enthusiasm in lifelong learning beyond classrooms. In Hue, M.B.C has collaborated with Hearts for Hue to organize activities in two communities: Thuy Phu and Vy Da villages.
M.B.C. works in communities in three ways.
- Book Club Sessions: organized biweekly, using a selection of books and games from our library, which has grown to over 700 books!
- Learning Events: Take children on a field trip to the local bookstores or some other educational trips such as farming trips, cooking sessions, trips to historical places, and craft villages.
- Life Skills Training: designed for girls aged 12-18 and covers four key life skills: communication, health and hygiene, rights, and financial literacy.
The success of the Club is measured in terms of the number of children who attended sessions, and the number of books borrowed. From March 2018 to September 2023, M.B.C. facilitated 161 interactive reading sessions using the mobile library. Any sessions missed were only due to adverse weather conditions or traditional community holidays. Overall, there were 2,456 visits and 6,374 books borrowed. In Thuy Phu, the average attendance per week is 18 with a maximum of 27 and in Vy Da, the average is 12 with a maximum of 23. There has been a slight increase in the average number of books borrowed from 10 at the beginning, to 36 per session now.
