Paul K. Goldberg

Going by the Book

Monday January 5, 2009

KERANA TODOROV
Register Staff Writer

But it was Goldberg and his friends who did most of the work, he said.

Goldberg and his fellow ambassadors made the correct choice by selecting the school project, said Reinhardt, who noted that supporters in Fresno sent $1,000 to buy books for the school. Matching grants will contribute to pay for books and computers at two other schools, he said. “I think it was a good deed all the way around,” Reinhardt said.

Goldberg said he applied for Rotary’s ambassadorial program in order to study abroad, perfect the Spanish he had studied at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and give back to the community.

Before his ambassadorship began early last year, he went to Chile to teach English and linguistics at Universidad Tecnologica de Chile in La Serena, north of Santiago.

That’s when he realized that books are a luxury for many Chileans.

“More importantly, the cost of books and other educational resources creates a huge discrepancy between public and private education in Chile,” he wrote in an e-mail from Valparaiso.

So when he made his second trip to Chile, this time as a Rotary ambassador, he and three others decided to pool their talents and connections to raise money for schools.

They visited public schools in the region and met with teachers and administrators, who told them about the lack of resources in public schools.

Realizing that making an impact would take more time than they had planned to stay, the four decided to create Scholars for Schools to transform empty classrooms into libraries and computer rooms in elementary and middle schools throughout central Chile. The setup would allow future Rotary ambassadors to continue the work.

They launched a Web site, www.scholarsforschools.org, and the group shot a video to be used as a fundraising tool in the U.S.

Three new Rotarian scholars plan to continue the project in 2009.

Goldberg, whose parents Ron and Jessie live in Napa, said he will make presentations to Rotary clubs and others to drum up funding for the schools in Chile.

Above: Me with a group of children from one of the elementary schools where Scholars for Schools is building a library and computer room

Poly grad helps kids hit books in Chile
Nonprofit launched  in central Chile stocks school
libraries in
underprivileged areas

By: Dawn White

When Cal Poly graduate Paul Goldberg was teaching English for a semester at a Chilean university last year, he was shocked by the high cost of books across the South American nation.  With high publishing costs and a 20 percent tax added, books are a luxury that many Chilean families can¹t afford.

So when Goldberg, who was also a Pismo Beach firefighter, won a Rotary ambassadorial scholarship to the country for most of 2008, he knew he¹d return with a mission of making a difference. Goldberg, who has been in the country about six months, has launched Scholars for Schools, a nonprofit organization that gathers books to create and stock libraries in poor areas of the country.

The Napa-born 26-year-old achieves his goal by working with publishers, school districts, banks and government agencies and by simple fundraising, he said.  ³The best thing about the project is that we started with a very small idea‹we wanted to give children the resources they need for a successful education, the resources that are crucial to developing a child¹s full potential,” Goldberg wrote in an e-mail to The Tribune.

Before heading for Valparaiso, a city of 400,000 residents that has been compared to San Francisco, he contacted three other Rotary ambassadors from across the U. S. who were heading to the region at the same time he was.  He pitched them his idea, and when they met in Chile, they worked for two months researching book prices, visiting rural and urban schools and talking to school officials.  “We found that all the schools we visited were lacking in basic literacy and technological resources including text books, literature, computers and other materials that are crucial to a successful education,” Goldberg wrote in an e-mail.

Goldberg and his comrades recently completed their first library at an elementary school that serves 300 low-income students. It cost about $8,000 to create the library and students now have access to 1,500 age-appropriate books, 15 computers with Internet access and access to the library for classes, reading and studying.

Goldberg received his scholarship from Rotary¹s District 5240, which covers about 70 clubs between Central and Southern California, after being nominated by the Arroyo Grande Rotary Club. Local members are elated over his contributions to that region and that the work will continue after he is gone, said Arroyo Grande Rotary Club member Curtis Reinhardt, who plans to see it firsthand when he visits in November. Reinhardt says he has worked with ambassadorial scholars for the past 15 years but he has been most impressed by Goldberg¹s accomplishments.  “He is taking full advantage of the opportunities that Rotary and the scholarship have afforded him and is using them in positive, humanitarian ways,” Reinhardt said.

Goldberg doesn¹t know how many books he¹ll be able to gather to stock libraries at poor schools before he returns, but he said he is glad that the program will continue after his departure.  “We see kids come into the library and their eyes light up because they are genuinely enthusiastic about reading,” Goldberg said. “If we finish up this year having changed one kid¹s life by bettering his chances of receiving a quality education, all of our hard work will have been worth it.”

Susan and Paul in the new library and computer room at Ben Gurion K-8 public school

Curtis and John prior to a Rotary meeting to discuss a grant for Scholars For Schools

I recently enjoyed a visit from Curtis Reinhardt, a Rotarian from my sponsor Rotary club in Arroyo Grande California. Within a short week we did a quick tour of many different Chilean attractions. After spending a couple days in Santiago, we migrated to Valparaíso where we did a tour of the city and surrounding suburbs. We then enjoyed some hiking at La Campana, a national reserve for the endangered Chilean Palm tree, and we also made a quick trip to a neighboring coastal pueblo called Quintay. The purpose of his visit was not all sight seeing. We also got some work done on Scholars for Schools by meeting with the coordinators of the grant that we are working on, we purchased and delivered 15 computers for a computer room under construction, and we also attended one of the Rotary meetings for my sponsor club in Valparaíso. His visit was instrumental in establishing relationships between US and Chilean Rotary clubs which will ensure the future success of Scholars for Schools. We had a great time and I’m glad Curtis got the opportunity to see the project first hand.

An outbound GSE team member and Susan at a Rotary Meeting for my host club

I’m wrapping up my time here in Valparaiso! I can’t believe how fast this year has gone, and with only a couple months left I am scrambling to finish up Scholars for Schools business, finish my classes, and sneak in a bit of travel before I am off to the US. A good friend of mine is coming down in late December and we are going to hear to Southern Patagonia for some much-needed backpacking.

Curtis and Hannah during Curtis’ visit in early November

A couple of weeks ago I went to a Rotaract (Rotary for young adults between 18 and 30) conference called ERBOPECH. It was focused on bringing rotaracters together from multiple South American countries including Peru, Chile, Equador, and Bolivia. In all there were about 160 young adults and we enjoyed a weekend of cultural exchange in a coastal town north of Valparaíso called Maitencillo.

Every now and then I meet someone who is exceptionally inspiring, and this past year I feel like this has been a frequent occurrence. My good friend Hannah, who is also working on Scholar for Schools, invited me over to meet a cyclist who had recently rolled into town. She often hosts travelers that come into Valparaiso through an online traveling network called Couch Surfing. It provides the traveler with a free comfortable  couch and a hot shower, and the host is usually left with great traveling stories. I’m always glad to be introduced to someone who is passionate about cycling because Chilean cyclists are few and far between and this often leads to me riding alone. Her “surfer” Andrew, a 26 year old English teacher from New Jersey, embarked on a two year cycling journey which includes the Pan-American highway and most of Africa. After being on the bike for over a year he finally made it to Valparaiso for a quick visit before he took off to Santiago. During his journey he stops periodically for four to six weeks to volunteer as an English teacher at local schools that gladly take advantage of his offer. Naturally I was fascinated by his story and after a couple hours of questions I offered to ride him out towards Santiago and show him some well-hidden back roads that wind through the hills of Valparaiso.

Above: Andrew astonished at how much lighter my bike was

We headed out early Saturday morning and the first hill out of Valparaiso was a testament to the discrepancy in weight between his bike and mine. Although the pace was slow, we had a lot of time to chat about his adventures which became increasingly interesting. When I asked him about his previous cycling experience, he summed it up by explaining that shortly before he left from New Jersey he was searching google for “how to change a bike tire”! He narrated his experiences in great detail. Everything from his interactions with locals and other cyclists to some of the grueling climbs and harsh climates that he passed through made for a good story.

Above:  Me trying out Andrew’s bike (and trailer) and realizing how difficult the journey must have been.

I thought I was pretty inspired, but I don’t think I really understood the gravity of the situation until we traded bikes for a mile or so. I felt like I was towing a train behind me, and his stories about the Bolivian back-country mountains and sweltering climates began to take on a whole new meaning. Needless to say I was glad to give him his bike back and I suddenly developed a whole new appreciation for my own.  We stopped for lunch in a small pueblo called Casa Blanca where we took turns watching the bikes as we each ducked into the local supermarket to grab some snacks. We eventually made it to Route 68 where his journey continued on to Santiago and eventually to Africa and mine wound back through the hills to Valparaiso. To learn more about Andrew’s adventure please visit his site at www.teacherontwowheels.com

A long rainy winter in Valparaiso has been followed by a much anticipated Spring.  Since I spent both summer and fall here and in the US last year, I haven’t seen the marvels of spring for two years, and it is even better than I remembered. As a result I have been trying to fill my free time with frequent rides to a couple different towns south of Valparaiso.

On the highway at the entrance to Valparaiso

Although I brought my bike down with me in February, my expectations of finding quality riding in such a densely populated area were fairly low. The first couple of weeks in Valparaiso I attempted to explore the area on my bike, but the rides frequently ended in frustration due to “close calls” with speeding vehicles and lack of bike lanes. I fortunately met a couple of cyclists who led me to an area just outside of Valparaiso that has a maze of unoccupied two-lane country roads that wind in between the coast and Santiago. Come to find out they are the old roads that were used prior to the construction of the main highway between the two cities, and now they are primarily used to get to remote pueblos and ranches that dot the coastline and inland valley south of Valparaiso. I headed out yesterday to an inland town called Casa Blanca and if I didn’t know any better I would have thought I was in California. The fields were covered with California poppies, mustard plants, lavender, and dandelions. Every square inch of soil had an abundance of colorful flowering plant life emanating from it.

Quintay: A small coastal village along a good riding route south of Valparaiso

I was exploring uncharted territory as it was a ride that I had never done before. After having traveled about 25 miles from Valparaiso I was curious about the distance I had to go to reach the small wine valley of Casa Blanca. I slowed down to talk to a motorcyclist who was stopped on the side of the road. After commenting on how nice of a day it was to be out in the country for a ride, I asked him how far Casa Blanca was. He gave me an eyebrow-raising look as if he was surprised that I was going to travel that far and replied, “ahh you’ve got about 20 kilometers (12 miles ) to go). I was surprised. I thought I was at least two times that distance from the town. I continued into a hilly area shaded by a grove of eucalyptus trees that were planted decades ago for the use of telephone poles, but were never harvested once concrete poles proved to be more economical. About 20 kilometers later I still felt like I was in the middle of nowhere with a long way to go to reach the valley. Another “cyclist” on an old rusty commuter bike passed me going the other direction so I swung around and caught up to him to ask how far I was from Casa Blanca. Again I got the same eyebrow raise accompanied by a quick up and down look to assess the bike that I was riding and he replied, “ ahhh you’re about 20 kilometers away” I chuckled because it reaffirmed my theory about the lack of preoccupation the Chileans have with times and distances. The “problem” is magnified as you get farther into the country. This has been difficult for me to adapt to coming from a country (and a state) where ten minutes can mean the difference between being on time and getting fired! Here you are early if you show up within an hour of an appointment or meeting, two hours late is right on time, and any arrival outside of three hours late is accompanied by an elaborate story of a major accident, emergency, or grave problem that warranted being three hours late instead of just two.

Casa Blanca Valley from “Casas del Bosque” winery

I decided to adopt the Chilean time and distance scales and not worry about how far I was outside of the town. I had plenty of food, water, and daylight to allow for erroneous “guesstamations” and I knew if worse came to worse I could always stay the night in Casa Blanca. When I finally arrived an hour later I passed by the vineyard where I am doing an internship. I stopped in to say hello to the enologist and the lab assistants and they were surprised to see me so far out from Valparaiso. They started asking me about the trip, the conditions, the difficulty and I began to feel like we were playing a game of 20 questions. Among the inquiries the asked me how far I had traveled…. I gave them an eyebrow raise and said, “ahh about 20 kilometers”…..

The best viewing option is to click here and follow the instructions under the video window

After two months of filming and editing, the Scholars for Schools video is finally available. The video can be watched from the small window above, but a better option is to Click here to view it in high definition on a site called Vimeo. The site has simple instructions to view the video under the viewing window.

We had our first video presentation in the US yesterday for my sponsor Rotary club in Arroyo Grande, California. The reaction was great and we were able to raise a substantial amount of donations and they are also going to participate in a grant that could potentially bring the project an additional $25,000 to build three more libraries and computer rooms in poor public schools in Valparaíso.

September and October will be full of video presentations in other sponsor Rotary clubs in the US. To learn more about our progress and how to donate, visit our website at scholarsforschools.org or our Spanish site at scholarsforschools.cl

There are some new pictures in the Gallery

Horseback riding in the sand dunes outside of Ritoque (Samantha, Theresa, Paul)

My sister Samantha and her friend Theresa payed me a quick 8 day visit in mid-august. They got the whirlwind tour of central Chile which included tours of Valparaiso, Viña del Mar, and Santiago. We also escaped from the city life for a few days to do some hiking, horseback riding, and skiing in the Andes!  It was great to get to spend some time with her and do some sight seeing and activities that had been on my “to do” list for a while.

Quitay Beach outside of Valparaiso

Ben, a good childhood friend from the US, also passed through Valparaiso for a quick visit during his three month South American backpacking adventure. We also snuck in some tours and good hiking before he headed over to Brazil. Next week he will be making his way back to Chile to do some backpacking in Patagonia before heading back to the US.

Ben’s visit in Viña del Mar

The second semester is well underway and it looks like I am going to have a good mixture of classes accompanied by an internship at a winery called Casas del Bosque on the outskirts of Valparaiso. The viticulture class that I took last semester sparked an interest in learning more about wine and viticulture and this internship will  allow me to put theory into practice for the next few months.

Scholars for Schools has been building steam lately. We are getting ready to finish our first library and computer room in an underfunded elementary school in Valparaiso. Rotary clubs both in the US and Chile are beginning to take an active role in the project and we are starting to seek grant opportunities and individual donations from family and friends.

Provided that we receive the necessary funding, our goal is to finish two more libraries and computer rooms in elementary schools that are lacking basic literacy resources. Three more Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars will be coming down to Valparaíso for the 2009 school-year and they are all enthusiastic about getting involved with the project. We now have websites in both Spanish and English and this week we will put out a promotional video that will thoroughly explain the project. For more information please visit scholarsforschools.org

Ambassadorial scholars and university students working on the new library

When I was awarded the ambassadorial scholarship in the spring of 2006, I was just finishing up my undergraduate degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Realizing that I had over a year-long wait before the start of my scholarship, I began to look for a job abroad. With the help of a past linguistics professor I found a position teaching English at a university in central Chile. Four months of university life from the other side of the podium not only gave me some great insight into Latin American culture, language and politics, but it also allowed me to establish some project ideas that I could pursue during my upcoming year as an ambassadorial scholar.

During my teaching experience one of the things I found alarming was the level of disparity among the rich and the poor. There is a small Chilean population that has capitalized on recent economic growth attributed to foreign investment and a thriving international market focused on the exportation of Chile’s resources including agriculture, copper, and wine. A quick “Chile” Google search will yield an impressive display of articles flaunting this economic growth, photos of booming seaside resorts, incredible geography and a country that appears to be economically stable, but the truth is that the vast majority of the country’s population is relatively poor and often relies on the cheap price of bread as a primary food source.

The stark disparity between the “haves” and the “have-nots” is highlighted in educational opportunities (or lack thereof). Unlike the educational system in the US, the difference between Chilean private and public school is nothing short of night and day. Private schools are only accessible to the small upper class population who can afford monthly payments equivalent to about $500 per child. They often focus on instruction in English, academic resources are plentiful, and the teachers have excellent credentials and training. Public schools, on the other hand, are just the opposite. Students come from shockingly low socio-economic backgrounds, teacher quality is mediocre at best, academic resources are extremely scarce, and violence and social risk are a part of every day life.

Unlike other scholarships and exchange programs that offer one year of study in a foreign country, the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship also encourages involvement in international humanitarian projects and is supported by thousands of Rotarians who are ready and willing to lend a philanthropic hand to a worthwhile cause. When I came back to Chile to begin the Ambassadorial Scholarship in February, I wanted to get involved with a project to help improve the condition of under-funded public schools that can’t offer children the same educational opportunities found at private schools.

Shortly after arriving I met three other Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars who are also studying at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Hannah Kelley, Nathan Gill, Susan Owen and I all sat down to discuss the possibility of developing an organization dedicated to improving academic resources in the poorest public schools in central Chile.

We began by visiting and interviewing the administrators at a dozen public schools both in urban Valparaiso and the outskirts of the city. We identified a group of kindergarten through eighth-grade schools that are in dire need of academic resources necessary for educational success. None of these schools, which each serve hundreds of children, have a library, a sufficient amount of text books, and they are also lacking in many basic educational materials and teaching resources.

After a month of meetings with Rotarians, social workers, and school administrators, we refined our idea and goals for this year and created a Chilean non-profit organization called Scholars for Schools. With the support from numerous Chilean and US Rotary clubs, two Chilean Rotaract clubs, and a host of university volunteers, Scholars for Schools will improve the access to educational resources through the construction of libraries and multimedia rooms in under-funded schools.

After collaborating with the teachers and the school administrators at our first recipient school, we decided to focus on supplementing the students’ required literature and transforming a large storage room into a fully functioning library with twelve computers for academic research and a large amount of age-appropriate literature. Two weeks ago we broke ground on the construction of the library that will serve nearly 300 K-8^th grade students in Valparaiso. About 40 University students, teachers, Rotaract members, and scholars gathered to paint and make repairs in the room that will become the future library.

We have created a website www.scholarsforschools.org to publicize the project and keep people informed on our progress. We are also in the process of finishing a video which explains the organization in its entirety and will be uploaded to the website soon.

The success of Scholars for Schools is completely dependent on the donations from Rotarians and other individuals who are interested in helping improve educational opportunities in Central Chile. More information about the organization and how to donate can be found on the website www.scholarsforschools.org

National protests and strikes for educational reform

One month after classes began the university students throughout the nation began to protest for educational reform, something Chile has been in desperate need of for the past two decades. The protests escalated into a national “Paro” which is a suspension of classes driven by the student body and adhered to by the majority of professors. Apart from educational reform the students also began to fight against a proposed national raise in the discounted student-fare for public transportation. Four weeks of paro escalated once again into a “Toma”, or school take-over, that resulted in the students indefinitely locking themselves in the university and not permitting the entrance of any unauthorized professors, administrators, or students. The Toma was accompanied by heavy protesting and demonstrations that included burning piles of tires and used mattresses strategically placed in the middle of highways and busy roads during rush-hour on Fridays. The ongoing student rebellions attracted an abundance of police presence in Valparaiso that lasted about two weeks.

Finally after almost seven weeks of turmoil, negotiations are in effect and classes have resumed to normal. During this period the University did its best to accommodate the needs of the 300 international students by putting us directly in contact with our professors. In many cases we were able to schedule meetings and lectures, and homework was assigned so we didn’t fall too far behind. We just received a letter from the University president apologizing for the inconvenience and assuring up that the semester would still end as planned on the nineteenth of July.

Students from a local elementary school in Valparaiso

“March madness” is finally over as I wrap up a jam-packed few weeks of school, travel, and rotary events. After a week of orientation and a week of registration, I finally have a school schedule. I am taking five classes including, Pre-Hispanic Latin American literature, Spanish writing, translation and interpretation, Spanish rhetoric, and a viticulture class! All are going well so far and I am expecting a challenging semester.

This past weekend I went backpacking with a Belgian friend Mattieu to a national park called “La Campana”. It’s tucked away in the middle of Chile’s coastal mountain range halfway between Santiago and the coast, and it is a quick getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city life in Valparaíso. With limited equipment and time we set out to summit a peak within the park that offers amazing views on a clear day. When we reached the top we weren’t let down. A glance westward looked like a postcard of Valparaíso and neighboring villages. The view to the east was equally impressive with a clear shot of Aconcagua, the tallest peak in South America, which lies on the border between Chile and Argentina. The hike was nothing short of difficult, but I am sure that after the soreness in my legs is gone I will be eager to go back.

Summit of La Campana overlooking Valparaiso

Aconcagua on the Argentinean border

On Easter Sunday we had a great celebration at my house. Most of my nine roommates traveled to their home towns to spend the long weekend with their families. It was a good opportunity to gather with the international students and the Rotaract club members. We were about twenty in all and represented eight different countries, three different continents, and five different languages. Despite all the great cultural differences, we all had one thing in common…. an Easter celebration with a Mexican feast prepared by a few exchange students from Mexico!

Easter dinner

The two other ambassadorial scholars in Valparaiso and I have been meeting to discuss some perspective ambassadorial project ideas for the year. In talking with Chileans about possible ideas they repeatedly emphasized that some primary schools are lacking in many basic necessities. The last couple weeks I visited a handful of school sites to assess the needs of each school and talk with the administrators about possible future involvement. Needless to say I was well received by all, and each school was indeed lacking in many areas. Our goal as of now is to refine an idea and pool resources from out host Rotary clubs, sponsor Rotary clubs, and possibly the local Rotaract club together in an effort to work on one large project.

Kids from Escuela 21 de mayo enjoying the camera!

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the spring!

Abrazos, Paul