We, a far-flung group of travel writers under the leadership of the 4 cupcakes from Seattle–Pam Mandel, Debbie Dubrow, Beth Whitman and Michelle Duffy, have contributed to Heifer International, built a school in Cambodia, and built a village in India. Travel writers, like all travelers, tend to see both the beautiful sights of the world and the areas of need. Because we are so fortunate to be able to travel, some of us want to give back to the world.

TODAY the Participating Bloggers will simultaneously announce the beginning of this year’s bidding at Passports With Purpose.

NOW we are building two libraries in Zambia. Each year the 4 cupcakes get together and consider worthy projects. Each project partners with a well-vetted organization–this year it is Room to Read. What could be more perfect for the readers of A Traveler’s Library, than to help build libraries in a far off place?  I know you are going to want to be part of Passports with Purpose this year. Just in case you somehow missed out on the past excursions into cyber-fun, here’s how it works.

1. Approximately 100 bloggers have spotted, requested, cajoled and sponsored gifts to be raffled off in a cyber raffle. At the end of this post you will see the THREE prizes being sponsored by A Traveler’s Library, but for Heaven’s sake, don’t limit yourself to those (although we think they are pretty nifty). Take a look at the entire list at the Passports With Purpose site.

2. When you have found a few of those great prizes that you simply can’t do without–or that would make great gifts for someone you love–”you pays your money and you takes your chance.” A mere $10 per chance means you could walk away with a prize worth more than $1,000. Bid $10 on each prize you want, or put all your chance on one coveted item.  For less than the price of most paperback books, you might be flying high, staying plush and dressing to kill. And NONE of the prizes is worth less than $100!

So bid whatever your budget will allow knowing that everyone wins here. At the very least you will get a warm fuzzy feeling because you’ve helped open up the world of books to some kids in Zambia. And since we know you love books, or you would not be HERE of all places–how cool is that?

3. Act quickly, because this raffle only lasts for two weeks. The final day for bidding is December 16, and we’ll tell you who won which prize just before Christmas.

And here are the PERFECT Raffle prizes for Travelers Who Read. I am so excited. You are gonna LOVE these prizes!

Padllewheeler on the Mississippi

Hotel Monteleone

The wonderful Hotel Monteleone, my favorite hotel in New Orelans, is known as a Literary Landmark. So OF COURSE they are the perfect prize for an event raising money for libraries. For the third year in a row this gorgeous, family-owned hotel is offering a New Orleans vacation to one lucky contributor to Passports With Purpose. I always stay at the Hotel Monteleone when I am in New Orleans because I love being walking distance to the Mississippi, on  Royal Street with its fantastic shopping,  and right in the center of great jazz and fabulous food. I’m not alone–Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, even Ernest Hemingway have stayed there.

The Details: A Four-Day/ Three-Night Stay in deluxe accommodations as guests of the historic Hotel Monteleone located in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter. The $900 certificate is valid Sunday-Thursday nights. (Excludes Friday and Saturday nights and Special Events/ Blackout Dates.) The certificate includes room & tax charges.

Interlink Books

 Interlink Publishing Group, Inc.

Another perfect tie-in to this year’s project–building libraries.  If you have read much of A Traveler’s Library, you know how much I love Interlink Publishing, specialists in inter-cultural books.  I even recommended them as a source for one of those Ten Perfect Gifts for Travelers Who Read.  With the gift certificate that Interlink is offering, you can buy enough books to keep you reading on every country on your wish list, or cook foods from every place you ever visited, or fiction to keep you entertained while you’re flying away on your travels.  You might even feel generous and turn this into gifts for the whole family.

The Details: Winner will receive an e-mail gift certificate for Interlink books worth  $300.  The choice is yours!

MacMillan Audio Books

Audio book MacMillan

We have reviewed some audio books here at A Traveler’s Library, because they are perfect companions on a road trip. And MacMillan Audio supplies most of our audio books, like a Louise Penney mystery, a Mary Kay Andrews romance and a C.J. Box thriller. At one stage in my life I drove from Tucson to Phoenix on a weekly basis and could not have survived that boring stretch of I-10 without a collection of audio books. A friend listens to them as she works out. Some people have their ear phones on as they do housework. Of course that only applies to people who actually DO housework, but I digress…

If you win the great prize offered by MacMillan Audio, you will have enough listening material for your next cross-country road trip, for sure.

The Details: The winner will receive a catalogue of MacMillan’s latest offerings, and the winner will be able to choose $100 worth of audio books. It is all up to you–fiction, non-fiction, educational or frivolous. You and your ears can have fun with your favorite literary form.

So that’s it from A Traveler’s Library for prizes for the Passports With Purpose fund raiser for libraries in Zambia. Now go check out what all the other prizes are, and then come back and tell us which ones you really, really want to win. We’ll be waiting.

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©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Boy With a Flute in Cambodia

Of course we know that the really big winners are all those lucky kids  in Preah Vihear in Cambodia who will get a new school.  But there are other winners, too. Everyone who donated through the raffle or otherwise, can feel really good about what we have accomplished. WE BUILT A SCHOOL AND EQUIPPED IT!!! If you missed the raffle, you can still send a check to American Assistance for Cambodia (AAfC). To make it easy, Passports With Purpose has a Paypal donation page.

Oh, yes, some people own raffle prizes donated by travel bloggers and their business partners.

Of course you would like to know who won the fabulous two-night stay at the Monteleone Hotel in New Orleans and the Periscope Book Light in a Book Cover plus a wonderful book?

Hotel Monteleone

MONTELEONE HOTEL, Literary Landmark Hotel, two-night stay  winner is: lbaran@pcsedu.com

Funny names people have nowadays, huh?  UPDATE: I guessed the lbaran stood for Librarian, and concocted a school the edu tied to. HOWEVER, the real name is Laura Baran, and she says: I’m a curriculum developer for a company that writes Science, Math, Robotics and Engineering curriculum using LEGO and KNEX. Yeah, really.. it’s what I do. www.pcsedu.com I play with toys and robots at the office.

When I asked why she entered the contest, she said: I love travel and wanted to see if I couldn’t convince my husband we needed a trip away from Idaho. (Where we are.) I donated to the school because education is important to me. It’s my job and I’m on the board and members of many local non-profits focusing on education and children.

That’s great, Laura, thanks for your contribution, and I know you’ll enjoy New Orleans (although Idaho is pretty darned nice, too.)

Periscope Book Cover with Light

PERISCOPE BOOK LIGHT IN A BOOK COVER and MISTRESS TO THE SUN , historic novel winner is:rozwrite55@yahoo.com

Okay, the winners name is Roz (Rosalyn, Rozalynne–???) UPDATE: Rosalind Cummings Yeates, who blogs as Far Sighted Flygirl is the winner. She was one of the travel writers who participated in Passports with Purpose, so this is a nice bonus for her. As soon as she contacts me, I’ll send her the prize directly. Roz, please contact me at vmb at atravelerslibrary dot com [Tuesday update: See Roz' comment below.]

Congratulations to everybody!! And Thanks, also!

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Books: You Buy ‘em!

Boy With a Flute in Cambodia

Because the Khmer Rouge routinely slaughtered anyone in Cambodia who was educated, the country needs to restore literacy to its nation, but how can that happen when children are wandering the dusty roads instead of going to school? It is heart breaking. But you can help.

Passports With Purpose: Build a School in Cambodia

As I explained last week, I have joined an effort by a group of travel bloggers to raise money to build a school in Cambodia. Dozens of bloggers will be participating. The money raised goes directly to AAfC, American Assistance for Cambodia’s Rural Schools Project, to build a school.

What You Can Do

For each $10 in donations that you make to AAfC, you will will be entered to win a prize (or prizes) of your choice. The raffle opens on today, November 30th and closes on December 21. (Complete rules appear on the Passports With Purpose website, and you can see all of the prizes offered at that same addresss) 100% of all donations go directly to AAfC a 501 (c)(3) charity. And if you want to see first hand how the project works, see this video from ABC News.

What A Traveler’s Library is Offering for a Prize

Although I encourage you to go to the Passports with a Purpose website and contribute for lots of chances on various items, I know you’re really going to like what I came up with here. TWO NIGHTS AT THE:

Hotel Monteleone

YEP! TWO NIGHTS AT THE 4-star HOTEL MONTELEONE in the FRENCH QUARTER in exciting NEW ORLEANS. VALUE $600!

You have heard me rave about the Monteleone before, when I talked about Literary New Orleans here, and at Girls Getaway. I think of the Monteleone as my home in New Orleans, and if you win this prize, you will find out why I love it.

Fine print:

Two (2) night, two (2) persons stay in deluxe accommodations as guests of the historic Hotel Monteleone in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans. This offer is for room charges only and excludes Friday and Saturday nights. This offer is valid from December 1, 2009 – November 30, 2010 and does not apply during Special Events such as Sugar Bowl, Mardi Gras, French Quarter Festival, Jazz Fest, Bayou Classic, etc. Total value $600.

This prize is available only to residents of the United States. (Sorry Canada, but you have different laws).

A COMBO PRIZE: LIGHT UP YOUR READING LIFE AND READ A GOOD BOOK:

Periscope Book Cover and Built-in Light

And so that you won’t be looking at a blank leather cover:

Mistress of the Sun

You can read more about the Periscope Book Cover here (it is number 3), and my review of Mistress of the Sun here. The Periscope Book Covers come in various sizes, but this one will wrap your standard hard back or trade paper back book in soft brown leather. An ingenious double lamp (an LED) on a periscoping arm, pull up out of the “spine” of the cover to illuminate both pages so you can read in bed without bothering the person on the other side or read in a darkened airplane cabin. You can fit your favorite book in the cover, but if you like historic fiction, or love France, you’re going to love the book I’m sending to go with your book cover. I will ship a copy of the book to the winner, and Periscope will ship their book cover directly to you.  Value $59.95 for book cover; Mistress of the Sun $26.00 list price.

This combo prize is available only to residents of the United States. (Sorry Canada, you have different laws.)

LAGNIAPPE

On your trip to New Orleans, you learn about lagniappe, that little something extra. Here’s the little something extra from A Traveler’s Library.

Since we are all about libraries here, I am pledging to contribute a bookshelf full of books to AAfC when Passport With Purpose hits the goal of $13,000. That is a $150 contribution to AAfC, and with your help, I would like to send more than one bookshelf. Would you like to contribute another bookshelf? Think about getting your book club, or your family to pitch in, and e-mail me directly at vmb @ atravelerslibrary.com, since this is a complement to Passports with a Prupose and will not show up on their web page. But please make your $10 donations to Passport With a Purpose first!!

Now run on over to the Passport With Purpose web site and choose the gift or gifts that your $10 donations are going to go for. I know my two are fabulous, but there are others just as wonderful in the total list.

Read more about the Rural Schools project in a personal account of participation in the program by the NYTimes columnist Nicholas Kristof.

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©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

Boy With a Flute in Cambodia

Among the things we are thankful for: Good schools for our children and grandchildren. True, the United States education system is not perfect. What is? But compared to many countries, it is luxurious. Take the beautiful country of Cambodia, one of those places we have traveled to that sticks in our minds like a sad song.

In Cambodia, there were children begging and selling things like t-shirts and bracelets and musical instruments in front of the arches of Ta Prohm, on the grassy fields between temple buildings with elaborate carvings in the dark gray stone at Angkor Thom, in front of the bridge that leads to Angkor Wat–everywhere we went.

Our Cambodian guide, a father himself, frequently scolded the children, asking why they were not in school. He explained to us that the parents had to pay to send them to school because the government could not afford to build enough schools, and many people are too poor to spare their children from work at home. Because the Khmer Rouge routinely slaughtered anyone who was educated, the country needs to restore literacy to its nation, but how can that happen when children are wandering the dusty roads instead of going to school? It is heart breaking. But you can make a difference.

Passports With Purpose: Build a School in Cambodia

I have joined an effort by a generous and thoughtful group of travel bloggers to raise money to build a school in Cambodia. The organizers are Debbie Dubrow (Delicious Baby), Beth Whitman (Wanderlust and Lipstick), Michelle Duffy (Wandermom) and Pam Mandel (NerdsEyeView), but dozens of bloggers will be participating. The money raised goes directly to AAfC, American Assistance for Cambodia’s Rural Schools Project.

How It Works

For each $10 in donations that you make to AAfC, you will be entered to win a prize (or prizes) of your choice. Come here and see what A Traveler’s Library is offering, or get links to other travel writers’ sites and then go to the Passports with Purpose website to make your donation and choose the prize you would like to win. The fundraiser begins on November 30th and closes on December 21. Winners will be announced in January.

(Complete rules appear on the Passports With Purpose website) All proceeds go directly to AAfC.

How to Participate

For each $10 in donations that you make to AAfC, you will will be entered to win a prize (or prizes) of your choice. You can buy 5 chances on one fabulous prize, or if, like me, you have a problem making a choice–buy chances on several items. OR–and here’s a great idea–you can make contributions in the name of family members and give them for Christmas presents. The raffle opens on November 30th and closes on December 21. (Complete rules appear on the Passports With Purpose website, and on November 30 you can see all of the prizes offered at that same addresss) All proceeds go directly to AAfC.

What A Traveler’s Library is Offering for a Prize

Actually A Traveler’s Library is offering TWO Incredibly attractive prizes, with the help of two wonderful sponsors, but I can’t tell you about them until next Monday, November 30. Please come back then for the rest of the story.

Read more about the Rural Schools project in a personal account of participation in the program by the NYTimes columnist Nicholas Kristof.

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.