Obviously, Amanda Furst's parents taught her to say thank you.
And much more.
Amanda Furst, centre, casually asked a St. Boniface bookstore owner if he could help with a book or two for her students in Rwanda. The response from Gérald Boily was overwhelming, she says. Gordon Sinclair Jr. tells the story of the city's two 'angels'.
Which is why she wrote me this week.
The 24-year-old Winnipeg woman is home right now. But next month she'll return to her volunteer teaching position in Rwanda, the country made infamous in the mid-1990s by genocide. That tragic story was chronicled movingly in former Canadian Lt.-Gen. Roméo Dallaire's best-selling book Shake Hands With the Devil.
As it happens, books are at the heart of this story. And books are what brought Amanda to tears last week, when she walked into a place on Provencher Boulevard that sells them.
I'll let Amanda explain:
* * *
I am currently living in a little village in Rwanda and volunteering at a French immersion secondary school. I have spent the last year and a half teaching biology, math, physical education, nutrition, and computers. It is a public school that houses more than 600 students between the ages of 12 and 25.
As with most schools in Rwanda, resources are extremely limited and are hard to come by, especially French resources. Teaching involves writing all the notes on the chalkboard. It is truly going back to the basics. No textbooks, no overheads, no computers, no fancy electronics, just chalk and chalkboard. The classes can be as big as 60 students and without a single textbook among them.
So here is how the story comes to Winnipeg. Last Thursday, I was out buying a French book to give as a present to one of my students. This errand took me to Librairie à la Page, a quaint little French bookstore in St. Boniface. After purchasing my book, I offhandedly asked the cashier if they ever donated books to good causes. Best-case scenario, I imagined they would take a novel or two off the shelf and I would be tinkled pink.
That is NOT what happened. The owner, whose name I wish I knew, came out and asked me about my situation and what type of books I was looking for. I immediately said absolutely anything would be welcomed. The owner began pulling textbooks off the shelf.
I stood there, overwhelmed and in complete bliss, imagining the face of the biology teacher when he sees the new contributions to the school's "library." However, that was not the end of it. The owner continued over to the dictionary section and pulled off the shelf his absolute biggest dictionary, followed by three more grammar books. He then headed to the picture-book section and found a beautiful hardcover book of Arctic animals -- something my students have never seen in their lives. Next, he went to the atlases and selected the nicest atlas featuring Canada and the world. He thrust it into my hands saying, "This one is necessary, it promotes Canada." Lastly, he decided it was time for novels and began pulling novel after novel off the shelf until there were at least 12 novels piled up.
What got me more than the absolutely astounding donation is that throughout the process, the owner insisted that he was not noble as he was giving away books that were not selling well. Since leaving the bookstore, I have calculated the price of the books he donated and it totals $1,043. If that is not noble, I cannot say what is.
I cannot explain how thrilled my students will be when they see all the new books going in their "library," which previously was little more than bare shelves. I am still in awe and can still not believe my great fortune.
I am writing this letter to hopefully repay his kind actions with an action of my own. Perhaps by writing this letter, people will learn about the wonderful owner of Librairie à la Page and will choose to support him as he has so graciously chosen to support me and my Rwandan students.
* * *
When I called bookstore owner Gérald Boily to tell him about Amanda's letter, it turned out that he had more reason to help than he told Amanda.
Gérald has adopted a village in Peru that he supports himself with small monetary donations that, like the books he gave to Rwanda, have a huge impact there.
However, Amanda's gesture of thanks for his generosity and the accompanying publicity weren't something Gérald was willing to accept, until I persuaded him that his gifts might inspire others to do something similar -- like help with the next challenge. That being the heavy lifting -- how to transport all these books all the way to Rwanda.
Only then would Gérald agree to pose with Amanda for a Free Press photo. Amanda asked me if I would be there for it, but as it happened I was busy when the picture was taken.
Afterwards, it occurred to me what I had missed. A chance to shake hands with an angel. Or two.
gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca
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