JoLo, Sulu (PNA) — U.S. Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney joined 500 public elementary school teachers from six municipalities in Sulu province as they shopped for books and other learning materials from the U.S. at a book fair organized by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS2) Project.

Ambassador Kenney was welcomed by Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan and the mayors and other officials of the municipalities of Jolo, Patikul, Siasi, Talipao, Luuk, and Omar. Local officials from the Department of Education of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao were also present.

Some 200,000 books were distributed to the teachers using an innovative “shopping” approach, which allows teachers to choose the books based on the needs of their students. The books were donated by US-based EQuALLS2 partner Brothers’ Brother Foundation, part of a larger program to distribute almost 2 million books to Mindanao by 2011. Around 45,000 students will benefit from this book fair alone.

Ambassador Kenney encouraged the teachers to use the books to facilitate learning in the classroom. She also said that the US government is committed to help Mindanao achieve long-lasting peace and development by improving the quality of education, one of the keys to prosperity in Mindanao. (PNA)