%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 17 0 R ] /Count 2 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R >> /XObject << /I1 13 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 14 0 R /GS2 15 0 R /GS3 19 0 R /GS4 20 0 R /GS5 23 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text /ImageC ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 3.1.0 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20251108081302+00'00') /ModDate (D:20251108081302+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1678 >> stream x}Wˎ6WZ=瑛7q K@ID%*$36|W"0<3u7[8]vu̲_7(+fw,F1{n_6wƙ*nj `=};{}^JiTP;}Β|y߮UD%nY-gp63My!<) P؏DIDKvFщw!")"Cҽ_ƴ%~JW`a]VoAj6چm[3'ca֣1 QI5 *5B)8=5Di_BKme-O)XX9;1"IӗB$VF԰>8 =9JB…#-|"x/lq9@:F%r:-^ >9Laɹ!?M$*t am(F)Zt^DEn3aUK`{YGcxNn gNÄ A[> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 13 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 125 /Height 125 /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /Filter /DCTDecode /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 6997>> stream JFIFC    !'"#%%%),($+!$%$C   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$}}" 2t(ƆcJ*=(-eLc7E,|'s!0uH9+qUVI(.‘aT4$mAQNHN% +vG7%z;#e颇Jgtn"䵲2)-u-;S \Fڋ^6j{1_ư"CVHD>P+ {H衛ZՈzv,'-Ϻ3; P`8,+*n?>`M2~S2 7n^؛eW ȫ r$/vX7%"!#$23!s9!3<`qk#@pk'T@b(9iKq#__1T[ng2Bc?f LZ=cdTM]`oШ /Nj{XntrSuQ4eBjmS_* +u!@M\e}N7"DHKjWK'\#a"+%&£=h&]A^"5$F# rnZ R|CdF&!pJ.sNac+WLf -WΟTK9edYؑT"=\!z,"UQa1 &c]X1(dǑ$m FB6Oc\ӀD g 'Ĉum83!%1g9.pD5>CX;'1uf{l63wNI:1+6^4Siݧ`teHL[Mjh4sHzJza:]rcu͙A #RdG; DA|"ɆTAp(fMaں}R0r (Wk pç!o;,Ɨz"ՅA 64,k^i{ꀗYZRm"PkN(;}VHC"jL4m"s8yWUb$^$զ~.W929m$DXB``2T3a JC?%!"1Q2ABaq?:zrGJbYF+;Mj١Q0gNɚ -5q7|[l17 D|77<:> o%6R%*Ƶ#Yîzeig131~X8ȿ%F K+Rv̲אgO>2q}b6=LmMTLa?$!1AQ"2B?Oc$N4C'pcͰɸ?LUԎGlc%cbQ&{<~vE5őqѧICbWck_7>D,ۺ6<9X2.l)!jkT<1U'޻F|,c̘| 4W(YS2L: !1"2AQaq3BRbr#4 Ss?#&<AD^qUް#s_*mT7_•kxDtD%44ٺAD6!DWr!vxYyC^(Q<=5Ы- g t՞ XZ]P *륳u;O$Z&d71%^Ҷ_CQܗHĈnTGi$Y Fbx/P`MtE9L@žaA@wLrfU[yKM2X( ͜\<^# 5W[ hqd0Xa1 !,@3[Megء_pK g1jF_,#͘x% Ҷ0;-"յ ȇ0  THe=-C)D6! AkaiLj"K؃9D;QKM"|$G{02X5- B"ǂyCM 2 Ba"o}a@ "TD@$øԊxDGMQ` Q3DI!@0դDk)~mLW0; DF ɴШ#'x)5.,q FCZɡpИ}0pC1@ C ښp"5 0@kCf#J; Nم~QEr I*)d+(@lda BUTP!Uܠ|{l pc%@7 Lx#io]0LE$!1AQaqс?@jMf%XU\VsN>f'!KB:i׷M3)dӉx36A>ew݌x/ ;1ߔ@(x+) {?R۠k%#DN?q)|@!W׏y]~Cb`kڽtY?Bv;vpJ&y8wxuĩ\"s=9_%tmsܘ0n Hg]t?P V YK_G !.}N'$!1AQqa?,Z`5}̠yU"; dF0'X LC5i7"sihnQ.8KEc9ؚB% Os+H@ǸWΗ, ,>auۜČo{G'Jx$\ E}J W]R/pV:5Ձy33Fdž,_x0ڿ'n04SVC0>֌9/q %!1AQaq?H !7A]?XGA6 8py׷FrW^0 VAa8=::^@q,B,8T2`rxwyt8Áorj&'~:^OOوxO~ x: !#ndx__(-m*֪̂~/h4qС []!G5 8oT>1j(/iZ=@B^,3'K8 x6Cu~0$Dh{Wa{0$Z 𴨊B e!ȥҍ㞻AH!n,V{(O~F魹9xAT0ē*ĤeSlyl?xn^8@R4O-:u Z:t H:ÕpiP,$]SBa{> ^ mx8vKiʁp8]uX25y:@RyqcL}AʟL~ KGiOlG]dKɏEm%xXkW(-*w1 slX$G,[.:;HME1\padfWE} ]: HœNvA-g 吆E[|o4$<:s5^sLobd@ּd9ZMDӮsUtW,8׮5Rp"۹>ĵ P}󀐵Xz`=f'5C+%EhT+dHɧӅ1 Ɲίcud"o錄0JyB! zo)n( k|40>lX݃5zh];L!V¨0fݏgӇ|e-+*֏M6$H :YD?1{.Őeo~0CS"l.uekq\"{|`‹F{a O*ڧp`%ӿ4JbR5f?"0ubiEEuׇO|i u@0JTMu~0H! -Drf)ӥ2U:hz0QJKяH nX-i.RS̍Opd8=p@m 4vl5[`\twg1ӠI=.t!y:Km sGM@L-4.۶ڷηtr~ԥn텟H\i(\s MCb[Zﶇ\NFD`R鐾iP˦J0>&ܪ)^r!,*.f&z I5Cݻb (p " w_|I`ηlUPwϱ9Qآ ]-`%Fq`\*Lδ-6ͭyW ̼ğ ];y>M6uZx@OYމjƎHoɿۈJ$wH@4ѐ'\.ձ瓍  endstream endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 16 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Annots [ 21 0 R 25 0 R 27 0 R 29 0 R 31 0 R 33 0 R ] /Contents 18 0 R >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 2690 >> stream xYKϯ@rH\!:qL I̐FVE֮ujv qM7_7͋Ww N7L3 0d{dJ(07ŗ d~w7enk$ ڙNiyb 7c+G6K7lqN4[}Ƈm1mWʂ<=ho@?Ƈrl(& P3!6`xFѷC#2 ";NXg'0rCCae>^B< ڹs$nNĠ q vN <=}~/>CrGϜmFٳW ~JD8S=ʮ#FJ0EmX?#X|PD$:ݴAG*6RGk)|X#rO`/mGIezH^\1+(svd!؏*”,dd{/dޡty&esg͹|n'>êܲ?o}1Ί }5uQ]#8;R2UChB}|7*A0s)@YUyi䫯Zz-^-X}Z-A= Z#jԃuJzw֤n_\E+ITlI񈅫:U,'M;N's.Ugf@݌>HQ\5` ogp' TGgA\'& 5 dp#ٽyi-&jXs;onBjIiI \|sC= (! J }T^!"/{I/&͂(Q64$Vj$4FAs.V.PUhoګ){2e·' ePòm;vTfP5a.nkjj 9TOwبQL}Tw/Low& BhtԢ.n(ʧ^ Ԕvr=HhV)EY\ԄVqh40S)gIc̖+tY5i)[VIR)x\NBe9Cj2ޏ0}|/Z qY,}o!Z^|/ؕ9I^#xJhHt ODͧ.ByVib8ZS1 5*4SbF dʑ B%f!]0@tHk4CY)\.w/A?F3lkuZ^CfbUe+^rkbO -:^Ymanq54,V4ahakVzRȽ[yOxQ+;6s=A*j0*[R Jl=Dv'^nw6cuf6r4.<~[7W8 endstream endobj 19 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 1 >> endobj 20 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj 21 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /F 28 /A 22 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 131.6840 570.0050 212.3840 582.2150 ] >> endobj 22 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://usa.tradeforhope.com/) >> endobj 23 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.67 >> endobj 24 0 obj [17 0 R /Fit] endobj 25 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /F 28 /A 26 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 270.4160 339.4130 351.1160 351.6230 ] >> endobj 26 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://usa.tradeforhope.com/) >> endobj 27 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /F 28 /A 28 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 329.1320 309.4874 458.5160 321.6974 ] >> endobj 28 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://give.salvationarmyusa.org/give/276832/#!/donation/checkout) >> endobj 29 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /F 28 /A 30 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 317.1080 265.5314 434.4920 277.7414 ] >> endobj 30 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://volunteer.usawest.org/Home.aspx) >> endobj 31 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /F 28 /A 32 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 444.4880 250.8794 533.8520 263.0894 ] >> endobj 32 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://caringmagazine.org/how-to-help-the-salvation-army-respond-to-covid-19/) >> endobj 33 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /F 28 /A 34 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 65.0000 236.2274 118.3520 248.4374 ] >> endobj 34 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://learn.caringmagazine.org/scripture-sign-up) >> endobj xref 0 35 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000418 00000 n 0000000455 00000 n 0000000604 00000 n 0000000707 00000 n 0000002458 00000 n 0000002565 00000 n 0000002673 00000 n 0000002783 00000 n 0000002896 00000 n 0000002925 00000 n 0000010090 00000 n 0000010149 00000 n 0000010208 00000 n 0000010237 00000 n 0000010396 00000 n 0000013160 00000 n 0000013217 00000 n 0000013274 00000 n 0000013408 00000 n 0000013489 00000 n 0000013549 00000 n 0000013579 00000 n 0000013713 00000 n 0000013794 00000 n 0000013928 00000 n 0000014046 00000 n 0000014180 00000 n 0000014271 00000 n 0000014405 00000 n 0000014535 00000 n 0000014668 00000 n trailer << /Size 35 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[<65570198a53131c67fac6befddb1df00><65570198a53131c67fac6befddb1df00>] >> startxref 14770 %%EOF Oh, where a library card can take you | Caring Magazine
Read Caring Magazine Volume 29

Vol. #29

Hope in Action

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

Books on Shelves in Library

Oh, where a library card can take you

byElizabeth Veras Holland
April 21, 2020
3 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

The bulk of my education has come from something I can fit in my wallet. As a little girl, I got my first glimpse at what true passion feels like when I got a library card. I will never forget the feeling—a little me with a blonde bowl haircut carrying a stack of picture books and holding hands with my grandma—eager to get home and dive into the stories.   

Even with a love for books, I struggled with traditional schooling. Books have always shown me that there are different ways to live and so many perspectives to learn from. My love for story made it hard for me to settle on just one thing. I wanted to live as many lives as possible and experience everything.

This has not changed as an adult, and luckily my work with The Salvation Army feeds this appetite I have for constant growth and change. I have worked in children’s programs and Spanish-speaking ministries. I have rung bells for kettles and served hot meals to the homeless. Now, working on an administrative level, I’m exposed to so many different aspects of what the Army does. I get emails from officers and directors of programs sharing their stories of success, projects in the works and the communities they are serving. 

But sometimes I doubt myself. I doubt what I’m doing and what I’ve done, I judge myself for not having followed a linear path in life. Most of the time, the dots don’t seem to connect at all. I like the idea of this and then the idea of something else and it all seems incredibly messy. 

My all-over-the-place interests have made life complicated but also truly beautiful. Still, I struggle.

Last night, I began reading a book I checked out of the library called “Banker to the Poor” by Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi professor who has made great strides in social entrepreneurship. He even received the Noble Peace Prize for his work in microfinance—the distribution of small loans to empower the disadvantaged who want to build and sustain businesses. In his book, he details his upbringing in Bangladesh alongside the country’s history and fight for independence, how the country struggled with supporting women, and how he wanted to help women have access to financial independence and sustainability. 

Reading this, I felt myself sit up a little straighter. Prior to this, I had no knowledge of Bangladesh. I’m ashamed to admit my knowledge of Pakistan and India’s histories are also not strong. This reminded me why I love libraries so much though. Libraries empower people to take initiative, take out books that interest them and to teach themselves important things about our world—at no cost.

All this made my insecurities flutter away.

Then this morning something amazing happened. Something I like to call “a wink from God.”

As I scrolled through work emails, I saw one from our development director sharing info about The Salvation Army’s “Trade for Hope,” which highlights products made by artisans in Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan and Moldova. I went to the website and learned that the Army has a long history with these countries, especially Bangladesh where women took part in trainings for specific trades in the nineties. Bangladesh! The country I was learning about for the first-time just last night. I had never heard of Trade for Hope or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention? Nonetheless, it called out to me. 

This tiny sign reminded me that all my exploring does mean something concrete even when it seems like the opposite. 

Without fail, the dots connect at a moment’s notice; God seems to make sure of that. And so, I feel proud to be the girl who has learned from books and life. I trust that my heart and curiosity will always take me to the place I need to be. For now and always, that will be the way it is.

Do Good: 

  • See more about The Salvation Army’s Trade for Hope and shop goods made by artisans around the world.
  • If you’d like to make a monetary donation, please click here to make a gift.
  • Text ‘GIVE’ to 52000 to make a $10 donation to The Salvation Army. This will automatically add a one-time donation to your next mobile phone bill.
  • For information about volunteering, please visit volunteer.usawest.org.
  • To learn more about how to support The Salvation Army’s relief efforts, please click here.
  • Download our latest Scripture series, God With Us, written from quarantine.
Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like