Teaching kids to read from the back of a burro - CNN.com

Teaching kids to read from the back of a burro

By Ebonne Ruffins, CNN

February 26, 2010 11:15 a.m. EST

Luis Soriano's 'biblioburro' has helped some 4,000 children in rural Colombia.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Teacher uses donkeys to bring mobile library to children in rural Colombia
• More than 4,000 youngsters have benefited since the program began in 1990
• Children get homework help, learn to read or listen to stories and geography lessons
• Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2010 CNN Heroes

Magdalena, Colombia (CNN) -- To the unaccustomed eye, a man toting 120 books while riding a stubborn donkey would seem nothing short of a circus spectacle. But for hundreds of children in the rural villages of Colombia, Luis Soriano is far from a clown. He is a man with a mission to save rural children from illiteracy.