Friendships are finally getting their due. Once relegated to a distant third position after life partners and children, a spate of new books are spotlighting the importance of friends. And research shows that people with close friends are healthier – both emotionally...
Purpose Prize
The Latest from CoGenerate
An Intergenerational Approach to Getting Families Housed in Santa Barbara
Lyiam Galo is the co-director of Generations United for Service, a program of the Northern Santa Barbara County United Way and one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing...
Utilizing Faith-Owned Land to Strengthen Intergenerational Community in Seattle
E.N. West is the co-founder and lead organizer of the Faith Land Initiative of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing older and...
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Zane Wilson
Purpose Prize Fellow 2009
Julius and Wilson create Speaking Books that deliver health information to illiterate individuals about HIV, depression, and other health-related issues, emphasizing prevention.
Julius and Wilson create Speaking Books that deliver health information to illiterate individuals about HIV, depression, and other health-related issues, emphasizing prevention.Illiteracy can be a matter of life and death. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide can’t access basic health information – because they can’t read it – and have a higher risk for HIV, malaria, depression, and other health complications. The Speaking Book, created by Books of Hope founders Julius and Wilson, provides health information, particularly helpful in rural communities where there is no electricity, radio, TV, or Internet. Each book uses the latest sound chip technology; features a soundtrack read by local celebrities in the local language; and includes 16 pages of colorful illustrations matched with easy-to-understand text. Since the release of the first book in 2005, more than 200,000 books have been produced: 35 titles in 14 languages. The teen suicide book has been reprinted three times, and the HIV book has been reproduced five times in four languages. Julius and Wilson call themselves “serial entrepreneurs,” after starting numerous companies over the years. They say Books of Hope is their “most exciting venture.”