American Morning
Teaching kids to read from the back of a burro
By Ebonne Ruffins, CNN
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.
"There was a time when many people thought that I was going crazy," said Soriano, a native of La Gloria, Colombia. "They'd yell, 'Carnival season is over.' ... Now I've overcome that."
Soriano, 38, is a primary school teacher who spends his free time operating a "biblioburro," a mobile library on donkeys that offers reading education for hundreds of children living in what he describes as "abandoned regions" in the Colombian state of Magdalena.
"In [rural] regions, a child must walk or ride a donkey for up to 40 minutes to reach the closest schools," Soriano said. "The children have very few opportunities to go to secondary school. ...There are [few] teachers that would like to teach in the countryside."
Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2010 CNN Heroes
We Listen – Your comments 2/25/2010
Editor's Note: As Thursday’s American Morning audience prepared for President Obama's health care summit, many shared their concerns about how effective the effort would be in moving reform forward. Most remained defiant that the Republicans would do little to contribute to a bipartisan solution, while others strongly defended Republicans for standing strong against President Obama’s proposed plans.
- William: Funny that every one thinks today's summit is just theater. Have you ever seen what goes on in the House and Senate? Most of the dissenters are from a party that hasn't contributed anything to healthcare reform other than a bunch of amendments to weaken the bill. Now they want to start over?
- Judi: You claim that because the health Insurance Companies raise their rates that make the government broken? The reason that the government don't work is because the Republicans filibuster anything that the Democrats propose. Even when they make the proposals. John asked why the President didn't present his plan in the first place? When Clinton did this, the media complained that he didn't listen to Congress and let them put in their ideas. Media is so confused and you confuse the American people.
What are your expectations for today’s heath care summit? Continue the conversation below.
Building Up America: Working moms with no commute
As part of the series "Building Up America," our Tom Foreman visits a tech company that gives working moms a chance to bring home the bacon, without leaving the house.
Broken Government: Correcting U.S. trade deficit
Editor's Note: All this week in our special series "Broken Government," CNN is taking a hard look at our nation's government; the frustrating problems and the potential solutions. Today, our Carol Costello looks at the U.S. trade deficit and how we can compete with cheap foreign labor. And tomorrow on American Morning, we head to a small community surrounded by 14 chemical plants spewing cancer-causing waste. Why has it taken the government's environmental watchdog a decade to get involved?
(CNN) – Last year, the U.S. bought more from other countries than we sold. How much? More than $380 billion, according to the folks at the census.
So what's the fix? Some economic experts say we need to adjust free trade agreements. Our Carol Costello went to Baltimore, Maryland to find out why.
What caused accident at SeaWorld?
(CNN) – SeaWorld is shutting down all killer whale shows today after a sudden and frightening attack at their park in Orlando.
SeaWorld's star attraction, a killer whale named Tilikum, killed veteran trainer Dawn Brancheau yesterday. Witnesses say the orca actually grabbed Brancheau and pulled her into the water. So what went wrong?
We were joined on Thursday's American Morning by Chuck Tompkins, curator of zoological operations at Sea World in Orlando.
Read more: Did killer whale pull trainer into tank?
Cornyn: 'This is about theater'
Some critics are calling the president's televised health care summit nothing more than political theater. We heard from White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on American Morning Thursday, but for the Republican perspective we turned to Sen. John Cornyn of Texas.
Live Updates: Health care summit
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