Falling Uphill book cover and Scott standing on the edge of Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa
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A young girl in Paraguay enjoying the book "Cayendo Hacia Arriba." I like how the flower appears to be tucked behind her ear.

Falling Uphill in Paraguay with the Peace Corps

Not Lost in Translation

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A Peace Corp instructor reads from “Cayendo Hacia Arriba” to students from the group Jóvenes por Paraguay.

Through a donation from the author himself, Cayendo Hacia Arriba (Falling Uphill), finally made its Paraguayan debut! (Update: This experience was so successful that a local philanthropist bought 35 more books so that the program could continue.)

Scott Stoll is an author from my hometown who served as the U.S. Embassy’s cultural ambassador in Argentina during the 2011-2012 school year. His time in Argentina and collaboration with Argentine schools resulted in a Spanish language version of his book, Falling Uphill: The Secret of Life, about his 4-year journey around the world on his bicycle.

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The books always need a personal touch.

Thanks to a generous book donation from Scott a group of Paraguayan youth at a national leadership camp called Jóvenes por Paraguay were able to plan a short reading workshop for kids at a nearby orphanage.

The teenage youth and younger kids seemed to love the story equally– always receiving big laughs at the part of the story where Scott says he got stuck in mud in the desert until a family rescued him. The family told him he was in luck that they came because anacondas, tarantulas and piranhas love the taste of people from the United States.

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A girl in Paraguay holding the picture of her dream to become a dentist.

It was great to watch the teenagers work together to plan how they were going to present the books to the youth and what activities and games they were going to play with the kids. The book donation was one of six projects that were used to introduce Paraguayan youth at the camp to volunteer projects and community service. You can read a bit more about that camp in this post.

Cayendo Hacia Arriba inspired a group of Paraguayan youth to try out literacy service projects in their own communities and surely inspired new dreams in the children, youth and volunteers who read the book– nudging us all forward in our own process of falling uphill. Thank you, Scott!

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In Paraguay, the Peace Corp worked with a local youth group Jóvenes por Paraguay and Scott’s book “Cayendo Hacia Arriba” to help teach kids how to dream.

For more about Molly and her adventures visit her blog.

If you are interested in supporting another Make-A-Book Project consider making a donation by Paying it Forward.

If you’re interested in supporting another similar project, please visit the Peace Corps’ donation site.

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More stories about the making of Falling Uphill

A DVD of the Bollywood movie “Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne."

My Bollywood debut as a backup dancer

My debut video as a backup dancer in a Bollywood blockbuster movie. This is the catchy song “Mohabbat Hai Mirchi” from the movie “Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne.”

Falling Uphill readers guide

Falling Uphill Reader Guide

The reader’s guide contains a list of thought-provoking questions, quizzes, and more to help readers and book clubs re-live Scott’s quest for happiness around the world on a bicycle and, perhaps, re-imagine the possibilities of your own life.

The new book on the floor of the printer's shop waiting to be bound. Each stack is a set of pages.

The making of the book

Here is my new book on the floor of the print shop waiting to be bound. It’s the Spanish edition of the kid’s book, “Falling Uphill: The Secret of Life.” I needed to hover over the guys at the print shop because it just wasn’t getting done on schedule. Aah! And the books need to be on an airplane to Argentina the next day!

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