In 1986, children’s book author Pat Kibbe was in Vermont waiting to speak to students about her books. While waiting, she came across an article about a Cambodian refugee camp at the Thai-Cambodian border. She saw a picture of a boy showing his most prized possession – a postcard of the Empire State Building. Moved by that image, Kibbe spoke to the students about him. They wanted to write to the boy, but since he didn’t speak English, one of the children suggested they draw pictures.

Photo by Marcus Halevi for The Christian Science Monitor

Shortly thereafter a box of hand-drawn pictures came in the mail from the students. Kibbe felt honor bound to find a way to get the drawings to that boy. She met with the head of Refugees International, who offered to send her to the camp so she could personally deliver the drawings. Traveling to Kampuchea, she realized how many children she could help by continuing this idea, and so Kids to Kids International (KTKI) was born. Since its inception, tens of thousands of picture books have found their way into the hands of children living not only in refugee camps but in countries such as Peru, China, Australia, El Salavador, Kosovo, Somalia, Sudan and dozens of other nations. KTKI now includes a map of the world in each friendship box so the children can see where the drawings originated. A disposable camera is also included. Pictures are taken, the camera returned to be developed so American students can see photos of their new friends and learn more about them.

In 1991, the importance of the fledgling program was recognized by the United Nations Border Relief operation, which asked KTKI to provide child-created, bound and laminated picture books for the “Rights of the Child” celebration. That year KTKI incorporated as a not-for-profit organization. By the end of 1996, KTKI was sending thousands of picture books and writing/art supplies to children in 34 countries on 5 continents. Currently, the number of countries has climbed to over 50!

The refugee boy from the news paper photo,
Mong Kheam, learns of Kids to Kids International