What started out as a quick trip to a local school while we were enjoying a family vacation has turned into a wonderful way to give back to an island we have come to love so much while also providing an amazing way to teach our kids about the joys of philanthropy. The first year, we simply gave away the books we brought down with us after noticing that very children had books. They were clearly interested in the books our kids had. The next year, we made sure to bring extra books and asked some friends if they had books their kids had grown out of. Each subsequent year (this is our fifth) the donations have continued to grow. This year the support has been so strong that we have had to change how we get the supplies down there.
Never having ventured into the blogosphere, we're hoping that this will be an effective way of updating friends and family and those who have been so supportive of this project that we have enjoyed building each year. Feel free to comment, ask questions, poke fun at our technical limitations or just plan read. We'll be learning how to do this as we go, and our intent is to have this be a family blog, so between me (Jamie), Alison, Alden (9) and Willow (6), there should be a variety of perspectives. We hope you'll enjoy it.
We leave on Monday, February 8, so prep is in high gear up for our big adventure. All the school supplies have been collected, thanks to so many here in our community. Alden and Willow both did presentations to their entire grade, complete with a slide show informing classmates about what we're doing in Dominica and asking them to bring in any used books that they no longer use. The outpouring has been incredible.
This year, instead of bringing all the donations with us on the flight down, we have had more than we can check. So we are shipping all the supplies down there. With any luck we'll still be in Dominica when the shipment arrives, but even if we're not, it will go directly to the St Joseph elementary school. To help us adjust to "island time" our shipper, a Jamaican, promised to be here to pick up our shipment last Monday. Monday came and went with no sign of the truck. A call to the office resulted in a promise that he'd be up later in the week. By Thursday afternoon, I called to find out that they had rescheduled to Monday. I explained (on each call) the importance of making sure this arrives while we're there. "Sure, Mon! No problem!" was the assurance I received. I'll believe it when he arrives.
Another change for us this year has been asking for others to support the cost of the shipping. Again, we've been humbled by the support we have received and are very grateful to all who have sent checks. Between food, clothing, snorkel gear, and a guitar, we are maxing out our bag number and weight allocation.
Unlike years past, we are also unable to get there in one day, so we will be spending a night in Puerto Rico both on the way down and on the way home. We're all excited to check out Old San Juan, but the thought of lugging all our bags back and forth to the airport is a little daunting. We have meticulously packed and weighed each bag to be checked. We're allowed 2 bags each, with 70 lbs. allotted to each person (one back to weigh no more than 50 pounds and the other has to be 20 lbs. or less). I spent some humorous hours yesterday standing on a borrowed scale with each of our bags to make sure they do not exceed the limit. It's quite possible that we'll need to jettison a can of pasta sauce or tuna fish at the airport if our borrowed scale is off even a pound.
With any luck, the shipper will arrive tomorrow. Keeping our fingers crossed! One week and counting before departure.
