Barrel Disappointment

We received bad news yesterday. The barrels that we sent on February 1, with a 2-3 week delivery timing promised, will not arrive until next week. This is a huge disappointment for all of us. One of the major reasons we’re here is to distribute the books and school supplies to the students in St. Joseph. And now we will not be able to participate in the delivery of the barrels, the sharing of the books, not here to see the smiles on the childrens’ faces as many of them receive the first book they have ever owned for themselves.

Yesterday afternoon the teachers from the school came to the beach here in Mero and brought sandwiches, drinks and gave us several presents of thanks for our efforts. We were really happy to see so many teachers show up and a bit surprised by the outpouring of thanks. That thanks really goes out to so many friends and family members who helped us by contributing supplies, and supported the cost of shipping the barrels.

We spent some time at the school this morning going over details with the principal, Ms Pendanque about how to collect the barrels. It’s sad that we will not be here to get them, help unload them and distribute the donations, but Ms. Pendanque will no doubt see that everything is handled well.

We also discussed the possibility of helping build the school library, which is very limited today, so we have more plans to discuss with her and look forward to figuring out how to make that happen next year.

While we’re very sad not to receive the barrels while we were here, we leave here feeling very good about the impact these supplies will have for so many kids. They are eager to learn and yet many of them do not have the resources to support their curiosity. We hope to post pictures from the barrel unveiling that Ms Pendanque said she’ll send.