Bookshelves Arriving

Bookshelves arriving

Ralmone, the carpenter who built the bookshelves for the school delivered them today. It was really exciting to see them come down the street towards the school in the bed of the pickup truck. After all, the last time I had seen the carpenter, he took $1,000 EC (about $400 US dollars) and said he would deliver the finished product by March 12. Since he had done work for several people here in the village of Mero and came highly recommended as trustworthy and one of the best carpenters in the area, I was pretty confident that he wasn't going to skip town with my money, but on the eve of Carnival and without much in the way of a receipt, it was pretty easy to imagine this cash disappearing.

Bookshelves in their new home

I did speak with him several times over the past couple weeks, partly for my own sense of security that he was actually doing the work and partly to set expectations for others at the school. True to his word, the shelves were finished on schedule (a complete surprise for work around here).

Ralmone attached the heavy duty locking wheels I brought with me for the purpose so the shelving can be moved around the room to accommodate multiple uses for the room, and he did an amazing job re-using boards salvaged from a long-defunct bookshelf. These extra boards he fit into place this morning when he delivered the bookcase.

Ralmone, posing with his work

 

Ms. Pendanque, the Principal, was very pleased and talked about how well this shelf would work, giving her energy and enthusiasm for having more shelves build (with funding she hopes will come from the Minister of Education in Dominica).

Alison and I left the school and both felt elated that we were able to be here for the full process of receiving the barrels, unloading the books and delivery of the bookshelves. Ms. Pendanque talked about her plans to open the library to the community for 2 hours after school each day because there are many books that adults in the town will enjoy. We loved hearing that this library would be useful not just to the students but to their families and others in the community.

To all of you who have helped this project go from dream to possibility to reality, we are truly grateful for all your support.  Thank you very much!