First Day of School

We dropped the girls off for their first day of school here. They dressed in their uniforms and, on the way to school, we picked up several friends from the village. The picture here was taken at the entrance to the school yard with their friends.

Alden was excited; Willow was nervous. Both had friends by their side to make them feel more comfortable. We all got hugs from teachers and felt welcomed by the school community as we entered the school yard. The kids disappeared with their friends and we said hello to the Principal, Ms. Verne Pendanque. We asked if she could help us find a way to retrieve the barrels we shipped with all the books. Our small 4x4 isn't big enough to fit more than 1 barrel, and we have 6 that need to come from the port in Canefield.

We will need a pick-up truck (or as they say here, "transport"), and while we have a friend here who may be willing to lend us his truck, we have asked the school to see if they can help arrange for something. The more they have to work at getting the supplies here, the more engaged they become in the process.

We will return tomorrow to see if Verne has found someone willing to help.

As we prepared to leave, Willow found us and, with a nervous, sad face told us that someone had made fun of her. "For what?" Alison asked. "For being white," was her reply. She was surrounded by her friends at this point, and we asked them to take care of Willow. She quickly turned and walked away hand in hand with them.

What a change from living in New Hampshire! Our hearts sank as we left her, but she seemed to feel more comfortable knowing her friends were going to look after her.

Hi everybody! This is Willow.

Yesterday we went to Jacko’s Steps. Before we went there, we learned about the history of slavery in Dominica. It was interesting to compare it to what I have learned about slavery in our country. Jack's Steps were carved by slaves who hid out in the rainforest. Escaped slaves were called “moroons” here. The maroons had their own villages in the rainforest. One of those was at the top of Jacko’s Steps. The steps went down a steep cliff. There were 130 steps. They were the length of my legs. At the bottom of the steps there was a river. My sister, Dad and Mom swung on a vine that led across the river. My friend Alia and I played in the river. Then we hiked back up.

Today we are going to De Leau Chaud. It’s a hot spring that you swim across a river with a strong current to get to. But I can swim across the current by myself. We are going with two friends. Their names are Alia and Tory.
Dominica is an hour difference in time from Portsmouth. It’s 8:40 in the morning here, and it’s 7:40 in New Hampshire.

Middleham Falls

On our first full day here, we decided to hike to one of our favorite falls. At over 200 feet, it's one of Dominica's tallest. No swimming in this one (although we were tempted). Jamie walked down to the pool to see if swimming was safe and the closer he got, the more extreme the experience became. By the time he reached the pool, he reported near-hurricane conditions from the wind and spray off the falls - amazing.

4 of the 6 barrels have arrived here, and we plan to retrieve them early next week once we find someone with a vehicle that can fit them all. The girls were going to go to school today, but it's closed, as it is the last Friday of every month so teachers can go to the capital and receive their paychecks.

Still waiting for one of our bags to arrive - the one with Alden and Willow's clothes. Good thing we packed swimsuits in a separate bag. Re-connecting with friends in town today and possibly some snorkeling.

Alden and Willow in the local paper

For those of you who are not local, I thought you might be interested to see the article in the Portsmouth Herald this morning.

Fun to see the picture and hear (in their words) what makes the experience meaningful to them. We'd be lying if we said we weren't proud!

Click here to read the article

Packing Barrels

We're madly hauling books from the basement and adding them to the 4 55-gallon shipping drums. Last year we crammed all the supplies into 2 barrels. This year we purchased 4 barrels, knowing that we had more books. As we began packing, however, it became clear that even with 2x the space to ship this year, we don't have enough barrels! It seems that every day we're receiving new boxes. Some are dropped off by friends, others by people we don't even know. The outpouring of support continues to amaze and humble us.

This excess of supplies is a good problem to have, though. It just means that we'll be shipping in two different deliveries: one now and the other the first week of February. The priority items will all go in this first shipment, especially the heavy duty wheels we purchased for the book shelves.

We have a carpenter lined up to build the shelves. He comes recommended, but we don't have much to go on other than this recommendation from a friend. Like many of the things we do when we're there, we have to be flexible with our expectations.

In any case, barring highly unusual, the first shipment of barrels will be there when we arrive, and the others will hopefully also arrive while we're still there.

Thanks to all of you who have supported this effort, whether with books, checks to help with the cost or words of encouragement.

Just to make it easier if you'd like to help...

My super-techie sister, Heidi, suggested that I add a widget (that's basically a feature) on the blog that makes it easier to donate. Rather than sending a check, you can click on the Chip-in link and donate on their secure site that's associated with Pay-Pal. Ah, technology! So I figured it was worth explaining this addition. Still trying to figure out the best place to put this on the blog, but in the meantime, here it is for those who are inclined to help but don't feel like using the old school method of cutting a check and sticking it in the mail.

Hey, consider this a carbon-reducing alternative!