We Started Today!

Hey folks....
What an amazing, gratifying, and ok, tiring day! But tired in a good way. We travelled via bus, then by ferry, then by bus, and walked in a short ways to our school site. Rather than finishing a new school, we are repainting, and doing repairs for a school built by the International Services of the YMCA in 2002. The children of the Ben Tre area attend the school in shifts...roughly eighty in the morning and afternoon programs. During the four hours students attend, they receive instruction in reading, writing and math. It's pretty amazing to see the students arrive for class. Bicycle and bicycle pull in to the dirt grounds surrounding the school. I couldn't help but think, kids are kids no matter where they live. The children arrive with their backpacks, and visit with one another until the teacher hits the drum calling students to class. While the kids were in class, we took over three of the classrooms for repair. Split into teams, we brushed away the dirt on walls, door levors and window slats, then set about painting...no easy task task when the ceilings are 12 feet! We climbed up on scaffolding holding coconut boards for us to stand on while painting. Definitely not the time to decide you're scared of heights.

In appreciation for our work this week, we ate lunch at one of the teacher's homes. The teachers whose classrooms we're working on prepared an absolute feast, including soup, fried egg, pork dishes and watermelon.

Following our work today, we were treated to corn steamed in the husk. Corn never tasted so good!

Since it's getting late....I do want to pass along a few statistics regarding the area where we're working:

In the area where we are working, the average yearly income for a family is $600.
70% of the children will progress to high school.
80% of those who progress to high school will graduate.
50% will go to university.

That's all for now folks. I'll check back in tomorrow or the day after. Take care...Cathy