first week!

a work in progress

Wow, talk about world’s worst blogger. So much has taken place since my last entry that I do not even know where to begin. The school year starts in 5 days, and to my utter disbelief, excitement, and anticipation THE PRESCHOOL IS OPENING! Im not sure how to retell the story of how it happened, because Im still in awe about the entire ordeal. I went back to Texas for the first two weeks in July and nothing took place with the project during that time. When I returned to the village, we had a parent meeting to discuss whether we would be using our funds to refurbish the old school room we had been waiting on the grant money for. None of the parents were up for that idea, yet nobody had any other ideas for building options. After two hours of moms disagreeing about uniform colors and the ways in which the funds should be used, I left the meeting feeling pretty down about the entire situation. As usual, everything about this project felt so close, as though it was about to come together, yet so far away with a lot of missing pieces.

I met up with the principal that same evening to discuss what had taken place at the meeting. He suggested an idea that had come up a few other times during the planning stages of the preschool, which was to build a wall in a large classroom at the primary school in order to make an extra class. Every other time he had mentioned this, the committee and myself had looked over the idea, thinking it would be too small and crowded for a preschool. We took out the measuring tape, did a few calculations, and within a week had a wall up, dividing the classroom in two. Over the past two weeks, the parents have come out to paint the classroom walls, build an extension and wall on the veranda, and to help me set up the classroom for the teacher. We have used the remainder of the money that the parents raised to buy the furniture, linoleum flooring, basic school supplies and a few educational games. The classroom is extremely modest by all measures, but WE DID IT.





After going back and forth with the education office about our teacher, we still have not reached any conclusions. I was first told that there would not be a teacher coming until January, then received a phone call from my principal just days later telling me that the teacher would “for sure” be here for classes to begin on August 31st. I do not think that they have officially hired a teacher yet because all teachers are on duty this week and should be reporting to their schools, but I have yet to see a teacher at the preschool. The principal has not heard anything from his supervisor about it, so we are waiting anxiously throughout this week to see if the teacher will be here before Monday. Ive had small talks with the parents about the importance of the teacher having time (if even just a week) to familiarize themselves with the classroom, set up their things, plan their lessons, and get acquainted with me before the children just show up without any formal planning on the teacher’s behalf. NOBODY is hearing me out on this issue. Their minds are so set on “THE CHILDREN MUST BE THERE FOR THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL NO MATTER WHAT” that they are not seeing the big picture- an unprepared teacher = unhappy and confused children = trouble. The first day for anybody (especially a 3 or 4 year old who has never been to school before) should be one of ease- with a calm, READY, and warm teacher- not one who steps foot into the class just 10 minutes before the first bell rings.

The lack of consideration about the teacher’s preparation is just one of the issues that everyone has missed the boat on. Everyone working on the project is gun-ho that we should buy an air-conditioning unit for the classroom. AN AIR CONDITIONER! This may seem reasonable to you- but by no means is an air-conditioner common here, especially at a school. The tiniest one we can even find here costs about 3x the price that it would in the states. Besides the price, the classroom is long and the unit would not be able to provide a cool-down for the entire class. My suggestion was that we install three ceiling fans, but the response that I got in return was “We have to be a step above the rest of the preschools, Miss Elisha. We must advance ourselves.” Im sorry- but when did having a half-ass air-conditioning unit mean that children would be learning more, become better prepared to start primary school, and advance themselves? These comments come from the same individuals who questioned the educational materials that I bought with the extra funds, because the children did not “need those things.”

Hmm… As happy as I am that the school is opening, I have really had to control my frustrations and negativity over the past few weeks. As soon as we heard that we could open this fall, the parents started to point their fingers at me, telling me everything that “I needed to get done,” yet when it comes to practical advice, they would rather me keep my opinions to myself. It doesn’t seem like much of a fair trade out. I really hope that within the next few months I can start putting on parent workshops and begin educating the parents on early childhood education. Perhaps then, they wouldn’t question why a pack of crayons and a pad of paper isn’t enough to turn their children into geniuses.

I have been in contact with many of you about things that the preschool may need or how you can help, and I want to thank everybody for all of their support throughout this processes. I couldn’t have made it this far without your constant encouragement and enthusiasm to see this preschool happen. As of right now, I am not sure what the next steps are going to be about getting more supplies or “things” for the class. I really want to wait to see how the new teacher situation plays out, how much experience they have in a preschool classroom, and how interested they are in working with me and in preschool education. Who knows, the school may get a teacher who has no desire whatsoever to be a preschool teacher, but were placed here because it was the last option… (Very possible.) My ultimate goal from the beginning was for the preschool to have its own building separate from the primary school, along with its own playground. This idea has essentially been forgotten by everyone who is involved with this project since the wall has been built in the classroom. Im definitely not going to push for them to build a separate building unless THEY initiate the process.

Okay. I know this blog only covers info and updates about the preschool, but that’s where my mind is now, and this is all the energy I have to give to writing. It is my goal to start writing more often so that I don’t drown you with a novel every time that I write. I will however remind you that somebody turns 24 in a few weeks and that I miss you all. Hope to hear from you soon. - Elisha

fotos nuevos

PACA meeting and my Peace Corps soccer team














School field trip to Xunantunich Ruins












Kite Contest afternoon at the primary school













My good friend Sandra and her family. Her oldest son is a first generation high school graduate, and her youngest son is a future preschool student!

The mangos are in full bloom.

"Don’t worry about what you don’t know, life’s a dance you learn as you go.”

Shortly after writing my last blog, I was able meet with the education officer to discuss the preschool project Ive been working on. He gave me his full support acknowledging that there would be a paid teacher by the government when the school opens, and the following week we were able to have our meeting with the parents. 18 out of the 20 parents attended, which is a record! The meeting was a success- both the education office and the parents were able to give information, ask questions, and look at taking the project to the next level- transferring the responsibilities from me to a group. After the meeting the formal project committee was created, with a chairperson, treasurer, secretary, three advisors, and myself.

I had been planning with the PCVLs (Peace Corps Volunteer Leaders) to come and assist in a PACA workshop for the committee once it was started, and I was able to convince the committee of having it almost immediately following the committee elections. PACA (Participatory Analysis for Community Action) is a set of tools that Peace Corps advocates us to use when working on a community project. The tools help group members recognize their own strengths and assets, how to write clear goals and objectives, set project priorities, create timelines and budgets, and how to delegate tasks among committee members. Needless to say, it was a LONG day filled with a lot of very useful information for the committee. Although not all of the members were able to stay the entire day due to family obligations, each one attended at least half of the day. The workshop gave me an opportunity to facilitate and teach useful information to the women I have been working with, which was a really great feeling for me. I felt knowledgeable, and useful in a sense that I was helping them, not just doing things for them!

After mapping out every single item that the school needs to be repaired, along with everything a preschool needs to be productive and functioning, our total budget came out be right over $7,000 bz- about 7x the amount of money we have raised over the past 4 months. What to me seemed like a clear wake up call meant nothing to the committee. Their simple answer was, “Well, we will just sell and do fundraisers every week until September.” That’s a great attitude, but the group only makes about $100 a week doing their sales… meaning at best they will only bring in about another $1,500 before September arrives. One would assume that after looking at the big picture: such as what we need vs. what we have, the budget, and timeline (only having 3 months to do all of this) would have been a light switch for them. I thought that they would realize that we must change our goals for the opening date or at least have a Plan B for the location of starting the school until the building is ready- but it didn’t faze them at all- all logic was out the window.

Something else I realized when facilitating the workshop is that none of the women I am working with, and probably most Belizeans, have no former education of analyzing and breaking down “big picture ideas” down to smaller ideas. For example, one of the activities was that the committee create a to-do list for one event. They chose “Plaster the school walls.” In order to plaster the school walls, I immediately think: find a person to do the job, buy the supplies for the job, create a date and time the job will start, decide how much the person will be paid, etc, etc. Having the women break down each task necessary in order to plaster the walls took us close to an hour. It was completely foreign to them- they were unable to break down what steps it would take in order to actually plaster. This thinking process was a whole new way of thinking for the committee.

Unfortunately, all of the great information that the committee learned and all of the planning that they did during the workshop was tossed aside the following week. Plans had been made to actually start the process of plastering the walls, and the walls are still bare, old concrete. The one thing that the committee did that was on their weekly to-do list was their food sale. In their mind, as long as they sale food and make money, the preschool will open in September. They still do not see that in order to have a preschool, we must also do manual labor on the building, look for outside funding (such as donations from businesses in town) and continue planning as a group. They have begun setting up fundraisers without my help, which I am proud of them for. After doing small tasks such as selling on their own, they will hopefully work their way up to taking more initiative in the project. Often times one committee member or another will ask me for the “answer” about something, as if my vote or opinion is always the right answer, and I have to remind them that I am simply a committee member now, and that we have to ask everyone for their opinion. Since the committee has been started, there have been a few situations that have come up where the members have completely disregarded my opinion and did things “their” way. It has been a big pill for me to swallow, but
I am keeping in mind the end goal- Individuals working on their own to maintain their progress, rather than expecting someone to do the job for them.

After accepting everything that has come into light about the project, and my “job”, it is as though my mindset has completely changed about being here. The village’s success does not depend on me. It feels amazing to say that. I want to scream it with joy over and over. The village’s success does not depend on me! I am simply the catalyst, motivator, and advisor. Success will happen, but at a much, much slower rate than I would have guessed when starting this project 6 months ago. I am here only for a short time in their lives. I can befriend them, listen to them, influence them, assist them, and I can only hope that it is enough to improve at least one person’s quality of life. I know they are improving mine. Acknowledging all of this has been the best thing that has happened to me here. The pressure is gone, the stress is behind me, and now my role is much more clear to me.

What does the future look like now? Well, the preschool committee is still holding strong to the idea of receiving the grant that the village chairman always says “is coming next week.” Ive put that idea out of my head, and unless a miracle happens, I do not believe that the preschool will open in September like we had been anticipating. If anything has become quite clear to me, its that you can’t plan for anything and expect that it will happen exactly as you dreamed. I am not disappointed about that- I still have 15 months before I leave- more than plenty of the time to make it happen. Right now it looks like Ill be focusing a lot on my girl’s after school group, GLOW, and I will still be doing weekly activities with the preschool aged students. I would like to expand the activities I am already doing with them. Right now its only a once a week 1 hour session, with all 20 preschoolers together. I am thinking about splitting them into two groups and having longer sessions with each group. Some of the moms that I work with have expressed interest in having something like a women’s group, to learn more about parenting, nutrition, women’s health, etc. Im not sure how this will play out, but I am really interested in creating presentations for them, on whatever topics they are interested in.

I have had in mind for a couple of months that I want to teach adult computer training classes. I started talking about the idea of it with one of the villagers who happens to have recently had computer training in town, and she was immediately interested in the idea of it. I was able to convince her that she could take what she learned from her training to help me in the classes, and we decided that we want to do once a week, 4 hour course for 6 weeks. The course will cover everything that a course would offer in town, at a much lower cost. Right now the café’s internet is free until January, through a grant it received. Starting in January, the café must start paying the internet bill, and currently the café is making less than $20.00 a week. This is because nobody in the village knows how to use a computer! Therefore, the participants will pay a small fee for the course, which will be used pay for the internet bill each month. Theoretically, if more people know how to use a computer, more people will come to the internet café, bringing in larger profits. This will be my first opportunity to work with a Belizean in a partnership such as this. We will plan the curriculum together and teach the classes as a team. This may not sound like such a big deal- but it is! I am so excited that I have found someone in the community who has gained knowledge, and will now turn around and pass that knowledge onto others in her village. ITS GREAT!- A perfect example of what development is (or should be) all about.

The countdown is ON! I will be home in 3 weeks, and am looking forward to so much! I will be in Texas for two weeks, which seems like a lifetime to me now. A few things Im looking forward to- getting a haircut, catching up with all of my family and friends, being amazed at how big my nephews have gotten, air conditioning, carpeted floors, walking around Target for hours, Starbucks, relearning to apply makeup and fix my hair, having an excuse to get dressed up, getting my fill of celebrity gossip, trashy tv shows, and less than amusing Top 40 hip hop music, driving, southern accents, grapes and diet dr. pepper, LUCKY LOU’S with my Chili’s crew, Saturday morning Goodwill shopping, going through all of the boxes of clothes I left behind and finding things to bring back with me, aaahh the list goes on and on!

fotos.

a moment in time.

Where have the past three months gone? It seems as though they have flown by, only leaving a small trace of their existence. I feel like Ive been on a roller coaster that I cant slow down, stop, or get off of. Some days life seems incredibly slow and never ending, while other days fly by so quickly. My reality of time is quite different from the one I left behind in the states. Sometimes its as though time is standing still, but days are continuing to turn into weeks that continue to turn into months. I must surely be living in the twilight zone. Errands that would have taken me an hour tops with the luxury of my car take a solid 3-4 here. Waiting for the bus, missing the bus and hitching a ride town from a villager, dodging in and out of shops until Ive found everything I'm looking for, waiting again for the bus, walking 2 miles back to my village from where the bus drops me.. All a typical day if I plan on doing anything in town. Lately Ive found myself feeling paralyzed in my hammock from the heat and my lack of being able to just go out and “get shit done!”

SO.. What have I been doing? Good question. The preschool project is well underway, and each day my outlook on it changes. Right now I feel like I am stuck at the bottom level of this project. It has so much potential, but not all of the major players have stepped up to the work that it will take to make it happen. The parents, community members, village council, and Ministry of Education all have a major role in this- but for the most part, I get the feeling that they see it as “Ms. Elisha’s job.“

There are 20 parents of preschoolers here, but only about 4 that are actually involved. Those 4 have been great in assisting me with setting up fundraisers, which have been really successful. We usually sell food twice a month on a Friday night in the village park, and we also held the 1st annual Easter Fair here. There was an Easter egg hunt, followed by an evening of games, food, music, and prizes. Although it was financially successful, there were still parents arguing about children “cheating” at the egg hunt and the fact that some children found more eggs than their child. I guess crazy obsessed moms really do exist everywhere.

The village chairman may be receiving a grant that will pay for almost all of our building costs. In my few meetings with him about this grant with our mixture of my poor Spanish and his poor English, I have come to the conclusion that he has no idea if he is actually going to receive this grant or not. He has the group in charge of the grant telling him that money is coming, but they keep telling him the same thing week after week with no action actually happening. This has disabled us to have a clear idea of how much money we should be expecting to spend for the building costs, and we don’t want to start buying supplies that could possibly be free if we wait for about another month for the grant to come. I did do some letter writing for donations in early March to businesses around town and we were successful in receiving 2 doors, 4 buckets of paint, and 5 bags of cement!

The education office in town has been of little assistance to me. I plan for meetings and they cancel at the last minute. They are overworked and understaffed- like all government offices here. They did however, make a visit to the village last week and gave us the OK on the building we plan to use. There are 3 women from the village applying for the teacher’s position, and the education office told me they would be having interviews in April. May is here and still no interviews, still no decision on who the preschool teacher will be. Because the ministry works directly with the government, parents are still doubtful of their role in this project and do not necessarily believe they will come through with paying a teacher’s salary. I believe this has been a major reason why less parents are involved. They won’t believe it until they see it.

I had the opportunity to sit down and speak with my project supervisor at Peace Corps in depth about the overall situation last week. It was clear to him that I have taken on too much responsibility on this project, and there is too little of community effort or structure for this project to be successful unless things drastically change. Stepping back and reviewing my actions, I see that Ive had the mentality over the past few months that “If they don’t do it, Ill just do it myself.” Yep. Im still the stubborn Elisha that you’ve all grown to love. I must to step down and back off. Right now I feel like a burnt out social worker- overlooking my own well being in order to assist the client, when the client has not taken initiative to help himself. Doing things here by myself doesn’t solve the problem. It doesn’t teach the people I work with to cultivate leaders within their own community, it doesn’t teach them to believe in themselves, or to work hard for something that they believe in. It does however, teach them sit and watch, expecting the world to change for them because a white girl showed up. I see though, that this is the only way that they know. The country was a product of colonialism for so many generations- Depend and work for the rich, while seeing no change in your own well-being. Mission groups come in, build a water tank or a playground, and leave after a week. People promise them change and they never see that change. People here have not been taught to believe in themselves, have pride in the work they do, and expect to see positive outcomes that happen because of hard work and effort.

My supervisor advised that I start over, from the beginning. I am planning for a large, lengthy meeting that includes all of the team players- the education officer along with manager of preschools, the school’s principal, parents, community members, village council members and chairman, along with my supervisor and me. The plan is to get everything out on the table and start a committee that will take on some responsibilities of this project. I must make it clear that I AM here to assist in any way possible, but this isn’t MY project- its THEIR project. From this meeting, a time line and budget need to be created, along with delegating tasks to the committee members. This is the plan- I am hopeful but concerned. I have to accept that if they choose not to assemble leadership, this project will be put on hold.

I am on a Peace Corps committee that focuses on gender development in Belize. Last year the volunteers created a 4 day all-girls camp that brought 20 girls from all ends of the country together to focus on self esteem, self expression, and self reliance. The camp was created with the intention that the volunteers and the girls that they brought to camp return home and start a GLOW [ Girls Leading Our World] club at their school, with the PC volunteers as their club ‘leaders.’ The camp was a huge success, and we have began our planning for this year’s camp. I have taken on the role as co-coordinator of the camp, and am really excited to be involved with this secondary project. The camp is bigger this year, with 30 girls. Each volunteer on the committee gets to bring three girls from their site. The girls must apply by writing two essays about their intentions of going to camp what it means to them to be a leader in their community. Afterwards, I will have the teachers read the essays and choose the best three. After camp, a GLOW club will be started here in the village. The club will be open to girls between the ages of 10-14 and we will focus on everything- community service, leadership, goal setting, puberty, HIV/AIDS awareness, expressive arts, you name it. We will have club meetings each week and focus on whatever it is that the girls are interested in. This may mean playing soccer one week, making beaded necklaces the next, to having a session on sex ed the following week. Im excited for a number of reasons, but one in particular is that this will be the school’s first club! I hope that this will be something that each girl looks forward to weekly. Its funny- the girls love Hannah Montana here- They wear backpacks with her face plastered on them and listen to her CDs, knowing the songs word for word. It reminds me of my obsession with the Spice Girls.

Samson has been sick for about the past 2 weeks. He’s had 8 shots and will show signs of energy one day, and the next day back to nothing. Three of my neighbor’s dogs died last week with all of the same symptoms that Sam has- runny nose, cough, weakness, loss of appetite, loose stool. The vet thinks that its distemper, which I vaccinated him for. He is a fighter- still eating a fair amount, but I know that he is in a lot of pain. I have really become close with him in this short 6-month time that Ive had him. I don’t always like the work that comes with having a dog- but he’s worth it, every bit of it. He has been a significant learning tool for me- Ive never been an animal person and didn’t really understand the whole concept of companionship with animals. Now playing Frisbee with him and having him and our daily walks around the village has been something I look forward to. Please keep him in your thoughts and send positive energy his way. Only time will tell how this virus will run its course with him.

So, that’s about all going on here. People ask me regularly something along the lines of, “So you having a great time down there or what?” My answer is never black or white- never yes or no. Life is life wherever you go- I am often disappointed and feel like I am not making any progress, but encouragement comes when I least expect it- at the dinner table with neighbors, after a successful library day with the preschool children and their parents, or with a phone call from grandma. Ups, downs, laughing, crying, confidence, fear- I'm experiencing it all- only now with coconut trees and hammocks in the scenery.

The Snowball Effect

The holidays passed by just as fast as they approached and I couldn’t have asked for a more humble and fulfilling way to spend my first Christmas away from home. I attended a church service at the main village church, where I watched the children sing their Christmas carols in Spanish and wear robes with attached angel wings. I spent the rest of the holiday stuffing myself with black cake, a Belizean favorite.

A couple of other Peace Corps volunteers and I headed over to Caye Caulker, for a fun in the sun, relaxing atmosphere for New Years. The island was filled with tourists, which felt strange to me. I caught myself wanting to start conversations with people and tell them how “life really is” inland; the poverty, broken school system, corrupt politics, thatched roof houses, lack of medical care… As I continued to think more about it I came to the conclusion that people don’t know what is going on in developing countries because they choose not to. Travelers don’t set an agenda to scope out the dilapidating areas of a country- what fun would that be? Why ruin their vacation when they didn’t come to Belize to see or hear about things of that nature?

I actually regret a bit not staying in my village to celebrate New Years. After having such a satisfying Christmas visiting families in their homes, exchanging gifts with my old host family, and feeling the all around good vibes from my community members, laying on a beach with a bunch of other American’s just wasn’t doing the trick for me. I am at a really good place in my village, at the school, and with my overall well-being right now. Can I repeat that? I am very content at the moment. It feels great for me to finally be completely comfortable with being here. I have my daily routines, my women friends that tease me about my lack of cooking expertise, a dog that I am learning to love, and an empty house that I am filling slowly but surely.

The anxiety and self doubt that I was experiencing for a while has diminished. The new school term started in early January and I have been non-stop since then. I am currently running the library that was set up in the village by the previous PC volunteer, where I conduct mini lessons with the students when they come in as a class and read short stories to the younger children. I keep it open after school so that the kids can come in and do “arts and crafts” or check out a new book. My mornings start off with working with a group of students studying for the National Spelling Bee, which is held at the end of February. I have also started my remedial reading classes, and have taken on a writing class once a week for the 5th and 6th grade class to help prepare them for their national writing exam. This is definitely my favorite academic project. I never realized how natural and fun it would be for me to teach writing to that age group of students. Outside of school I have started a women’s fitness group, the other project that I love so dearly. Women ranging from young mothers with hopes of losing baby fat to women in their mid 40s and on the verge of diabetes come out and walk/run at the football field in front of my house 5 nights a week. I add ab workouts and fun little games, and Fridays are FUTBOL day- a half-field soccer match between the ladies. Imagine 12 women running around, half with no shoes on, the other half in flip flops, and not a single one wearing a sports bra- my group of champions!

Brace yourself- my most exciting news has yet to come. Are you ready? My village is working on starting a PRESCHOOL- headed by a group of focused community members and yours truly. I cannot even begin to describe how exciting and rewarding this project is to me. I am not able to imagine a better fit project for me to embark on for the next 2 years. I lie in bed at night and think about all of the theories and methods of early childhood education classes and the countless preschool observations I was forced to do in college, and now I will be putting these concepts into action!

The current status is as follows- My goal is for the preschool to open in September, when the schools open back up from summer break. A teacher would be hired and paid by the government, and he/she and I will co-teach the class. I will essentially “train” this person through the school year, and this person will continue as the head teacher when I leave. I conducted a village survey last week and there are approximately 21 children that will be between the ages of 3-4 next fall. I have partnered with an NGO that works with 41 countries world wide on garden projects for schools and families, along with starting preschools all around Africa. They have in their project proposal to start preschools in Belize also, but this would be the first one that they will have assisted with here.

They tell me that they can supply just about everything that a productive, functioning preschool needs- paper, glue, crayons, scissors, along with tables, chairs, and a playground. To add to this, they can provide the preschool with all of these things for 5 years. They tell me that there are no “conditions” or if/ands/buts to this, except that there must be collaboration and assistance from the community, me as a Peace Corps volunteer, and the government. The end results would look something like this: the community being in charge of refurbishing and fixing up the building, me training the teacher, the government agreeing to pay a full time teacher, and the NGO taking care of everything that goes inside the building. I am not being pessimistic, but I am being realistic- I am not putting all of my hopes into the NGO working out, only for us to be left empty handed when September rolls around. As the saying goes, If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

I attended my first village council meeting last week to discuss with the council my proposal for them to donate one of the rooms from an old four room school building that is no longer being used in the village. I gave my spill about the importance of preschool, the statistics of the village, and how much the students could benefit by having an extra 1-2 years of practicing their English speaking all in SPANISH- I guess I am picking up on the language more than I thought. The village council approved of the idea and gave me permission to start cleaning and fixing the room immediately. There is a lot of work to be done- a new roof and ceiling, plastering of the walls, rewiring of the electricity, a door, a bathroom and sink, the list goes on forever. I stayed at the meeting after my part was over and caught myself feeling like I was stuck in movie theatre watching a cheesy foreign film without subtitles. I was so lost in the fast Spanish conversation that I just sat back and begin to imagine my own pretend dialogue of what I figured they were saying by their actions and the words I could pick up here and there. Although I didn’t understand most of the meeting after I did my talking, I am glad I attended- it reiterated my opinion of everyone being disorganized and unprofessional in this country.

I have to send in a letter and application packet to the Ministry of Education next week, and they will decide if we meet the requirements for a paid teacher by the end of April, so they tell me. I don’t think that I would be as apt and ready to start such an extensive of a project in my village if it weren’t for the complete support of the parents. The parents of the future preschoolers are of the younger generation here- they see the importance of education, they know how crucial it is to know English in the school system here, and they have been fully supportive in this whole process. They ask me when we can start cleaning the old building, and the moms volunteer their husbands to be ‘handymen’ any Saturday that I need them. I will hold a parent’s meeting next week to talk about fundraising ideas and possible ways for us to receive donations in order to start working on the old room. The future starts today! Please, spread the word to anybody and everybody who might find my project interesting. Elementary schools might be able to donate old educational games and books that are age appropriate. Individuals might be interested in a monetary donation or may have puzzles, books, and games that their children have outgrown. I will take whatever I can get. Please keep me and my project in your thoughts- this is a very exciting, yet demanding project to take on. Everything from the building and equipment, to the policy and curriculum is in my hands-with seven months to make it happen.