Brownies Into Schools

Nelson Madela said "Education is the most powerful weapon we have today". I also remember reading once, "Someday the military will hold bake sales, and schools will get all the funding they need," or something to that nature. Both quotes resound in my head as I wake up this morning to wonder what Dan and Don are doing in the village of Darkha, as they welcome the same sun, in the beauty of the Himalayas. Education is such a powerful tool. We are trying to bring literacy to a simple village in Nepal. How is that going to make a different in the world? What did Greg Mortenson feel as he awoke so many mornings, frustrated and wondering how he was going to bring education, and literacy, to the people of the remote Karakoram Mountain range of Pakistan. But we are all big believers in this power of literacy and being able to read. This past week has confirmed by feelings of this being the right path to pursue. First, our friends Kathy and Eric put much effort into finding out how to ship 6 plus boxes of donated books to our still fledgling school in Darkha. Eric greeted me the morning I drove the books over with great energy and excitement: "The kids are going to love these books!" The kids will be amazed to have these books, I added, because when I visited the village, there were no books. I know from my travels there that any book, even a worn paperback, is a thing of mystery and awe. And so I look forward to greeting these books at the other end, after their voyage across the seas to help load them onto a bus painted with colorful symbols of Shiva, the Ganges River flowing from his head and a cobra around his neck, and then transfer the boxes on to a jeep taxi, the driver with scarf wrapped multiple times around his face to shield it from dust and sun, then to porters, and hopefully the many donkeys who carry supplies up the steep trials to finally our school-being built on the slopes as I type this.

Also news-Danielle's bake sale!! An amazing success, my dear friend who put on a bake sale this past week to raise money for HANDS in Nepal, reported dozens of baked goods sold, as well as some Nepali handicraft items and donations collected. Greg Mortenson, are inspiration and author of Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools started a service learning project a few years ago to support his school building in Pakistan and Afghanistan called "Pennies For Peace." Along those lines, Danielle has been collecting change and now the bake sale for an amazing contribution to our efforts. So many Namastes to her and other teachers who have been supporters because they too believe in education for all-Julee Bauer, at my school, had her children bringing in change so that we could buy and send with my husband hackey sack balls, and then in addition contributed money she got through a grant. Her students outlined their hands to make beautiful books to also send, in fact, I recently received photos from my son as he worked with children in Nepal outlining their hands and writing back to the California students. Brownies into schools, Hands across the borders! Cultural Exchange over the Himalayas! It makes my heart sing to think of all the cool work being done as we build a simple three room school house with a tin roof on the slopes of a remote part of the world-yet it is reaching, and touching, so many. Thanks, Greg!!!