WINGS OF THE DAWN

                                 International Institute for Children

                                                                             

                 4^th ANNUAL  REPORT

 

                 FISCAL YEAR ending June 30, 2000

 

                    BY SMALL AND SIMPLE THINGS ARE GREAT THINGS BROUGHT TO PASS.

- Alma

 

                                                               Table of Contents

 

PART I -          Description of Organization and Purpose.............................................p.  3

 

PART II -         Description of Projects........................................................................…p.  4

 

PART III -        A Short History of our Organization....................................................…p.  5

 

PART IV -       Brazil Journal (August 1999)..............................................................….p.  7

 

PART V -        African Journal (December 1999)......................................................…p. 16        

PART VI -       Financial History for Fiscal 2000.......................................................….p. 41

 

PART VII -      Budget for Fiscal 2001.......................................................................….p. 43

 

PART VIII -     Principles of Accountability and Control............................................…p. 45

 

PART IX -       Steps for Implementing Short-Term and Long-Term Objectives.........p. 46

 

PART X -        Staff Personnel..................................................................................……p. 47

 

PART XI-        A Brief Photo Album..........................................................................……p. 48

 

 

                                   PART I - Description of Organization and Purpose          

 

Wings of the Dawn International Institute for Children is a Nonstock, nonprofit corporation, organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia.  It is currently headquartered in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  Its mission is to assist citizens of less-developed countries of the world provide for the education of their children.  Our focus is on directly assisting schools and libraries in Africa, primarily by making books and education enrichment materials available to them in their own languages. 

 

The initial focus of this organization was on the children of Mozambique.  In this connection the short-term goal was, and still is, to make quality textbooks, literature  and basic educational materials in the Portuguese language more available in Mozambique, in places where schools already exist and in places where schools could be established if these materials were available.  The long-term goal is to aid the government and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) in establishing infrastructure in Mozambique for the improved education of its people.

 

In our annual report for Fiscal 1999, we disclosed that we were launching an exploratory study of the feasibility of a similar project in Nigeria.  Accordingly, Mr. Ade Otenaike and Mr. J. Peter Baumgarten, members of the Board of Directors, visited Nigeria last December, visited a number of schools, met with public officials, and established a cooperative relationship with local governments and Non-Government Organizations.  We determined that such a project for Nigeria  was not only feasible, but in many ways less daunting logistically.  English is the official language of government, commerce and education in Nigeria.  Also there is an almost inexhaustible  supply of surplus books available for donation in the United States.  Therefore, the Board of Directors has officially approved the recommendation of Mr. Baumgarten and Mr. Otenaike that Wings of the Dawn expand its activities to include projects in English-speaking West Africa, beginning in Nigeria.

 

 

 

 

                                                  PART II - Description of Projects

 

We have projects in two African countries, Mozambique and Nigeria.  Mozambique is a nation of southeast Africa, still emerging from a bloody and prolonged civil war.  This war resulted in the deaths of a million people, including children, and the dislocation of nearly a third of its surviving population.  Formally a colony of Portugal, it received its independence in 1975.    Because of the war, many of Mozambique's basic institutions, including its educational system, are severely impaired.  The majority of Mozambicans are under the age of 20.  Officially, the government of Mozambique strongly encourages all children to attend school while between the ages of six and sixteen.  However, because of lack of facilities and teachers, there are tens of thousands of young Mozambican children who are turned away from existing schools.  Because of extreme crowding, the period of instruction for most primary-aged children is limited to three hours daily.  Classrooms with more than 50 pupils are the norm. 

While the government has done an admirable job in providing basic text for most existing schools, there are many problems associated with quality, distribution and the scope and depth of the materials themselves.  Other types of books and educational materials, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, globes, protractors and compasses, math flash cards, athletic equipment, art supplies, are virtually nonexistent.  Paper products and writing tools, are in short supply. 

Nigeria, located on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, is Africa=s most populous nation.  It is also a country that has experienced much of political turmoil, ethnic strife and a tragic civil war after achieving independence in 1960.  However, in 1999, the people of Nigeria elected their first civilian government in more than 15 years. The new president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has pledged to steer his country away from political corruption and to focus on improved education as a top priority of his administration.  This commitment is late in coming.   Nigeria is a country of vast mineral resources and should be much better off economically.  Yet, its schools, like those of Mozambique, are poor and crowded and lacking in books and basic education materials.  Here too, many children cannot attend school at all because there is no room for them.    

Through past shipments of books and school supplies to Mozambique, and with the help of three non-government organizations (World Vision, Concern and Humana=s People to People (ADPP)), we have assisted many schools and thousands of children in the three southern provinces of Maputo, Gaza and Manica.  At present, we are preparing to ship two containers of books during our fiscal year of 2001, one from  Brazil bound for Mozambique and one in the United States bound for schools in the vicinity of Lagos, Nigeria.  We are coordinating our project in Nigeria with Africa Refugee Foundation (AREF) and LDS Humanitarian Services.

 

 

 

 

 

                                        PART III - A Short History of our Organization

 

On December 31, 1996, Wings of the Dawn was formally incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia as a vehicle for addressing problems with education in the poorer, less developed countries of the world.  The initial country of focus was Angola.  However, because of continued instability in that country and concerns that there would be a resumption of hostilities (which have since been validated) our focus shifted to Mozambique instead.

The country and people of Mozambique are desperately poor.  For the foreseeable future, it is unlikely that this people will achieve a standard of living that is conducive to personal development without outside assistance.  However, except for a brief period during the flooding of the Zambezi River earlier this year, Mozambique is not in the newspaper headlines.  Its problems are mostly unnoticed by the world at large.  Since the end of its civil war, the world's focus has shifted elsewhere.  Many of the NGOs (non-government organizations), especially the relief organizations once very active in Mozambique, have left or are reducing the level and scope of operations because of the perception that there are more pressing demands elsewhere.  In the field of educational, development continues to lag far behind the needs.  A large number of schools are either under construction or in the planning stages, usually with NGO assistance.  Nevertheless, many children attend no school at all.  The majority of children attending school do so under deplorable conditions. 

Furthermore, there is a general dearth of books and other educational materials throughout this country.  To our knowledge, no other NGO is specifically seeking to address this problem of the lack of books.  We know of a number of projects in the United States by which books have been collected and sent to African countries.  But these books are generally written in English and are of only limited utility in Portuguese-speaking Mozambique.

To learn first hand what the educational problems in Mozambique are, the executive director, Mr. J. Peter Baumgarten personally toured the country during April and May of 1997.  During a period of nearly three weeks he visited 17 schools in three provinces and interviewed dozens of teachers, school officials and government officials.  Contacts were established among people who are eager to assist Wings of the Dawn in bringing books and educational materials to Mozambique.

In subsequent years, progress and growth have been steady.  In the second year (fiscal year 1998), nearly 1,500 pounds of books and school supplies were gathered and shipped from the United States to Mozambique.  In addition, affiliate chapters of Wings of the Dawn were established in Brazil.  These chapters immediately began collecting books in the Portuguese language.  The first substantial donations from outside donors were also received that year, including gifts-in-kind of school supplies from individual contributors at storefronts, and a $2,500 gift from one individual benefactor, and a credit for about the same amount from Safeway Stores applied to purchasing Portuguese literature.  Also, 1998 was the first year our organization qualified for participation in the  Combined Federal Campaign (or CFC, which is like the United Way for federal employees).

The third year (FY 1999) saw the following achievements and advances: First, nearly 3/4s of a ton of books and school supplies arrived in Maputo.  These materials were received by the three pre-designated schools in that province including: (a) Escola Comunitaria 4 de Outubro de Polana, (b) Escola de Pre-ensinamento do Sao Damasco, and (c) Escola de Pre-ensinamento do Patrice Lumumba.  The distribution was made in September 1998, at the beginning of the new school term, under the personal supervision of Mr. Baumgarten.  Other advances included the expansion of our charter membership to include a significant contingent of members in the State of Maryland and the founding of our first Internet Website at www.wingsofthedawn.org.

Now, we have just concluded our fourth fiscal year.  During this last period, one container holding 11,865 books in the Portuguese language was shipped from the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Maputo, Mozambique.  The books were mostly school texts, including math, Portuguese, history, geography, literature, English and some sets of Encyclopedias and library reading books.  All of these books were written in the Portuguese language. These were distributed to schools and libraries located in the provinces of Maputo, Gaza and Manica, through three NGOs,  World Vision (of the US), Concern (of Ireland) and Humana People to People (of Denmark).

We also started a project in Nigeria when Mr. Baumgarten and Mr. Ade Otenaike of the Board of Directors visited Nigeria together in December, 1999.  There, they surveyed schools in Lagos and Ogun states and establish contacts.  Nigeria, is Africa=s most populous country.  It is also a country of tremendous mineral wealth.  However, it is mostly undeveloped, its progress impeded by civil strife and internal corruption.  It has tremendous need for outside assistance of its education programs.  All schools visited by these two representatives made urgent requests for aid in the form of books and other school supplies to supplement the scarce materials already on hand.   Upon returning to the United States, our organization initiated its first English language book collection project.  We have since received numerous contributions of books from local libraries, schools, individuals and the Library of Congress.  By far, the largest contributor was the Fairfax County School system.  More than 400 boxes containing more than 13,000 volumes of school texts and library books have since been collected, enough to fill one 20-foot container. 

At this writing (September 15, 2000) we now have three separate shipments either ready or nearly ready and awaiting shipment to Mozambique and Nigeria.  We also have sufficient funds on hand to finance these shipments and to carry out all our program goals for the year, thanks largely to a generous foundation grant from LDS Charities.  We also have fine prospects for continued growth of our organization and programs, and expansion of our efforts into other disadvantaged countries.

Obviously, we cannot assume general responsibility for the education of all children in Africa.  The African people must do that themselves.  But we can assist this people by stimulating and encouraging the growth of learning.  ABy small and simple things are great things brought to pass.@ said Alma.  This saying is also our motto and it encourages our efforts.  We hope that it also encourages your generous support.

 

                                             PART IV - Brazil Journal (August 1999)

 

The following is an account Mr. Baumgarten's journey to Brazil for the organization from August 6 to August 18, 2000, extracted from his personal diary:

 

6 AUGUST 1999

It has been a summer of long delays for obtaining approvals necessary (with the Mozambican government and others) to make a shipment from Brazil.  A week ago approval finally came.  Now I am less than 30 minutes from arriving in Rio.

As always in these times of traveling alone, to do things with which I am less familiar, and with strangers, I feel uncertain.  I re-read the poem by Edgar A. Guest: ACan=t@ to strengthen my resolve and courage.  And I pray that with God=s help, all will be well.

                                                                                                                                          

Now, at the end of the day, I write my evaluation.  It was a mix of good and bad as most days are.  I met Dona Pedentrina at the appointed time and it was a good reunion.  We were both glad to see each other again.  She is my hostess and so far the mainstay of our project here in Brazil.  We arrived in Petropolis and, after lunch, went downtown to see the cache of books.  But first, she took me to meet the Padre who runs one of the local radio stations.  He wasn=t there.  However, a radio announcer was.  She liked the story of what we were doing and immediately put me and Pedentrina on the air in an extemporaneous 30 minute interview.  We discussed our organization and project on the local radio at 3 p.m.

Then I finally went to the church where the books are stored.  I have still not come to grips with what I found.  On the good side, it seems much better organized than I expected.  Books are counted and categorized as I requested, everything written on the boxes.  But, there is no way that these boxes amount to 20,000 books. Rather, there are at most 5,000.  I won=t know for sure until tomorrow because the janitor was eager to close up and go home.

While this would be enough to meet all of our commitments it means also that I have paid far too much for this shipment. We will not fill a container as I represented.

I am quite disappointed, and struggling to understand, why Pedentrina could not have sent me a list of types as I requested along with the numbers?  How could she be so far off?  I am not angry.  But I don=t understand.  Dona Pedentrina is honest, and she is intelligent.  But this just doesn=t make sense.  Even today on the radio she represented us to have 20,000 books.

What to do now?  Can we recoup part of our over-investment in this shipment, which is the minimum flat rate for a container?  This is just another shaft in the whirlwind of opposition.  What to do?  Oh well, I had better sleep on it.

One more thing, I was able to meet many of the principles in our collection project today.  It appears that most are willing to continue this campaign in the coming year.  (More good news.)

Tonight I went to an amateur theater and saw mainly bad performers and a few good ones.  A very full day.  I am dead tired.  Have not slept well for a long time.

 

7 AUGUST 1999

Once again I am having some difficulty in converting from Portuguese to English.  I find that I am naturally thinking in Portuguese and it is necessary to translate my thoughts into English in order to write this.  I went through this same experience last year.  It takes a couple of days to accustom myself.  Hopefully by tomorrow, I will be able to switch more easily from one language to the other without so much difficulty.  I met several missionaries today.  Most were Americans.  I was surprised that no one, except the Brazilians wanted to speak English.

We were successful today in getting into the church.  It took three of us six hours (from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) to count the boxes, verify the number of books in the boxes, reconstruct the boxes needing it, and put the books back in the storage room.   Also, each box received a specific number.  There were 125 boxes in all, containing a total of 8,458 books. While this is about 3,458 more than I thought last night, it is still a far cry from the promised 20,000.

What happened?  I may never be sure.  Pedentrina has said that many people, both of our church and from outside have had access to the books and more that 2 the 20,000 were stolen.  This was partially verified today by other people, not involved in the project.  One person said she saw some people enter the storage room and take some of the books, even though they were not especially needy.  However, I doubt that this is a complete explanation.  It would take either a lot a people or a lot of work to remove that many books.  (Eventually the books were moved to a room with a lock and the thefts were stopped.)  I think the main problem was that an exact count was not kept as  the year and the donations progressed.

On a more positive note, I am confident that much of what we have will be very desirable to the schools that receive them.  Of course, there are some that perhaps should be thrown away rather than sent, because they are in poor condition.  The vast majority that I personally examined were in fair to excellent condition.  Most are school books of the primary grade - Portuguese, English, History, Geography, Mathematics, Science, some boxes of children=s literature, encyclopedias and dictionaries. Counting the 250 or so books that we are sending from the U.S., we are sending a total of 8,700+ books.  That will be 8,000 more books than last year.  This is progress, nevertheless, the fact remains that because of this inaccuracy, this shipment is costing far too much.  We must do better.

I am very thankful for all that Pedentrina has done.  She is the keystone of our program right now; but she is weak and needs much more help.  I am also thankful to Valeria Felis Martins.  She has also done very much.  One of the things that I need to do is find someone who can take the torch from Pedentrina=s hands, and move the work forward.  Pedentrina is old and tired, not in the best of health.  We need to train someone to take her place when she is no longer able to carry out this work.

One of the missionaries that helped us today is Elder da Cruz, the Zone leader.  He gave me his complete name, address and phone number and asked if he could do a project like this in Curitiba when he returned home.  He sounds enthusiastic and very sincere.  I hope we may get together and join forces.  We will see.

But one thing I have learned (or re-learned) this last year is the tendency that many people have in making commitments and then not fulfill them.  Many people made promises to help us last year both in the U.S. and in Brazil.  But only a few have come close to doing all that they have promised.  I am learning again to discount all commitments that people make.  Many people become exalted in the joy of planning to do something wonderful for the welfare of others and in having adventure/excitement all at the same time.  But then when the road becomes tough and tedious, and the sun gets hot, many wonderful commitments fall by the wayside.  It takes a wonderful, special kind of person, to keep commitments, even as difficulties arise,  even when nobody seems to take notice.

 

8 AUGUST 1999

According to popular rumor that I started hearing from various sources since arriving here, the world is suppose to come to an end, this coming Wednesday, the 11^th day of August.  (I had better get my books sent off before this happens.)  I don=t know the source of the prophecy. Some have said it=s the Baptists; others say it=s Nostra Damas.  An interesting rumor.  News of this is on TV and in the papers.

I spent today resting by attending church all day. This was a very full and satisfying day.  The Brazilians sing with only one level of volume-at maximum triple fortissimo.  No one sings with more spirit than these wonderful people.

 

9 AUGUST 1999

On this date, we finalized our arrangements for the pick up of the shipment on Wednesday from the church, beginning with the inspection at 9 a.m.  I also faxed the packing list as requested to the shipping company.  I may send a hand drawn map as well if need be.  I will find out tomorrow.

The visits today included: (1) a school in Val Paraiso supported by the Pentecostal Church, a Pentecostal church member, by the name of Marlene, who Pedentrina knows will follow up with her minister=s commitments from last year; AThe Third Age@ (an old folks group in Petropolis); Jorge Estrella (a law professor at the Catholic University); Mr. Luame Benin and Lamar Rela Adumar ( who are both connected with the socialist group, Pan African Congress).

This evening I attended the local meeting of AO Partido Trabalhador@ (The Worker=s Party, another socialist group whose emblem is a red star.)  The State of Rio is represented, in part, at the federal level, by Senator Geraldo Candido.  He is a member of this worker=s party.  I met him tonight and attended a meeting in which he spoke.  I attended this meeting specifically to meet Mr. Benin of the Pan African Congress.  We conversed briefly about our projects.  At first, he sounded very interested in helping our efforts and offered to help.  But then he backed away from making commitments.  I don=t think I accomplished much by attending that meeting.  Also, I was a little uncomfortable.  Most of the talk was about local government issues and was pretty uninteresting stuff, and seemed pretty harmless.  However, on the walls were red stars, pictures of people making the clenched fist salute and slogans like AIf the government doesn=t help us solve our problems, we will cause problems for the government.@

We have much more on the list of things to do.  Tomorrow promises to be another full day.  Before going out today, I prayed extensively that God would lead me by the hand and show me what I need to do.  I have the impression that if I continue to do my part, God will make up for my lack of ability and we will succeed together in the end.  Today, I finished the Epistle to the Galatians.  In the last chapter, verse 9, is this passage: AAnd let us not be weary of well-doing; for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not.@  Very applicable I think.

 

10 AUGUST 1999

This was a very slow and discouraging day. We accomplished very few of the things that I thought were needful.  I took extra precautions to insure that both inspector and shipper will find the Church tomorrow morning.  (We decided that this had to occur tomorrow instead of today because of the Feira downtown which completely blocks access to the Church from the street.)  Much time had to be spent, understandably I hope, in accommodating Pedentrina=s outside agenda.  Although this is all understandable, predictably necessary and inevitable, it was very frustrating just the same.

After arriving home at the end of a long, long day, the phone rings.  It is Valeria.  She says she has 3,000 more books in 20 more boxes.  (That many books would require at least 40 boxes but that=s another matter.)  She says they came from the College of Rue Barbosa, and they are all ready, counted, boxed, everything.  All we need is to transport them to the church.  What am I suppose to do?  I have no idea how to get them moved in so short of notice.  I begin to thank her and say, however, that this may have to wait and be part of our shipment for next year.  But Pedentrina stops me, comes to my rescue and says leave it to me.  I will get the truck. 

I still have grave doubts that this is going to work with such short notice.   I don=t know how we will get these extra items ready on so short notice, and I must not compromise the process for the sake of these late-comers.  But let=s see what happens.  With the world coming to an end tomorrow, according to Nostra Damas, it can=t hurt.   Well, maybe it=s been a pretty good day after all.

 

11 AUGUST 1999

I was close. There were 3500 more books in 42 boxes.  I arose early and left early for the church where the books are stored.  I arrived an hour early and the inspector arrived 45 minutes late.  In between, another truck arrived with the 42 boxes and two missionaries.  I still don=t know how Pedentrina arranged this transport or how Valeria was able to get these books, organize and box them in so short a time. 

So we did not get the 20,000 books that were represented.  But, by our best count, we loaded 11,800+ books into that container, in 167 boxes.  The inspection agency approved the shipment and sealed the container.  The books are on their way to Africa.  The container was about 1/3 full.  But the books are on their way.  We didn=t do much else today because Pedentrina, on her own, decided to fix a big meal for the movers and the missionaries at the church.  We spent most of the afternoon cleaning up.  (Missionaries were at the church for their preparation day.) Also, we received 5 more boxes of magazines, today, too late for this shipment this year.  It will have to wait until next year.  But the shipment is on its way.  And 11,800 is much better than my gloomy expectation last Friday of only 5,000.

I am inspired by the faithfulness and diligence of those who are helping me.  I will always be grateful.  Following my disappointment of last Friday, I was tempted to give way to despair.  However, God has buoyed me up and given me hope.  Certainly the passage of scripture, found in my reading two days ago, helped also:

 

And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.  B              Galatians: 6:9

 

12 AUGUST 1999

 On this date, we gave our thanks to the four principal schools involved in our efforts to gather books.   We visited each school, gave cards to each director expressing our sincere thanks, and requested renewed efforts for the coming year.  I am hopeful that next year will be even better than this one has been.  We know of specific schools that will participate. Also, our members and collaborators in Petropolis know much better than they did before what has to happen in order for things to work out smoothly. 

For example: We needed a better count, and we needed to know more specifically what the shipment contains.  When the inspector came, he opened three boxes to see if the contents corresponded with the number of books stated on the packing list. We almost failed the test because in the case of one box, there were fewer books than what was stated.  Only 127 books out of the 140 books listed were actually in the box.  Why was there such a miscount?  I don=t know?  But I think that Valeria, (a woman who we are beginning to rely on more in this project) was so embarrassed, that I don=t think we will have this problem again - not in Petropolis.    

And that=s another thing that is very encouraging. We have Valeria, and she is competent and has a wonderful desire to advance this project. We may have similar opportunity in one other gentleman who wants to open a similar project in his home town of Curitiba, Parana.  We also have at our disposal to haul books, a truck and a man, Joao Paulo, from the Prefeitura (City Hall) Programma Socias (Dept. Of Social Programs).

Today was also a little tedious.  We executed a power of attorney to the shipping company to enable them to process the shipment out of port and to see to the payment of export duties.  (We don=t have such a tax in the U.S. because they are specifically forbidden in the Federal Constitution.)  I hope we did it correctly.  We don=t need any more delays.

13 AUGUST 1999

Today we are in Sao Paulo to attend to personal needs and to meet other people who may be in a position to assist our project.

We arrived by 6:30 this morning and spent a peaceful day.  We were able to talk to many people about our project in Africa, including the Area President, Kent B. Jolley and his counselor, Pres. Athos Amorim.  I believe a fair assessment of our meeting would be to say that the area president was genial.  However, President Amorim was quite enthusiastic, offered to help, gave me his card and invited me to write him more about this. He is a retired general in the Brazilian Army and has many friends.

We return to Petropolis tomorrow. Then for the rest of the weekend I will attend church as much as I can, to meet and get to know more people, and to thank our friends who have helped so much.

 

14 August 1999

I spent the day mostly traveling from Sao Paulo to Rio, then to Petropolis. As I was leaving the bus station in Petropolis, a man had just fallen down (drunk I think), had cut his head on the concrete and was bleeding profusely.  He seemed nearly unconscious.  People were trying to stand him up and didn=t seem to know what they were doing.  I thought to myself, APete, you=re an Eagle Scout. Take charge of the situation and see to it that this man gets the help that he needs.@  With the help of some bystanders, we got him to a bench and sat him down.  (He wouldn=t lay down.)  He seemed to have a concussion.  I took his pulse and found it strong and normal.  He was also breathing normally.  I wiped away the excess blood from his wound with a clean handkerchief.  The bleeding had mostly stopped, and the police who were overlooking the situation, had called the ambulance.  At that point I left the scene.

This evening, I am attending a Music Festival at Luana=s high school - Rue Barbosa- a major contributor of books to our organization.  I=m having some fun with it.  A girl group is singing now.  A samba school just finished up and it was pretty good.  One young man keeps coming over to me periodically to ask me questions in English.

I find it is impossible for me to melt into the population.  Nobody mistakes me for a Brazilian.  I stand out like a sore thumb.  I just had a very friendly greeting by a drunk.  He was just shown the door by one of the chaperones.

 

15 August 1999

We attended meetings of my church today.  We also circulated the news among church members who are involved in this endeavor (Wings of the Dawn) about a meeting that we will have on Tuesday, August 17 at 1 p.m.  Several have promised to come and help us plan the campaign for the coming year. We can only hope for a good turnout. Afterwards, Pedentrina=s grandchild, Gisele, and Alex (her husband) and Lucas (their son) were there to take us to Sao Jose do Vale do Rio Preto, a two hour journey by car.  After arriving, we had a wonderful reunion, visiting until late into the night, discussing everything from our project, to families, religion, politics, the English language, aspirations to possible immigration to the United States.      

16 AUGUST 1999

This is the best part.  I am enjoying a good rest here in Sao Jose with this family. We have exchanged small gifts and they seem to genuinely enjoy my company.  The sky is so blue, the air is so cold and clean.  The house is open to the outside without completely enclosed glass windows.  The dining room simply has an iron grill.  My bedroom has shutters but has glass windows. The house is drafty, and since it is winter, I was cold last night, shivering until I climbed into bed with 4 blankets! 

But it is certainly pleasant here in the daytime.  Nobody has central heating or air conditioning, or even a hot water heater.  There are so many different kinds of fruit here.  It seems to be almost impossible that anyone can starve.  Fruit trees are everywhere bearing bananas, jack fruit, avocado, yellow plums, papaya, and passion fruit.  I was introduced to a new one today, jabuticaba.  It looks like a black grape or olive, which grows right off the trunk or branch of a tree.  I took a picture of this tree with its fruit.

Today, I am resolving what I hope is a minor discrepancy with the documentation of our shipment by telephone, fax and mail.

 

17 AUGUST 1999

After sending out the fax and mailing the materials requested by the freight forwarder, I concluded my day yesterday by visiting friends and family of my hosts, Alex and Gisele Scherer.  (Gisele is Pedentrina=s grand daughter and Odilie=s daughter.  She is the same age as my daughter, Mindy.)

Today, before taking my leave of Sao Jose, Odilie showed me around.  He showed me his farm, his friend=s farm, a house he was building for a smuggler/money launderer (nice place too) and a new coffee plantation on the top of the highest mountain in the area----a beautiful view, over 1600 meters in altitude.  It was a fast tour.  I told both him and Gisele, ANow that you have showed me Sao Jose do Vale do Rio Preto, I am in your debt.  I am obligated to show you Washington, D.C.@  They both laughed.  But I think there is a great chance it will happen someday.  I love that family.  I want to spend more time with them.

The last thing I did before returning to Rio to board this plane was hold a meeting with our Petropolis Chapter.  All four of our principles were present: Joao Paulo, Barbara Xavier, Valeria Martins and Pedentrina Fernandes. (Valeria, was the only person invited last Sunday who showed for the meeting.) We discussed all that has happened to us both here in Brazil and in the U.S., what we had accomplished, what went wrong, what went right, how we can improve and what our goal should be for the coming season. I came away from that meeting with the satisfaction of knowing that we have a small corps of people who are very happy with what they have accomplished, and who want this work to grow and succeed well.

 

18 AUGUST 1999

Today, I am happy because I will be home again with my wife and family. We will celebrate daughter Amanda=s eighth birthday tonight (a day early) and we will be seeing Jacob off to college at Ricks. This will be a very busy day for everyone, especially the mother.

 But now, I have this long lay-over in Miami.  For a few minutes I want to write an evaluation of this trip to Brazil.

There is no question that this trip was necessary both to see to the petty, technical arrangements for shipping of books, enhancing of public awareness and relations, and for instigating more collections and setting higher, yet realistic, goals with our members and collaborators in Brazil.  In addition, it was necessary to teach them about the problems we encountered, and the lessons we have learned in avoiding them.

In our meeting yesterday, we discussed several problems.  Everyone knows that we must do better in counting and categorizing the books gathered in, and sending accurate information.  Besides Pedentrina, we have one very devoted member, Valeria Martins who is also very competent, and who has had and continues to have the time and energy to help us with these details.  She is also well connected with the youth of our church in this area and can enlist them to assist her when necessary.

Next, the storage place was less than ideal.  It was a class room in a Mormon Church Building which shared space with janitorial supplies.  The limitation of space, together with the lack of an accurate count, discouraged making further collections before we had collected even half of the original goal of 20,000 books.  Pedentrina has made the solution of this problem her top priority.

Next, we must have a packing list with corresponding numbered boxes along with a break down by category of all the books we gather in sufficient detail to satisfy the government=s of Brazil and Mozambique, to give advance information to our clients, and to our members and contributors. This will also be helpful later for distribution once the books arrive in Mozambique.  Again, I am confident that Valeria will stay on top of this.

Next, we need more people to help and more prospects for future projects in Brazil.  The members in Petropolis are committed to recruiting more help.  Also, we have several excellent prospects for help in other cities - Athos Amorim in Sao Paulo, and Elder de Cruz in Curitiba. 

Finally, we need to gather more books.  The container has a capacity to carry more than 32,000 books in 500 boxes.  It would cost us the same full or empty; and in the case of this shipment of 11,865 books in 167 boxes, it was just a little over 1/3 full.  So I asked the question, AWhat should be the goal of the Petropolis Chapter for 1999/2000?@  I was determined to let them set their own goal this time, rather than set the goal for them as I did last year.  I would accept their decision even if they set a goal for as little as 10,000 books.  After some discussion, the consensus of the group was that they would gather 30,000 books.  I asked how they would do this?  They noted that there were 127 schools in Petropolis.  They would visit them all if necessary and other institutions as well. But considering the fact that the bulk of these books came from only three schools, everyone thought that this goal of 30,000 was well within reach.  Also emphasized was the need for books of more variety-novels, etc.  Not just school books.

As I did last year, I emphasized with them the need to meet often, at least monthly to report on what had been done by them since the last meeting, regroup, make assignments, and keep everyone working together.  The chapter agreed that they would meet on the last Tuesday of each month in the afternoon or evening.  The next meeting was set for Sept. 28.

I closed the meeting by sharing with this one little group of corps members the passage I found the other day in Galatians 6:9.   We should not be weary in well-doing.  If we do not faint, we will succeed to a bountiful harvest. Yes, I was disappointed we did not get 20,000 books.  But we have succeeded in gathering and shipping 11,865.  This is not a small number.  It is actually more than enough still to fulfill all of our promises heretofore made in Mozambique.

When we first began this project, we didn=t have any idea really of what we were capable of doing.  But we decided this was worth the effort.  Even if we succeeded in bringing a few things to these people in great need, we would still be blessing their lives with more than what they already have.  Our hopes and expectations are, I believe more than satisfied. We will grow and get better. 

 

 

 

PART V - African Journal (December 1999)

 

The following is an account Mr. Baumgarten's journey to Africa with Ade= Otenaike, first in Nigeria from November 30  to December 7, 1999 and second 

in Mozambique from December 8 to December 20, 2000, again, from his personal diary:

 

A. Nigeria

 

November 30, 1999

As I begin this journal, I am very tired - although this is just the beginning of another long journey.  It occurred to me just as we became airborne from Dulles International Airport that I have forgotten something pretty important.  What if, I thought, no one is there to meet me in Lagos tomorrow?  I did not remember to bring the name and phone number of my point of contact.  I began to feel panicked.  Then I thought, well, worse case scenario would be I=d have to waste some money calling home to get it.  It wouldn=t be fun, but I would muddle through okay.  All I can say is, AI hope our meeting tomorrow goes as planned and that >Murphy= is on vacation.@

Yes, this is the beginning of my third AAfrican Adventure@ on behalf of Wings of the Dawn, and the children we seek to serve. 

This trip will basically involve two parts: First a week in Nigeria, hosted by Ade=s family and Chief Segun Olusola.  I hope to survey the needs of schools in some parts of Nigeria with the idea of setting up a program similar to one we have started in Mozambique.  I hope to also establish a network of contacts among influential people, able and willing to assist on the ground in Nigeria-and who are reliable.  The reliability factor is what is so tricky.

The second part will be a return to Mozambique by way of Johannesburg South Africa.  I hope I am successful in meeting a member of the Area Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints while in Johannesburg.  Why?  To cultivate a relationship that I hope will eventually lead to cooperation and assistance between the Church, and our small organization.  Afterwards, on to Maputo where, for the next ten days, I will be involved in distributing 11,865 books to five schools and maybe one community center in Chamoio, Manica Province.  Also, visiting more schools, establishing more contact, building more trust.

I had my forty-eighth birthday today, but it wasn=t much of a celebration.  I worked 3 hours at home at my normal IRS job.  The rest of the time before leaving for the airport at 3:00 p.m., was devoted to packing.  Lyle and I hardly got to be together, less than a full day.  I had picked her up at the airport from her trip to Denver over Thanksgiving.  We got home late last night.  Then I was up at 5:15 a.m. this morning.  See why I am tired?  I am going to miss Lyle, Amanda and Matt terribly.  And I am feeling pretty whiney right now about being gone for so much of the Christmas season.  What I need to do is stop feeling sorry for myself and get into the appropriate frame of mind for enjoying the adventure.

I am dogged by uncertainties.  Almost anything can happen in Africa, and often does.  But that is why there is so much fun in all of this.  That is what it is all about.

When Bertram Piccard touched down his Orbiter 3 in the Egyptian desert last March after completing his round the world circuit in a gas balloon, with his partner the first two men to do this, he was interviewed by the press.  During that interview, he said something quite interesting:

 

AThe definition of adventure is to accept the uncertainty, accept the anxiety, accept  the doubts, prepare as well as [you can] and jump.  It is a metaphor for life.@

 

This time, I will make an effort to see some elephants.  There is a place across Maputo Bay where they are rebuilding a herd.  I will get over there if I can.

 

December 1, 1999

Landed at Charles DeGaul Airport in Paris at 8 a.m.  A short lay-over kept me in the airport.  We were off again by 10:30 in a very full jet on a flight to Lagos.  My fears were unfounded of course.   Ade and his brother, Segun, both met me.  I was driven straight to Segun=s home where we rested for the night.  Dinner consisted of fried bananas, french fried potatoes, beef in a spicy(!) sauce and mashed black-eyed peas.  All very good, and I never have liked black-eyed peas before.

Segun=s hospitality is excellent.  His house is huge--each bedroom with its own bath.  It could also serve as a small motel.  Clearly he is a man who has done well for himself here.  He works for an American company.

It is very hot here, day and night.  If it weren=t for the fan, I don=t know what I would do.  Lagos is like Maputo all over again--so far as the poverty of most people-only much bigger.  I will be interested in comparing the schools here with those of Mozambique.

We flew over the Sahara today, my first flight over it by daylight.  At first, it reminded me of other deserts I was acquainted with in Southern California and Arizona.  But then I noticed something starkly different.  There was absolutely no sign of any human habitation, except for one straight dirt track.  Shortly after crossing the Mediterranean Sea, I watched out both sides of the jet, looking for long stretches of time.  There were no people, roads, discernable vegetation, signs of settlement, agriculture or irrigation---nothing, only certain variations in bare geological features.  No surface water anywhere.  I wondered how far down was the water table?  If this desert were in the US, wouldn=t there be irrigation circles here and there?  Maybe not.  I was sure, at any rate, that this was not Kansas.

I share a row with an Ibo woman wearing a beautiful native costume. She suggested I include Ibo-land in my itinerary of school visits.  That they were in far greater need than the schools around Lagos.  Her name was Kate, a Nigerian living in Houston coming home for the Holidays.

 

 

December 2, 1999

I have found, whenever I return to this continent, it is necessary to AAfricanize@ myself.  If I fail to do so, this becomes a sad, depressing place.  The multitudes of people living in squalor and poverty, in hopeless circumstances is overwhelming.  Even people who are relatively Awell-off@ would be poor by US standards.  For example, it was reported to me today that a college professor makes only about $75 per month, and that primary and secondary teachers make less - not enough by itself to survive on, let alone support a family.  So most teacher=s moonlight to survive.

Other areas of concern that require getting accustomed or AAfricanized@ to is the quality of water (which is undrinkable) and the lack of a reliable power source.  Anyone who can afford it has a back-up generator.   Most do without.  I have been here for just one day (24 hours) and already there have been nearly a dozen power outages.  Worse than Maputo, power outages are just a fact of everyday life here.

The fact that there are sharp rivalries between the various ethnic groups within the native populations is the cause of frequent conflicts and strife.  Because of this bitter in-fighting, we have been forced to cancel plans to visit the delta region.  Everyone agrees that such a journey would not be safe.  The government has not yet reestablished control over that region.  Kidnaping for ransom is a frequent occurrence.  In the face of these problems, how can we think of doing a project in a place like Lagos Nigeria?

It would not be advisable or feasible if we did not partner with an experienced agency with both a good reputation and resources. We have reason to believe that African Refugee Foundation (AREF) is such an organization.  AREF is founded and headed by Chief Segun Olusola.  This group has offered to partner with us if we decide too go forward with a project in Nigeria.

I spent most of the day today with Mr. Samuel Dewali Solarim.  He, along with an entourage of 3 others, took us (Ade and myself) to meet the Director of Public Libraries for the State of Lagos, officials of the National Library, and officers of the US Information Agency.  Mr. Jim Callaghan heads that office.

Mr. Solarim, mentioned above, is a Trustee of AREF.  At the outset, he lectured on the need of sustain ability and accountability for our project.  To be effective, it must be on-going and accountable.  In this connection, he recommended that we focus on bringing our books to the public libraries and other public institutions that already have a library system in place.  With schools, there is a danger, if they don=t have a library system in place, that the books won=t be properly utilized.  We visited libraries today to verify both their needs and their capacity to do much more.  Tomorrow, we begin school visitations. 

Mr. Callaghan of the US Information Agency, suggested we contact Mobile and Chevron to tap into their expertise in clearing port with our goods.  Also, US AID offices here, Nigerian/American Chamber of Commerce, the Nigerian Embassy in the US, and the Ford Foundation here.  An official with the National Library system told us of a group with projects similar to ours-Brother to Brother International of Philadelphia.  He also had some suggestions for getting the schools to start libraries:

1) Encourage students to form reading clubs. 2) Encourage schools to request technical assistance in setting up libraries from the National Library.  They would then send one or two consultants with Master=s degrees in Library Science to train the school personnel.

As usual, there is more here to do than we have time for.  But we will do our best to meet as many people as possible, establish contacts and determine what the needs are that we can address.

It has been a tiring day-due to the heat and humidity.  However, I feel it is good for me to be here and to learn what I can do, how to do it and the identities of those who will help.  With the heat and humidity, I am not sure I will ever feel 100%.  But I am hoping that, given time, I can get accustomed to it.

 

December 3, 1999

I hope I can do a better job about writing of today=s events than I did of the events of yesterday.  But truthfully, if it reads as though things were tedious, it is because yesterday was a might tedious.  Today was different.  Car trouble gave us a late start.  The day began slow, but improved steadily throughout.  Since there is so much to share about things that I saw and observed and did, I will be random rather than chronological.

First, I began noticing yesterday that I was not seeing anyone smoking-no, not anywhere.  Not the rich or the poor, not the beggars or the thieves; and I have seen all of these; also a few lawyers, in black court robes.  But no cigarettes.  Why?  Today, I was watching more carefully and still could not see anyone using tobacco.  So I asked my companions if I was just blind or imagining this.  They confirmed that few Nigerians smoke.  Reasons were vague.  They didn=t know why.  But all my companions (including 4 Nigerians) considered tobacco smoking a form of weakness-and besides they couldn=t afford the habit.

I ate breakfast with Janet this morning.  She left to return to England today.  As we were eating breakfast, Ade revealed that she had been Miss Nigeria A1993" and that she aspired to enter show business as a singer.  This did not surprise me.  She is quite lovely.  After she left, I heard a recording she had made.  It was jazz blues and sounded good to my untrained ears.  It would not surprise me if she does ultimately succeed with her plans.

The majority of people living in Lagos and the other States of the region are Yoruba.  But Andrew Duya  is a Haussa from the North.  He has small, vertical tatoo lines between his eyes and temples, which signify his tribe of origin.  But Andrew is a Christian.  His parents converted from Islam before his birth.

 I asked my companions how Yoruba=s are distinguished from the Haussa.  I was told it was easy.  Yoruba=s normally wear western style dress, while the Haussa wear mostly white, traditional style robe-like clothing.  Now I was really confused.  My main host, sitting next to me in the car, Dr. Solarim was a Christian Yoruba wearing a white flowing traditional garment.  Andrew, the Haussa sitting behind in the back, was wearing a western business suit (coat and tie) although it was approaching 90 degrees and 100% humidity.  I asked how could this be then.  They explained that Dr. Solarim=s gown was of a different texture than that of a Haussa.  In any event, Yoruba tatoos, if they have them, are horizontal gashes on the cheeks, like Diapo=s, who was also seated in the back seat. 

Different Topic: Foods.  I have tried to be open minded.  But when I don=t like something, I tell my host kindly but directly.  (I learned this to survive while working with the south-east Asians).   Some of the foods I tried include refried black-eyed peas, cassava paste, and malt drink.  The latter I did not like at all.  It comes in what looks like a beer bottle.  So I checked carefully to verify it was non-alcoholic.  It quenches thirst but it is really nasty B over sweet and almost metallic in taste. I drank it all down, but it was hard. Tonight, Ade suggested we try snails.  I said no.

The day itself, as I said, was quite eventful.  We spent the day in Ogun State, the next state to the north of Lagos.  We traveled first to the capital, to the office of the Ministry of Education for the state to pay our respects.  Then we visited two schools and a public library in Sagano.  Both the schools had libraries and all three libraries we saw were better stocked than any school or public library I ever saw in Mozambique.  Still it was all very sparse.

Of the three libraries, the smallest collection belonged to the Remo Divisional High School of Sagano.  It was also the cleanest and best organized.  If this were all that I saw, I would have been convinced that this was the school we should first help.  In addition, however, this school has the strong backing of AREF.  Also, this school gave us a first class reception complete with song and dance entertainment, some captured on video. 

The worst facility visited today was the public library.  The books were disorderly.  Bookcases were filthy and worst of all, it was only open during government hours (weekdays from 8 to 4). No one could use it who had a job or went to school.  I frankly told the administrator of the changes I would want to see before we entrusted his library with books from our sources.

I realize that Remo Divisional H.S. was prepared for a visit.  They were expecting us two hours before we arrived.  They presented each of the 6 members of our entourage with flowers.  It=s possible they cleaned up the library just for our visit. But even if they did, the school had a clear vision for what one ought to be.  I think I can recommend a project to our board of assisting this school.

The best part of the trip to Sagano, for me anyway, was the children themselves.  They were so small, sweet, and beautiful.  Though it was nominally a high school, the ages of the children being taught there seemed to range from 6 to 16.  I was mobbed by children again, just like Mozambique, wanting to shake my hand or touch me somehow.  It is hard not to get a big head when these things happen.

The video camera was a big hit.  Unhappily, at one point, the crowd of children got out of hand a little bit.  A teacher had to cuff a couple of them to settle them down.  Carefully, when the crowd was not too big, I taped the children and then played it back on the VCR.  It was wonderful how they showed their unabashed delight by clapping and cheering.

The sad part was to learn that Sagano was the cite of ethnic rioting 3 months ago, between the Haussa and the Yoruba.  Many, perhaps 20, burnt-out hulks of cars were still in the streets.  Many buildings were burned including a major medical clinic.  Reportedly, there were many fatalities.  Should we be doing a project in Sagano?  Our partner host, AREF, thinks we should-on the philosophy that it would add hope to the people as they rebuild.  This is a matter to carefully consider.

One more short matter of human interest:  While in Sagano, we came upon a wrecked petrol truck, with its tank ruptured and gasoline spilling out onto the roadway at the rate of many gallons per minute.  To pass it we had to drive by on the wrong side of a divided highway.  The fumes would have overcome us had we stayed and it was, we thought,  very dangerous.  No one was around to control the traffic or to stop the gasoline from pouring out.  A few feet away from the wreck (less that 200 meters) was a major stream-a significant water source for the community.  If this were America ... Well, America or not, this was a very serious mishap, not just for the truck, but for the community at large.  I doubt that there will be any attempt at clean-up.

 

December 4, 1999

This was a slow day.  I spent the first part in the morning shopping for a birthday gift for Ranti (our host=s son) who turns 14 tomorrow.  He likes music, especially the piano.  I was going to get him Yanni.  But even with his big sister=s help, we couldn=t locate a CD store anywhere having a decent selection.  So we figured something else out.  I spent the rest of the day with our host, Segun Otenaike, at the Golf Club then to two birthday parties for family members of his employees.  I saw much today of wonderful native dress.  I even donned a Buba given to me by Segun with a traditional hat, purchased for the occasion, for less than $3.  The family said I looked truly African.  I say I looked truly ridiculous.   It was a fun day, but not very productive. 

There are a few additional things of minor interest that I wish to relate.  (Like I said, this was a slow day.)  For lunch at the Club today, I saw for the first time, people smoking, all of them white from the UK. (Incidentally, in the four days since arriving, the only whites I have seen have been at the American Embassy last Wednesday, at the Sheraton Hotel this morning where we attempted to send an e-mail and then at the Club.  I would say that in the case of many of the children I saw yesterday in the State of Ogun, I was most likely the very first white man they had ever lain eyes on.  You could tell by the look of shock and amazement on their faces as they stared and stared.  But, I digress.)  As I said, for lunch at the Club, I had Pepper Soup, on Ade=s recommendation.  When they brought it out, I thought it looked disgusting.  (I also remember thinking that I should have had more sense than to follow Ade=s recommendations on food, Ade being an admitted snail-eater.)  The soup was a teaming, blackish-colored broth, with a little spinach, with a 1 inch thick slab of Catfish Steak stuck in the middle.  I thought, this is going to be tough; but I steeled myself for the taste.  It was really pretty good, once my mouth and my crying eyes grew accustomed to the heat. 

I made a mistake of telling an AAmerican lawyer@ joke to a fellow-lawyer (a Black Nigerian) at the Club.  He did not think it was funny, mostly on grounds of principle, I think.  He proceeded to lecture me about the problems. He practices law, he said, in a system where the ARule of Law@ was nonexistent. 

We talk politics a lot while we are driving places, both with Ade=s brother, Segun, and with my hosts from AREF.  Americans in general, and the U.S. in particular, enjoy high prestige here in Nigeria.  Everyone who discusses politics with me tell of their great love and admiration for President Clinton.  When they learn of my less generous opinions of my own President, they take me to task.  I was amazed by the statement of Dr. Solarim, one of my companions, that President Clinton wasn=t just President of the United States, but President of the World. There seems to be a consensus among the native intelligencia that (1) Americans are stupid when they act in ways that tend to undermine the prestige of their sitting president; and (2) a strong U.S. President is vital for a strong U.S., and a strong U.S. is vital to world stability and the hope for ultimate justice and human rights.  My hosts don=t seem to understand that our ability to censor and criticize and if appropriate, to remove our own president, is one of the vital elements to the ARule of Law@ which they crave.  If our president ever became invulnerable to censor, or attained a position in our system that is higher than the law itself, that would be the beginning of the end of the rule of law for the United States of America.  But this seems to be a difficult concept to sell to people who have never attended a basic 9^th grade course in American Civics.

 

December 5, 1999 (Sunday)

Before rising, I was pondering my own family=s current situation.  We have never before been so spread-out.  Indeed, today, we will have family attending church in three states and on four continents.  My wife and two youngest are home in Virginia.  I have Jacob and Mindy in Idaho and Utah respectively. I am in Africa, Josh is serving a mission in South America and Joseph is studying in Europe.  These are amazing times for our all-too ordinary family.  I am feeling very blessed, for, notwithstanding the geographic distance that separates us, we have never been closer in unity and love.

While attending church, I established a point of contact in the Stake Public Relations Director; who sought me out and offered his services to our organization.  He also owns his own advertizing agency.  His name is Cornelius Tay.

The evening was pleasantly spent first in the home of AREF founder, Chief Segun Olusola, and afterwards with some of Segun Otenaike=s country club friends.  At the first place, the food was all strange to me.  At the latter, it was all finger food and thankfully more familiar.

 

December 6, 1999

This was not as productive a day as Friday was.  We went to Lekki first, where we visited the headquarters for Chevron Nigeria.  There we met with the Manager of the Purchasing Dept., Mr. Richard Weaver, and discussed how shipping is done by Chevron in Nigeria.  The focus was on how we could get the stuff that we gather into the country.  Mr. Weaver verified that pre-shipment inspection by Intertec was necessary.  He also advised that we ship through Warri on the Delta rather than Lagos because it was a smaller port and more efficient.  We had hoped to discuss getting help from Chevron in the form of services, bringing materials over, and getting them out of port.  But Mr. Weaver lacked authority to even entertain the idea of his company=s involvement.  After the meeting, it was decided that getting Ambassador Segun Olusola to contact Chevron=s General Manager would be a more productive approach.  In the meantime, Mr. Weaver is a good contact.  When the time comes, we will be able to get the names of professional port clearance facilitators that Chevron uses.  Incidentally, Weaver said it was more efficient to use Warri Port even though it would cost an additional $600 to truck a container from Warri to Lagos.

We briefly visited a secondary school in Lekki.  This was very discouraging.  It was a poor school with little support from local parents.  The principal seemed to lack the capacity for problem solving, and seemed to be waiting for others to do it all for her.  There was a library; but it was locked up in a room off her office, with chemicals and junk, and in a state of great disorder.  In short, this school is not high on our list of potential candidates for assistance.

So far, we have identified three likely candidates for assistance; the Lagos State public library system and the two high schools we visited on Friday in Sagamu.

After seeing the Lekki school, we made our way to the Ministry of Education.  But because of some mix-up, we had to remake the appointment for tomorrow.

We hope to see more schools tomorrow as well.  We will also meet with AREF to evaluate our work of this past week.  Both Ade and I agree that we must emphasize the need for AREF to begin now to establish a relationship with a competent port-clearing facilitator, and help in finding a piggy-back partner for actual transport of the materials by sea.  We discussed Dunlop as another possible partner because it is big here, and we know a few of the people.  There are other possibilities to pursue as well.  The general idea is to leverage our efforts, not by borrowing money but by using the financial and capital strength of other entities to multiply our own effectiveness.

It has been frustrating to see another day slip by with nothing more to show for it.  But I am reminded that none of our goals are possible if they depend on my own efforts alone.  It is an absolute necessity to rely on the strength and good will of others to make a project n Nigeria a reality.

 

December 7, 1999

My last day in Nigeria, and our most productive one in the seeing schools.  The first was a small private school near Ikieja, St Gloria School.  This is the school that Rante, my hosts son, attends.  We also saw secondary schools in the Maryland and Yaba Districts.  We inspected the libraries of all three schools and found them likely candidates for our future assistance.  All were clean and well organized, a stunning contrast to the one in Lekki.  While vising these schools, I took the opportunity to use my movie camera with the instant replay VCR feature.  I have done this several times previous.  The reactions I get from the students that I shoot is always delightful.  One girl exclaimed on seeing herself on the TV, AThis is magic!@  She was right.  It is wonderful magic.  Thanks to my mom for donating the camera to us.  I have to be careful, however, that I show this amazing toy to just a few children at a time.  All the children want to see, and a couple of times, the situation has gotten nearly out of hand.  By the way, Elizabeth Otenaike, one of our committee members, is a graduate of the girls school in Maryland which we visited.

We also saw the permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Education for Lagos State, one Mrs. Benson.  In all, we waited an hour and a half for her.  But the meeting produced an agreement to coordinate and cooperate and assist school=s targeted by the ministry for improvement.

Shortly after checking into the airport to leave Lagos for Maputo, a man met me asking for $120 as a loan until we get to Johannesburg so he could pay his ticket.  He offered his camera for collateral. His dilemma arose because the ticket seller wouldn=t accept his credit card, contrary to what was represented to him previously by other Air South Africa Agents.  This sounded like a swindle.  But something in his eyes made me want to believe him, and in my wallet was exactly $120 cash.  I said I don=t want your camera.  I handed him the money he requested saying Anow don=t make me a fool.@  I walked back to Ade outside the terminal, without looking back, fully expecting to never see the photographer again.  But there he was soon after I came to the departure gate.  He came up to me to say thanks for helping him out of his bind.  He offered to pay me back in Rands at Johannesburg at a good exchange rate which is fine.  I need the Rands.  We had a lengthy discussion. 

Next stop, Johannesburg.  The man I refer to gave his name as Guy Tillum.  He may bolt as soon as we land.  For his sake though, I hope he fulfills his commitment.

 

B. Mozambique

 

December 8, 1999

Guy Tillum was as good as his word.  While I am not sure that the exchange rate he used was exactly favorable or not, I am relieved that he has substantially fulfilled his obligation. 

I was supposed to have been met by prearrangement at both the airports of Johannesburg and Maputo.  But due to some apparent miscommunication, both connections fell through leading to the waste of about $50 in cab fares.  After great effort and expense, I succeeded in finding the office of the Area Presidency.  They actually were expecting me, but weren=t sure of the date or time.  Of the three members of the Area Presidency, only Elder Christopher Golden was available.  He received me, however, with warmth and enthusiasm.  Most important to Wings of the Dawn, we discussed possible future involvement of the church in our project in both Nigeria and Mozambique.  Again, no commitments were made, just talk, and receptivity by at least one church official for the Southern African Area to the idea.  He also indicated that Elder Simmons, the Area President would be extremely receptive to this project.  I left materials with him, including our third annual report. 

I then had to hurry back to the airport to catch my flight to Maputo. 

As I said before, no one met me at the airport in Maputo either.  I took a cab to my favorite pensao and found there was no room.  Went to World Vision headquarters and found that I was not expected.  Worse yet, a key person whom I was supposed to meet will be out of the country in East Timor, until the day I leave to go home.  These are all obvious set backs.  The main thing is that we have the books in port and the means whereby we can extract them and distribute them.  There are enough people here to help me pick up the pieces.  But there is a lot to do on my own.

Visiting classrooms with school children in them won=t be among my activities because the kids are already out for the holidays until January.  That will mean that I will concentrate on things that are just as necessary although, perhaps, not as much fun.

I was eventually able to find a decent place to stay for $40 per night, which includes breakfast.  It is the Residencial Sundown, at Av. Zimbabwe 1726.  I=ve settled in. 

I know that this may sound strange.  But poor as Mozambique is, it is also amazing to see how much better Maputo works than Lagos.   There are no traffic jams to speak of under the hot humid sun.  (There are not as many cars.) Climate is much more pleasant, although it is nearly summer here.  The electricity works.  I am not aware of any power outages in the entire eight hours that have passed since my arrival today.  There are traffic lights!  And Maputo is strikingly beautiful.  Oh what comparisons do for perspective.  It is beautiful, unless you are more than two miles from shore.  I am looking forward to getting out and walking from place to place and being more physically active during the last 12 days of this journey, instead of being tied down because of the constraints of traffic and concerns for safety.

 

December 9, 1999

After so many difficulties from the previous day, I am glad to report that this one was a little better.  The one pothole was in the port fees.  I was told by World Vision one month ago that they would take the goods out of port and keep them until I arrived in December to make distribution.  They (meaning Gonsalves and Isidoro) did not do as they said they would do.  The goods are still locked in the container in port and we are being billed by both the shipping company and the port for the continued use of the container and the space, costing us $995 extra so far. We have the money to cover this; but what a waste!  I suppose the key to avoiding this is more follow up.  Anyway, we begin the process of clearing port tomorrow.  Hopefully, the goods will be out of port by tomorrow night.

So what happened today that was good?  There were several, but the most important one for this project was that I have re-established contact with Concern.  My question to them today, was if they were still interested in receiving school texts for the Resource Center in Chimoio? And if they were still willing to pay $1,000 for 2,000 books.  The answer coming from Pat McLaughlin of Concern HQ in Maputo was Ayes@ to both questions.  Moreover, they want an on-going relationship for the Chimoio Project and others that are similar.  I got the impression that they might be willing to spend more money for more books if available.  But until I get the money in hand, we must be only cautiously optimistic. [As things turned out in the end, this caution proved warranted. Concern took less rather than more.]

For its part, World Vision (by Argentina Matovel) stated that they want all the books that we have not otherwise committed. This is all wonderful because they are not just interested, but are helping me target beneficiaries, schools, etc. where the materials will receive the best utilization. [Subsequently, World Vision, also backed way from this original request.]

There is, however, one major task that must be completed before the books can be distributed:  We must make a complete inventory, box by box, to enable us to make a fair distribution.  Concern wants to know exactly what they are getting before they commit the funds.  That=s understandable.  We also want to disburse the books appropriately, i.e. secondary books to secondary schools, etc.  If one school has a special need for history books, at the third grade level, then we will all want to know which boxes contain such materials.  I have been in contact with the local Mormon Church here.  One of the leaders (Elder Caldwell) indicated that his missionaries would give a few hours of service in this connection.  We will also see about getting others in the Branch, especially youth, to help.  So it appears that at least some assistance in the inventory process is possible.  (Incidentally, this should have been done before we loaded the container last August.  Once we complete the inventory I will send a copy to Brazil to show our people exactly how we want it done).

Another event of the day was exchanging dollars for metricais which is 1 to 13,400 approximately.  Thus I exchanged $80 for $M 1,088,000 metricais, which is quite a wad.

 Finally, I would like to end this entry with a Hymn that has been on my mind lately, because it fits my current frame of mind and spirit: AHow Gentle God=s Commands@ as a spiritual thought.  That song may be just about my favorite hymn, because of my recent experiences and struggles.  Here are the words:

 

How gentle God=s commands.

How kind His precepts are.

Come, cast your burden on the Lord

And trust His constant care.

 

Beneath His watchful eye,

His saints securely dwell.

That hand which bears all nature up

Shall guard His children well.

 

Why should this anxious load

Press down your weary mind?

Haste to your Heavenly Father=s throne

And sweet refreshment find.

His goodness stands approved

Unchanged from day to day.

I=ll drop my burden at His feet

And bear a song away.

 

This song describes exactly the one effective means for coping with adversity and the vicissitudes of life.  I know that this is true from my own experience.  When trouble arises, I have a source of strength on whom I can call.  I know that all of the good that has come to me in this life, especially my contentment is the direct result of trusting in God and laying my burdens at his feet.  I can endure any hardship when I remember and trust Him completely.

 

December 10, 1999

Today is Ahump-day@, meaning that now the days of this sojourn abroad are more than half complete.  It has been a day full of disappointments, however.  I had reason to believe that today was the day I would take our goods out of port.  Well, it did not happen.  So now, I am told that Monday is the day.  It had better be.  I am not just running out of patience.  I am also running out of time.  I will probably need two days to do a decent inventory-and cooperative weather.  This is a time that I could easily give way to discouragement.  The goods should have been taken from port before my arrival.  Now they will stay in port through the 4^th day after my arrival.  Getting the books distributed properly is another great concern for the time remaining.  It is in times like this that I turn to the Lord and say AHeavenly Father, here is the problem.  Please take over, and I will do all that is necessary and in my power to do.  But where I am lacking in abilities and resources, dear Father, please take charge and make up the difference.@  I know that Heavenly Father is there for me and that everything is going to be fine.  Now I am forced to sit still and wait.  There is nothing I can do to hurry World Vision up.  It=s out of my hands.  I have to leave it to the Lord.  When I remember that he has all power, and delights to bless those who serve him, I am at peace.

Despite these setbacks which I have been helpless to avoid, I have not been still.  I have been in touch with other agencies and collaborators, making appointments for the days ahead.  I also paid a personal visit to Senhor Lote Daniel Mondlane., the director of one of our client schools.  I was going to give him 1,000 more books if he was using well the materials we entrusted to him last year.  I would give him maybe a C+.  Some of the reading materials were being used.  Others were not.  I was pleased to see that he had devised a numbering system for the books for loaning them out to the students.  He showed me his system.   He reports that the books were being borrowed by the students.  He keeps them in his office though and most look like they haven=t been used at all.  The problem is space.  I frankly told Mr. Mondlane that if he wanted to get more books from us in significant quantities, he will need to set apart or dedicate a room as a library and furnish it with shelves.  He must make the materials available to the students to use and promote their use.  So I won=t be leaving 1,000 books with him this year.  But he did request books on mathematics and beginning English.  He will receive some of our stock of these materials this year and more the next if he complies with our directions.  Mr. Mondlane has another serious problem.  Severe rains have undermined the foundation of one of his classroom buildings which are made of brick and mortar with no reinforcing.  The building could (and, no doubt will) fall down before too long if steps are not taken to preserve it.  It is very dangerous now.  The row of classrooms should not be used while this situation persists.  Mr. Mondlane is very discouraged about this situation.  We are not in any position to help solve the problem.  But I took  pictures and will bring the situation to the attention of some of the agencies that I am collaborating with.  Perhaps they will help out.

 

I found great comfort and wisdom in a discourse by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland from last October.  I was reading it today at a time when I was trying to regroup from the earlier difficulties.  Elder Holland told a personal story about the time when he set out east with his wife and 2 small children,  an old car and a U-haul with all of their belongings.  The car broke down after just 34 miles into the journey, overheating.  He had to leave his wife and children stranded while he walked 3 miles to get help.  They carefully brought the car back to St. George, checked it over and started out again, only to break down again in the exact same spot. Their plight was more embarrassing than anything else.  But he was worried for his family=s sake, as he made a second three-mile trip for help.  That was 30 years ago.  Despite an unpromising beginning, things have worked out.  They eventually made it to the school in the East.  He and his wife raised a successful family, all of whom went on missions, married in the temple and are doing exceptionally well.  Elder Holland has been successful in all avenues of life he has pursued.

But two weeks prior to giving this talk, he and his wife drove past the place where they had broken down before.  He related the following:

AIn my minds eye, for just an instant, I thought perhaps I saw on that side road an old car with a devoted young wife and two little children making the best of a bad situation there.  Just ahead of them, I imagined that I saw a young fellow walking toward (town) with plenty of distance still ahead of him.  His shoulders seemed to be slumping a little.  The weight of a young father=s fears evident in his pace.  In that imaginary instant, I could not help calling out to him: ADon=t give up boy.   Don=t you quit.  You keep walking.  You keep trying.  There is help and happiness ahead-a lot of it-30 years of it now and still counting.  Keep your chin up.  It will be all right in the end.  Trust God and believe in good things to come.@

I received this encouragement this morning when I needed it most. 

 

December 11, 1999

You know it=s hard to believe that 1/3 of December has already slipped away.  Today is Saturday, so I had little to do, except visit the markets and do a little sight-seeing.  I walked many miles for most of the day and saw a few things that I had not previously seen in my previous visits, i.e. a monument to some Voortrekers who traveled from Transvaal to Lorenzo Marques.  I walked all around the original fortress.  I searched for an original Nativity Creche at the crafts fair, but finding none, I didn=t buy anything else.

I spent a large chunk of the day in the Vasco de Gama Botanalogical Garden.  There were many weddings performed and celebrated today at that location.  I read, watched, listened, and enjoyed the wonder of it all.  So much music.  Also, there was the high-pitched warbling sound that is made with the tongue.  I believe this is a sound that may be heard in most parts of Africa. 

Last year, Kyra Dufro contacted me at my home about our work.  I paid her a visit this afternoon by appointment.  We discussed what Wings of the Dawn is doing and how she might help.  She referred me to a Danish NGO-ADPP, which has schools and resource centers here in Maputo.  She says they have library infrastructure and would welcome our assistance.  I will try to look into it this week.

After my visit with Kyra, I walked to the ocean side of the city.  It was cool and breezy.  By the time I made it home, it was 7 p.m. and getting dark.  I am very tired tonight.  Can hardly keep my eyes open.

I was thinking about Krya Dufro again.  She has married a native Mozambican.  She is an English woman with American ties.  Also, she is amazing, living cheerfully under conditions which most Americans would consider harsh, and by her own choice.  She has thrown her lot with the people of Mozambique and has chosen to be one with them.

 

December 12, 1999

This is late spring for Maputo and summer is fast approaching.  The red Acacia trees that line many of the avenues of this city are in full fiery bloom.  So are thousands of other flowers.  Actually, there is always something blooming around here, but now more than ever.  Therefore, I am not surprised that my hay fever has flared up again as bad as it was last June-only I didn=t bring any of my remedies with me.

The days are quite long too.  Since this country does not use daylight savings time, the mornings get light earlier than I=ve ever experienced.  The skies are already brightening in pre-dawn twilight by 4:30 a.m. (Yes, I wake up that early, in spite of my efforts to sleep-in.)  It does not get full dark until after 7 p.m. And hot?  Yes, and humid too.  But not like Lagos.  Here at least, there is an occasional breeze.  It is almost enough to make one lonesome for winter though.

I attended church today and had Sunday dinner with friends.  I turned the several volumes of church books I had brought (which were acquired at my own expense) over to President Caldwell expressing my hope that they would become the genesis for the new resource center in the new building; that they would be protected and yet not kept from the members under lock and key.  The members need access to them and they need ti be encouraged to use them if they are to do any good.

That=s the rub.  In this country, books are so rare that they are precious-so that theft is a real problem.  Therefore, I fully expect that when I return with more books next year, both for the church (my personal project) and for the schools (Wings of the Dawn=s Project), I will be replenishing the supply of many books lost by theft.  This could be discouraging if we let it be.  However, it is no answer to give up and quit the project.  Even stolen books may be read and cherished by someone-perhaps even the thief.  And then at least they are being used.  Rather, I think the solution lies in flooding this country with so many books of all kinds that books become commonplace, objects no longer worth stealing.  So we will continue in these endeavors.

 

 

December 13, 1999

Today was the crucial day.  We succeeded in clearing our shipment of Portuguese language books from port and loading them in a temporary building located in the rear of World Vision-Mozambique=s headquarters.  It=s a good thing I brought an extra $1,000 in cash along with me beyond planned expenses or I would not have been able to do this.  I spent $1,280 today paying obligations still owed for port space, the container (both of these attributed to the delay in clearing port), hiring a truck and 5 laborers to load and unload the truck.  I am relieved that this stage is complete.  The next stage, of organizing for distribution, begins tomorrow.  I will be meeting as many as 9 people here tomorrow at World Vision HQ.  If we can each do 17 boxes, that will do it.  I would like to do it in one day if possible.  I know I will be lucky to get anyone to work more than 4 hours at this.  But I will take whatever help, that is honest that I can find. This will be voluntary service.  I had a look at the materials again today.  Although these are school books mostly, there is no doubt these books are obviously superior to the materials provided by the government for the public schools in this country.

I feel very happy, very blessed to have come this far.  Now, it is time to roll up the sleeves and do some real work.

Tomorrow I must also coordinate with Mark Nelson who is the CFO here for World Vision.  He owes Wings of the Dawn $1,000 (+or -) to reimburse part of the amount prepaid.  The deposited amounts were supposed to have been used to pay the expenses of Port.  But I ended up paying these from the extra funds that I had brought. 

I also met the military attache today at the US Embassy, LTC Peter Aubrey, on recommendation of Pam Hill, DOD Education.  However, he made it clear to me that he didn=t care because his time remaining at this duty station was short.  He suggested I talk to the Peace Corp.  I may just do that if there is time.  On the whole, the time spent meeting with him was not productive.

Many thanks, though, to World Vision.  It took them a while, but they finally came through.

 

December 14, 1999

I am thankful that this day is over.  If there was ever a time when my life lacked glamour or excitement, it was today.  This was the time when the long awaited inventory was made.  I was at it for 13 straight hours without a break for meals-because I wanted it done today.  It=s still not quite done though, because I must now transcribe my notes into an acceptable format.  But I will do that first thing tomorrow.  Now that the books are here, will they be wanted?  Will they be used?  Well, several people have come by and asked for a little of this or that.  But after it=s been picked over, will most of it go to waste?  These are questions that prey on my mind.  They are mostly school books after all.  The reaction I get these next few days could make or break this project. 

But for now, I rest.  Several times today, I thought to myself, AI wish Lyle (my wife) were here to help. This would go faster.  She would help me remember things.@

Actually, I was only alone about a third of the time.  I had quite a bit of help.  Six missionaries now assigned to Mozambique were with me this morning counting books.  Then there were 3 additional members, so at one point, there were ten of us working together.  I was very thankful to them, not just for the help, but for the company as well.  Brother and Sister Caldwell took a box of books that they will use to teach their ESL classes.  So at least the English books are in demand.

Many people I see on the streets of Maputo are wearing clothing that is obviously donated from other parts of the world.  Some of the tee-shirts are somewhat off the mark.  For example, one young girl was wearing a shirt that said, AI=m not old.  I=m just a recycled teenager.@  I saw a young man on the street yesterday wearing one that said, AWorld=s sexiest Grandma.@

Well, that=s about all for now.  As I said not much excitement-only tedium.  I am tired, but also very thankful.  It didn=t rain and for the most part, we got to work in a cool building.  I am thankful, and I know that somehow Heavenly Father and I are going to make this work.

 

December 15, 1999

I spent the morning in-doors preparing the inventory, taken yesterday, for presentation to potential partners besides World Vision=s schools and the Escola Communitaria 4 de Outubro.  In the process, I found several errors, all in connection with misnumbered boxes.   (Some of these boxes had more than one number on them, so for about one dozen of them, the number on the box was misstated.)  At this stage, there is no choice but to exclude those boxes from inventory except as to World Vision, who will keep and distribute all other books not selected by others on a default basis.  This was another tedious and lonesome task, occupying nearly four hours of time.

The afternoon was spent in initiating contacts with other potential partners including APODICRED in Infulane, a local NGO that we have helped before in connection with the Escolas de Preemsinasuento de Patrice Lumumba a Sao Damasco; ADPP, a Danish NGO; CONCERN, the Irish NGO; and the Brazilian Embassy.  I will continue pursuing these contacts and others tomorrow and the day after.  I will also continue coordination of distribution with World Vision=s Argentina Matavel.

This is hard work for me.  As I grind my way through this, there is the constant temptation to compare our group with larger organizations with fat budgets, offices, employees and cars to drive.  I am always having to remind myself that it isn=t the size that counts, but in how well we accomplish what we set out to do.  If we improve the life and give hope to just one person and help that person find and make a better life through a more meaningful education, these efforts are worth the cost.  But we can do better and therefore we should.

This gets so hard, though, that sometimes I feel like quitting.  But I hang on and gradually things start improving.  That is what happened this afternoon once I started visiting people again about our project.  In connection with not quitting, I was reading a discourse by President James E. Faust, in which he related the story of a young boy who was a piano student.  His mother, wishing to encourage him, Abought tickets for a performance of the great Polish pianist, Paderewski.  The night of the concert arrived and the mother and son found their seats near the front of the concert hall.  While the mother visited with friends, the boy slipped quietly away.@

ASuddenly, it was time for the performance to begin, and a single spotlight cut through the darkness of the concert hall to illuminate the grand piano on the stage.  Only then did the audience notice the little boy on the bench, innocently picking out >Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.=A

@His mother gasped, but before she could move, Paderewski appeared on stage and quickly moved to the keyboard.  He whispered to the boy, ADon=t quit.  Keep playing.@  And then leaning over, the master reached with his left hand and began filling in the bass part.  Soon the right arm reached around the other side, encircling the child, to add a running obligato.  Together the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerized.@  (He quoted this from a talk by Ann Woodland, Idaho Falls, Idaho.)  Then the following point for this story was made, (again quoting from Ann Woodland).

AIn our lives, unpolished though we may be, it is the Master who surrounds us, and whispers in our ear, time and time again, ADon=t quit.  Keep playing.@  And as we do, He augments and supplements until a work of amazing beauty is created.  He is

right there with all of us, telling us over and over, AKeep playing.@

Ensign, Nov. 1999, p. 101.

 

December 16, 1999

This may have been the most crucial day for this journey.  True to the advice noted in my previous entry,  I Akept playing@ and praying.  I called on more people today than on any other single day of this trip.  As a result, there is now definitely visible a silver lining on the clouds which were so foreboding since my first arrival in Mozambique one week ago.  The worry and concern were that (1) the collection was poorly organized and (2) that only a few of the books gathered would be wanted or utilized.

Today, I made contact with the Danish NGO, ADPP (Associacao de Desenvolvimento Povo ao Povo), sometimes and more generally known as Humana, or People to People.  This group is concerned with education and runs several teacher=s colleges throughout the country.  I spoke with vice-director, Mr. Orjan Vilen.  I showed him the list of the materials that we had.  He said that they would be interested in getting as much of these materials as possible.  School texts of many different types were just what the teachers needed for study in preparation for their careers.  He showed me their library and it was like all the others that I have seen here, almost non-existent, but with a definite interest in getting libraries started at all of their colleges.

The other development was that Argentina Matavel, of World Vision, told me at last that they would not be wanting most of the books we had after all-that school texts from Brazil were useless to them and so forth.

I called Mr. Vilen to advise of this development.  He was overjoyed.  During my short visit at ADPP, we discussed some options for possible partnership arrangements (or joint venturing).  Again, it seemed that anything was possible if it would result in them getting the school books, and all other types of books needed.  This is a break through; (I am at least hopeful and with good reason).  Now, instead of dealing primarily with World Vision, we will be dealing with a partner on a more equal footing.  We would be providing for them the materials they so desperately want and they would be providing the expertise needed to get the goods into the country, and the funding to transport them in Mozambique where ever their projects need them.  Well that is the gist of what we were proposing today and there was interest.  The most immediate concern seems to be resolved.  I explained to Mr. Vilen that there was one catch-that he would have to have all the materials removed from the temporary building behind World Vision by the middle of next week.  ANo problem,@ he said.

If this deal is made, and there is good reason to hope and believe that it will, it will represent a shift from the original concept of this project.  Our object at first was to improve education by making books available to children in their own languages.  Now, we would be improving education by making such books available first to their teachers at the teacher colleges.  I think this is in harmony with our overall mission, but it is a practical adjustment necessitated, in part, by the fact that used school texts from Brazil represent the bulk of the shipment.

I will be meeting with ADPP again on Saturday to have a more complete understanding of their facilities and programs and to work out the details of our relationship which we are beginning to form.

Today, I also met with Sergio Victorino of APODECRID; Mr. H. Roy Trivedy of Save the Children (UK); Ms. Martha Newson, the Director of World Vision-Mozambique; Eileen O=Dwyer of Ireland=s GOAL-Mozambique; and Mr. Manuel Francisco Lobo, the adjunct Director of Planning for the National Ministry of Education.  The latter was especially encouraging of our project.

I am becoming ever more convinced of the principle that whatever the task, and whatever the difficulty, if we Akeep playing@ and refuse to give into despair by quitting, things will work out.  I have been led today, and I believe I know who has been leading the way.

I don=t know if, or for how long, we will continue to work with World Vision in Mozambique.  It is apparent (and has been all year) that their priorities are elsewhere and that we should begin in earnest to look for another partner.  Nevertheless, this group has given us valuable service and helped us get started.  For this, we will always be thankful, and will reciprocate when and if the opportunity arises.  A fine suggestion was made by Argentina Matavel, one of simple common sense: Why not avoid mixing books of different subject matter in the same box?  I did not have a good answer and I don=t think she was in the mood for lame excuses.  Certainly, it is a suggestion to be implemented, time and manpower permitting.    

One last thing: This was the first time I have succeeded in talking with the Ministry of Education at the National level.  It needed to be done. Now, when asked, I can say that Ayes, we have advised the ministry of our project@ (mentioning Mr. Lobo by name) Aand have received its informal encouragement.@  During my interview with Mr. Lobo, he casually inquired as to the number of books we have shipped, asking if it was maybe a 1,000 or 500 or fewer.  I told him that the number brought in from the port this week was actually more than 11,800.  When I said this, he was so surprised that his jaw visibly dropped.  Watching his facial expression change like that made my day.  I showed him samples of the types of material we had brought and he said that this was a good project which he supported.

Last night, I was so full of concern that I did not sleep well.  As the morning came, a scripture came to my conscious memory, repeating itself to me over and over again in my mind: ABe still! And know that I am God.@  It gave me hope, and the day was not only bearable, but one of the best.

 

December 17, 1999

This morning was spent working out between World Vision, ADPP and Concern how the books would be divided.  I also visited with Mr. Peter Nkhonjera, the deputy Field Office Director for Save the Children, USA.  He expressed great interest in participating in future shipments and helping us defray part of the cost of shipping by paying a certain amount for every book they receive.

After visiting with Mr. Nkhonjera, I returned to the village of schools established by ADPP in Machava.   We discussed a long term partnership arrangement between our agency and theirs, one that would make them our main importer and end user of at least half of the books we send.  This would mean we would not be dependent on World Vision=s Acharity@ to us.  Rather, we would have another partner in ADPP-with whom we would be on a more equal footing with in the relationship.   We reached a tentative agreement and I will draw up a memorandum of our understanding when I return home.  After we work this out between ourselves, the memo will form the basis for our relationship.  Making this connection has been the happiest event of this trip and has turned this whole thing around.  I am completely confident that all of the books will go to agencies that will use them well.

The afternoon was spent making the physical division.  I will finish tomorrow morning.

I finally got to read the e-mail sent by my wife to me 5 days ago on Sunday.  It was full of happy news.  I am looking forward so much to returning to home and family.  But I have been in touch with some very good people here.  I am thankful for the help received from World Vision, as far as it went.  I am especially thankful for physical assistance and general encouragement given to me by our new LDS missionaries.  They are just fantastic.  I am also thankful for encouraging words of President James E. Faust, which I derived from his discourses of last October, brought along with me on this trip.  I end this entry with another quotation from one of his sermons concerning AHope, an Anchor of the Soul.@  He said AHope is like the sun, which, as we journey towards it, casts the shadow of our burdens behind us!...Hope sweetens the memory of experiences well loved.  It tempers our troubles to our growth and our strength.  It befriends us in dark hours, excites us in bright ones.  It lends promise to the future and purpose to the past.  It turns discouragement to determination.@  -Attributed to Samuel Smiles, in Stan and Sharon Miller, comps.,  Especially for Mormons, 5 vols. (1971-1987), 2:113.  Tonight, I am full of hope and thankfulness.

 

December 18, 1999

I was up before 5 this morning with the intent of being at the World Vision Office before 6 a.m.  I made it there five minutes before and immediately began the task of separating the four hundred and forty-five books that CONCERN is to receive.  They had asked for two thousand previously.  I think they will be sorry that they reduced the size of their order once they see the quality of the books that they are receiving-and the variety.  Actually they had ultimately requested only 378 volumes, at our bargain price of 50 cents per book; so they will be getting 67 extra at no charge.  I hope they are satisfied and request more the next time around.

This task of final separation only took me three hours.  It passed pleasantly because President Caldwell came by again to help with the sorting.  He came by at shortly after six in the morning, and we worked side by side together.  He was just there without my asking.

Afterwards, we delivered three boxes containing 201 books (200 of math and one English to the Escola Comunitaria 4 de Outubro.  Earlier that week, we had donated about 40 English books to President Caldwell and Sister Caldwell who are teaching a class in ESL (English as a Second Language).  Thus, the final tally for distribution of the 11,865 books sent from Brazil last August ends up being as follows (and these are estimates):

            40 - English Teachers         201 - Escola Comunitaria 4 de Outubro

          445 - CONCERN                 2,765 - World Vision

                   8,414 - ADPP

 

I am very happy that the job is now completed.  Things did not go at all as I had planned.  The man in charge of coordination of this project for World Vision, Isidoro Costa, was away in East Timor checking up on his family.  (Very understandable, but the timing was not good for our project).  This morning, just after we had completed the division (and for all intents and purposes, this year=s project), as we were waiting to turn in the keys to storage building, Isidoro arrived.  Evidently, he had flown in last night.  He was just passing by and he said he didn=t have much time to visit.  I guess I got a little annoyed with him.  I said AYou wait.  You owe me five minutes of your time at least.  I came half way around the world at great expense to do something very special for your school children in Xai Xai and tomorrow, I am returning to the US.   You can give me five minutes even if you are made a little late to where you are going.@  He relented and I took him back and showed him where the books were stored.  I explained to him the division and who was to get what.  As I said, Isidoro was in a hurry so he didn=t hardly look at the books that were set aside for World Vision.  But as I was locking up the storage building again, he said something very interesting: That East Timor has a crying need for books in Portuguese.  He asked if we would do a project like this for his homeland.  I told him frankly that we would only consider it if he would arrange for 100% of the financing because all of our funding is committed to projects in Mozambique and Nigeria.  He was undaunted.  He said, AI will go to work on that.@  Well, we will see.

The managers for CONCERN and ADPP have until Wednesday of the coming week to pick up their books.  However, I called up both managers today at about noon and strongly recommended they pick up their stuff as early on Monday as possible.  I will already be gone but I gave them the name of Pedro Wate as the World Vision point of contact, and Wate has the names and numbers of the contact persons for ADPP and CONCERN.

On this trip to Mozambique, I traveled less than ever before, only as far as Machava, about 10K out of town.  But I really did not have much time to travel.  There was barely enough time to get everything done as it was.  My body will need a rest when I get home from this Avacation.@  I am worn-out, but very happy and excited that things have turned out as they have.

I should add that three days ago, on Dec. 15, when I was compiling the inventory sheets, and discovering error upon error in the recording of box numbers the day before-I was at my lowest point.  I was even trying to figure out how I could just quit without looking like too big of a fool, which was, of course, impossible.  I was nearly convinced that what we had was worthless junk that nobody would want, and that World Vision would end up hauling most of it to the dump within 30 days of my departure.  There are no such fears anymore.  Rather, it is just the opposite.  I am more worried that World Vision people will think I have cheated them somehow.  In my talk with two of the officials yesterday, there were hints that this would be so. 

The fact is, however, that World Vision could have had more, but chose to take less.  Despite the problems encountered along the way, I am still appreciative of World Vision.  They were helpful to us in the past when we were just getting started.  But this past year, there have been changes in personnel.  The attitudes and the environment have changed.  They have been extremely difficult to deal with all this past year.  You see now why I am thankful to have found a new partner in ADPP.  However, this is not the reason World Vision is ending up with such a minor part of the shipment.  Rather it was primarily the result of their own selection, and secondarily, the need to balance their selection with the request of the other agencies involved.  (Actually, World Vision ended up only short by 235 books from the original commitment of 3,000 and about 100 less than their final request two days ago.)

Anyway, the upshot of all this is that I am not quitting.  Everything has worked out just fine.  In spite of all the problems encountered along the way, I have done my level best to be both fair and generous to all concerned.

 

December 19, 1999

I attended church with the Maputo Branch one more time before departure.  The house was jammed packed and there was no air conditioner or even electrical power for fans today.  So it was incredibly hot.  I am afraid that I found it hard to enjoy the meetings under those circumstances.  If I were more spiritual, I would have done better.  I took videos of the primary though and replayed it for the children.  The kids were adorable.  After meetings, I took videos of most of the branch on the patio.

And so now I am at last on my way home.

I am satisfied that all of our goals for both Nigeria and Mozambique have been reasonably met.  As for Nigeria, our goal was to explore places where a book project could be established, and to build contacts and relationships.  For Mozambique, our goal was to off-load the shipment of books and see to their distribution to entities that would use them to the best advantage in educating children in Mozambique.  We also succeeded in forging a relationship with a new trading partner.  We are no longer dependent on World Vision.  Now the question which concerns me most is whether we can maintain the flow of collection of books from Brazil and establish a system of collection in the US for Nigeria?  Can we get the manpower necessary to organize the collections and inventory them properly before shipping?  The logistical problems are daunting.  I must work harder to establish a broader collection network, in addition to fund raising.  But these are matters to be taken on for another day.  For now, I am satisfied.

On this date, I spent much of my time reading the October Conference talks and the scriptures.  I cannot say however, that I did a good job in keeping the Sabbath Day.  Traveling on Sunday makes it hard, and I made a few purchases in the airport to cure thirst, hunger and finally book lust.  That=s what happens once you start, for whatever reason, its hard to stop. 

Nevertheless, I found the talks that I read inspiring.  I especially enjoyed the remarks by L. Tom Perry.  Quoting Harry Emerson Fosdick, he said that Asome Christians carry their religion on their backs.  It is a packet of beliefs and practices which they must bear.  At times it grows heavy and they would willingly lay it down, but that would mean a break with old traditions, so they shoulder them again.  But real Christians don=t carry their religion.  Their religion carries them.  It is not a weight. It is wings.  It lifts them up, it sees them over hard places, it makes the universe seem friendly, life purposeful, hope real, sacrifice worthwhile.  It sets them free from fear, futility, discouragement and sin.- which enslaves men=s souls.  You can know a real Christian, when you see him, by his buoyancy.@  The Twelve Tests of Character (1923) 87-88.

 

December 20, 1999

What a difference a day makes.  Yesterday, it was summer.  Today, it is winter.  Yesterday morning the sun dawned at about 4:30 a.m.   This morning, here in Paris, the sun made no appearance until nearly 8:30 a.m.

Rather than wait around the airport, I took a train downtown and walked in and around the Cathedral of Notre Dame, some of the streets of central Paris, the Luxembourg Gardens, and off in the distance, the Eiffel Tower.  There is a lot of history in this city, of which I know but little.  I would like to spend a little time learning about France and how it developed as a nation.

On this last leg, I think of all that waits: my work, estate business, church assignments, continuation of Wings of the Dawn projects and most importantly, family matters.  For the next few days, we won=t be quite as spread-out.  We will have Jake and Mindy home with us at least-to be home again with family.  This is what my life is all about.  This is where I am most happy.  And now it is Christmas time.  I have missed much of the Christmas season at home by being away.  Yet I have been engaged (ironically) in keeping Christmas in the very best way that I know how: sharing with others.  Now I will be sharing the season at home with my family.

Several themes stand out from the events occurring on this trip and some of my meditations as to their meaning.  I suppose that the gist of all this is that there has been a lot of opposition to wade through.  Nigeria was hard for me primarily because I was not used to the climate and other physical circumstances that pervade in Lagos as described.  But the trip was apparently a success and came off very close to what was previously planned in large part due to the high level of help and the interest of our new partner there, African Refugee Foundation.  On the other hand, with respect to the Mozambique portion of the trip, there was less physical challenge there because the climate and physical conditions were more pleasant.  But overall, Mozambique was more challenging because of the physical labor, the tedium of sorting the books and seeing to it that they were distributed among agencies that would put them to the best use.  Hardly any aspect of the Mozambique visit went as planned.  It looked, for a time, as though all of our efforts, with respect to our project there, were wasted.  I suppose the dominant theme in all this is that there is no failure unless we quit.  We did not quit, rather, we pressed forward, clinging to hope, trusting in the arm of God to work miracles on our behalf when despite our best efforts, we would otherwise fall short.  The result was that our goals were all fulfilled in a wonderful way, yet not at all as originally planned or anticipated.  The hand of God was evident in the events that transpired.

Throughout these last few days, I have done my utmost to share light, truth and knowledge with others for the betterment of mankind.  I have supervised the distribution of 11,865 books to schools and agencies in Mozambique. 

In connection with the theme of Sharing the Light, there is a story which I now transcribe to these pages in conclusion.  It is a story that inspires me to continue these efforts:

 

ANear the village of Gonia, on a rocky bay of the island of Crete, sits a Greek Orthodox monastery.  Along side it, on land donated by the monastery, is an institute dedicated to human understanding and peace, especially to reapproachment between Germans and Cretans. An improbable task, given the bitter residue of wartime.

AThis site is important because it overlooks a small airstrip at Maleme where Nazi Paratroopers invaded Crete and were attacked by peasants wielding kitchen knives and hay scythes.   The retribution was terrible.  The populations of entire villages were lined up and shot for attacking Hitler=s finest troops.  High above the institute is a cemetery with a single cross marking the graves of the Cretan partisans.  And across the bay, on another hill is the regimental burial ground of the Nazi paratroopers.  The memorials are so placed that all might see and never forget.  Hate was the only weapon the Cretans had at the end, and it was a weapon many vowed never to give up, never ever.

AAgainst this heavy curtain of history, in this place where the stone of hatred is hard and thick, the existence of an institute devoted to healing the wounds of war is a fragile paradox.  How has it come to be here?  The answer is a man, Alexander Papaderos.  He was a doctor of philosophy, teacher, politician, resident of Athens, but son of this soil.  At war=s end, he came to believe that the Germans and Cretans had much to give to each other-much to learn from one another.  That they had an example to set.  For if they could forgive each other and construct a creative relationship, then any people could.

AThe institute has succeeded and has produced a productive interaction between the two countries.  Alexander Papaderos has become a living legend...[To] be in his presence is to feel of his spirit and feel of his extraordinary electric humanity.  Books have been written based upon dreams realized as people gave to people in this place.

AIt was near the end of a wonderful two week seminar on Greek culture, which the author attended, when Alexander Papaderos rose from his seat in the back of the room, walked to the front and looked out the window.  His gaze, along with those in attendance, went to the German cemetery on the hill across the bay.  He turned and asked, >Are there any questions?=  Quiet quilted the room and then the author asked, >Dr. Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?=  The usual laughter followed, and people stirred to go.  Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at the author for what seemed a long time, asking with his eyes if he was serious and seeing from his eyes that he was.  >I will answer your question.=

ATaking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small, round mirror, about the size of a quarter.  And what he said went like this:

 

When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and lived in a remote village.  One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror.  A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.

 

I tried to find all the pieces and put them back together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece.  This one.  And by scratching it on a stone, I made it round.  I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine-in deep holes and crevices and dark closets.   It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.

 

I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game.  As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child=s game, but a metaphor for what I might do with my life.  I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of the light.   But light -- truth, knowledge, understanding -- is there, and will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it.  I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know.  Nevertheless, with what I have, I can reflect light into the dark places of the world -- into the black places in the hearts of men -- and change some things in some people.  Perhaps others may see and do likewise.  This is what I am about.  This is the meaning of my life.

 

AHe then took the small mirror and, holding it carefully, caught the bright rays of sunlight streaming through the window and reflected them onto the author=s face and onto his hands folded on the desk.@

 

The author of this piece was Mr. Robert Fulgham, who further commented on this experience, stating that much of the information learned in that seminar has long since passed from his memory.  ABut in the wallet of his mind he carries a small mirror.  Are there any questions?@

--from AIt Was On Fire When I Lay It Down,@ by Robert Fulgham, 1988 Ivy Books, pp. 171-175.

 

                                                - To Be Continued -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                         PART VI - Financial History for Fiscal 2000

 

INCOME

 

1. Gifts in Kind

A. Books (US) (est. 6,500 vols. @ $.50/vol)          $3,250           

B. Books (Brazil) (est. 3,500 vols. @ $.30/vol)        1,050

C. Adjustment for book over-estimate

(11, 635 vols. @ $.30/vol.)                          (3,491)

C. Used copy machine                                                  100                                   

D. School supplies                                                      1.000           

        $1,909

2. Pledges

A. CFC (1999)                                                           4,832

B. CFC (1998) noncollectibles                                  (196)

C. LDS Charities (Foundation grant)                      19,000

        23,636

Total Income                                                                                            $25,545

 

EXPENSES

 

I.  Program

     A.  Shipping

1.  Brazil to Mozambique

     a.  Duties and Port Fees                                                 $1,171

     b.  Carrier                                                                             5,513

     Total Shipping                                                                   $6,684

 

     B.  Travel

1.  Brazil

     a.  Carrier (Tax)                                                                $  368

     b.  B/L/I                                                                                   322           

     Total for Brazil                                                                      690

2.  Africa (Nigeria/Mozambique)

      a.  Carrier                                                                         $2,296

      b.  B/L/I                                                                                   960                       

      c.  Visas                                                                                 102                                               

      Total for Africa                                                                    3,358                         

Total Travel                                                       4,048

 

     C.  Truck rental (Brazil)                                                                200

     D.  Wire transfer fee (World Vision)                                             14

     E.  Fax                                                                                              56

     F.  Telephone (long distance)                                                     627

     G.  Truck Rental (US)                                                                     75

     H.  Books and School Supplies distributed

to clients (11,865 vols.@$.30/vol.)                                      3,560             

Program Total                                                                               $15,264

 

II.  Fund Raising

     A.  CFC

1. Promotional Flyers                                                           $ 142

2. 4% share of campaign cost                                                193

3. CFC Rebate (1998)                                                              10

Total CFC expenses                                                            $345

 

   B.  Tennis Tournament                              

           1.  Promotional Flyers                                                           $ 342

2.  Deposit for Bretton Woods                                             1,000

3.  Stationary                                                                            198 

            4.  Mailing Labels                                                                       22  

            Total Tennis Tournament                                          $1,562           

Total Fund Raising                                        $1,907

 

III.  Administration

        A.  Publishing (Annual Report)                                                    $  118

        B.  State of VA (annual registration)                                                  55

        C.  Website                                                                                         239

        D.  Flowers (Joan Bybee farewell)                                                      37

        E.  Telephone (local)                                                                           303

        F.  Postage                                                                                            10

Total Administration                               $  762

 

Total Expenses                                                $17,933

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PART VII - Budget for Fiscal 2001

 

INCOME

 

1.  CFC Contributions                                                          $4,500

2.  Separate Individual Direct Donation                                3,500

3.  Foundation Grant                                                             19,000

4.  Tennis Tournament                                                            4,000

            Total Projected Income                                            $31,000.00   

5.  Prior Year Surplus                                                               4,379.52

Total Working Capital                                   $35,379.52

 

EXPENSES

I.  Program

     A.  Shipping

           1.  Brazil to Mozambique

     a.  Duties and Port Fees                                     $   800

     b.  Carrier                                                                 6,000

     c.   Transport & shipping within

           Brazil                                                                 1,500

                 d.   Transport & storage within

Mozambique                                                        300

2.  U.S. to Mozambique

     a.  Duties and Port Fees                                           400

     b.  Carrier                                                                 1,500

3.  U.S. to Nigeria

     a.  Duties and Port Fees                                            500

     b.  Carrier                                                                  5,500

     c.   Transport & storage within

U.S.                                                                    1,000

     d.    Transport & storage within

Nigeria                                                               1,500

                                    Total Shipping                                   $19,000

     B.  Travel

1.  Brazil

     a.  Carrier                                                              $   400

     b.  B/L/I /T($100 X 14)                                           1,400           

2.  Africa (Nigeria/Mozambique)

     a.  Carrier                                                              $3,500[1]

 

 

 

     b.  B/L/I/T ($100 X 21)                                            2,100

     c.  Visas                                                                       150

Total Travel                                                    $ 7,550

     C.  Telephone and Fax                                                          840                      

Total Program                                               $27,390

 

 

II.  Fund Raising

      A.  CFC (Promotional Flyers)                                        $  100

      B.  Tennis Tournament

             1.  Stationary                                                            $   200

  2.  Postage                                                                   400

  3.  Sign age                                                                  400

  4.  Awards/Prizes                                                         400

  5.  Catering                                                                   800

  6.  Souvenir Program                                                  300 

  7.  Racquet Club Reservation                                  1,000 [2]

       (For next Tournament 2001)

  8.  Promotional Flyers & Literature                            300

                   (For Fall 2001)

Total for Tournament                                     $3,800           

Total Fund Raising                            $3,900

 

III.  Administration

       A. State of VA Registration                                          $   60

       B.  Website                                                                          40

       C.  Postage                                                                      100

       D.  Office Supplies & Stationary                                      200

       E.  Telephone                                                                    300

       F.  Incidentals                                                                    100

       G.  Annual Report                                                              200

Total Administration                        $1,000

 

Total Projected Expenses                          $32,290

 

 

 

Surplus, IF ANY, to be used for operating capital for Fiscal Year 2001 and to initiate expansion of programs in that year.

 

                                    Part VIII - Principles of Accountability and Control

 

1. The president / executive director has supervisory responsibility for the treasurer of Wings of the Dawn and each affiliate. 

 

2. All financial books and records are kept in a manner consistent with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

 

3. All financial books and records are open for public inspection at corporate headquarters during normal business hours upon request.  

 

4. An annual report is prepared within three months after the close of each fiscal year.  This report will account for the current financial status of the organization and describe all material progress made with the projects of the organization.  A copy of the annual report is sent automatically to each major donor (one who contributes at least $5,000 in the applicable fiscal year) and to all other donors upon specific request.  The annual report is also made available to the general public on the Internet, or at corporate headquarters during normal business hours upon request.  The Internet version may be freely downloaded.  A non-donor may also have a hard copy of the annual report furnished to him by mail, at cost, upon request. 

 

 

 

                  Part IX - Steps for  Implementing Short-term and Long-term Objectives

                                                     (General Mode of Operation)

 

1.  We will stay abreast with available information concerning developments in the field of education in our project countries.  This includes compiling and updating our school Ashopping list@ based on needs determined by both current reports and personal visits by our personnel to the project countries. 

 

2.  Each year, at least one Board representative will visit each project country to assess needs, search for new qualified recipients of gathered materials, coordinate distribution of materials shipped, and evaluate and adjust allocations previously made. 

 

3.  We will continue soliciting gifts in kind of books and school supplies from donors in both Brazil and the United States.  Each year, a member of our Board travels to Brazil to coordinate gifting arrangements and collection programs and shipping.

 

4.  We will continue our program of soliciting monetary contributions from individuals, charitable foundations and contributions of money and service from multinational corporations and NGOs doing business in our project countries in order to finance and arrange for shipping of donated materials and expand our programs.

 

5.  We will continue collected materials of English language and Portuguese language materials from the United States and Brazil to the appropriate project countries.  In this connection, we will continue coordinating with local and multinational NGOs and government authorities in identifying schools and community groups for receipt of the materials we gather and send.  Partnering NGOs normally will bear the costs of bringing the shipped materials from the port of destination to the places in the country where they will be ultimately used.  Local NGOs will also see to their proper use.  Annual visitors from our organization will also verify that materials previously shipped are being properly utilized.  

 

6.  Once our program of collecting and sending books and school supplies is well established in one location, the program will be expanded to other communities and countries, such as Ghana, Angola and Cape Verde.  Such communities and schools that are candidates for receiving materials from this organization must have a good record of community involvement, physical infrastructure, and a willingness to work out their own problems if necessary without outside help.  Ideally, there should be a spirit of pro-activeness in the community.   

 

7. Future projects may include training and assisting in the establishment of school and library organization and construction.  However, such projects will not be undertaken until we have the personnel and financial means to institute such new projects while continuing to operate our original book collection and shipping projects. 

                                                        PART X - Staff Personnel 

                                                                             

 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

 

1. J. Peter Baumgarten, Executive Director and Chair

 

2. Doris Browne, Member

 

3. Carrie P. Hunter, Member

 

4. Andrew Lee, Member

 

5. Ade Otenaike, Member

 

6. Chris Troger, Member

 

 

OFFICERS:

 

            1. J. Peter Baumgarten, President

 

2. Ade Otenaike, Vice President for Special Projects and Communications

 

3. Chris Troger, Vice President for Logistics

 

4. Elizabeth Otenaike, Vice President for Development

 

5. Doris Browne, Vice President for Public Relations

 

6. Lyle Baumgarten, Secretary

 

7. Dell Saunders, Treasurer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                    PART XI- A Brief Photo Album