News From Browntown

News From Browntown
A busy week-end planned here in Browntown. Dad, Grammy, Barbara Greco and I will be packing up the Liberia barrels tonight and delivering them to Mr. Garbla in Hyattsville tomorrow. Barbara is bringing dinner (for us) and rice (for the orphans) and we will be busy sorting and packing.

Thanks to Kris and Christian, Gina and Thomas, Char and Keith, Grammy, Emmalee, Melanie and John. In addition, we are so lucky to have great friends who have come through. Michael Natrella has signed on for this shipment and Phylis Benner and Carrie Tomechko are sponsoring again this time.

We will send the medical supplies and school supplies as we did last time. Two barrels go to the Liberian Red Cross with medical supplies, baby formula, some clothing and rice. The medical supplies and baby formula are used by Red Cross medical teams who go out into the coutryside to conduct "clinics" periodically. They reach people who have absolutely no health care or medical attention at all. Often people walk many miles to the makeshift clinics to get help sometimes carrying a sick baby on their back or carrying an old person on a two-man litter. Hard to believe that happens anywhere in the 21st century.

The rice and clothing is used in the Red Cross children's center which shelters orphans and vulnerable children (ie. street children, some as young as six and seven fending for themselves like little wild animals).

Char and Keith and some folks in Harrisonburg are sending seeds as explained in the earlier e-mail. Keith said there are enough collard greens seeds to grow collards to feed the whole country! The seeds are being sent to the Alfred and Agnes Memorial Orphan Mission (AAMOM). The seed barrel will also be filled out with rice, powdered milk, children's clothing and school supplies.

We have several boxes of children's books donated by Jennifer Pickrell. Jennifer is an old school mate of Win and Emma's and is now a school mate of mine! We have talked about the Liberia project and she wanted to donate her childhood books to the effort. There are lots of them (not surprised, huh, Win and Em?) and they are in excellent condition.

Big Lots shopper that I am, on my regular excursions there I find the children's arts and crafts stuff and school supplies irresistable. I see a box of crayons and the lovely sound of those orphans singing just rings in my ears! As often as I go to BL the stuff really accumulates!

For planning purposes, you might want to know that the next shipment is scheduled for June. It would be great if we had the resources to send a couple of mobile classrooms then. I will blog and e-mail details on those!

Also will post some pix of tonight's packing job and tomorrow's delivery.