For the past 3 days, Paul, TC, & I have been heading into Jeh with loads of clothes or other goodies.
Two nights ago, we headed in and gave Selvin, Leonora, & their son Nervin all the treats that Island Memorial Chapel & the rest of the Kwajalein community had graciously donated. Selvin & Leonora were so happy that they were almost speechless. They kept saying how blessed they were. Little Nervin seemed to love his new toys.
After leaving the Intongs, we headed back to the boat to pick up clothes. We were able to outfit 17 kids in stylish new clothes before it got too dark to see. I told the kids to spread the word that we'd be back tomorrow at 3:15 (after school got out) to try and outfit some more of Jeh's children.
Yesterday afternoon, we handed out clothes to 37 more kids. Some of the kids who had received their outfits the previous day were wearing their new outfits, which was fun to see. Plus it was cute how they helped to get kids in a line and helped them pose for their pictures (arranging the clothes so that you could see the tags that identified which child/family/class had donated it.
Today we went to shore & handed out grab bags of stuff - they were mixes of men's and women's clothes, shoes, toiletries, household goods, & jewelry. I figured they can all swap to get the right sizes, if necessary.
So far, 85 kids have been outfitted & 18 delighted families have received grab bags. Actually, it's usually multiple families live together, so it's more than 18 families that have been made happy. Plus, Katchii Elementary School & Jeh's SDA School were excited/relieved to receive school supplies. And I have so enjoyed handing out boxes or bags of books & magazines. I love books.
NONE of this would have been possible without the generosity of the Kwajalein community, which we've expressed to each person who has received something. I can't wait to share pictures with everyone who wants to see them on Kwaj. If you've donated something, hopefully you can spot it in one of the pictures. Thank you very much Kwaj friends for helping us bring big smiles to Jeh and Katchii.
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