Finally, the books arrived to the Child Aid bodega in Guatemala!! It was a long haul, but our program coordinator, John van Keppel and Child Aid partner Rigoberto Zamora (of PROBIGUA) got them out after they were held up in port for over a month. The shipment of donated books (over $850,000 worth) were trucked up from Puerto Barrios on the coast and arrived at our book warehouse at 5am on Saturday, Feb 21. About 20 middle school boys from Pedro Molina school helped us unload the truck, box by box. Afterward we celebrated with soft drinks and chatted about cowboys, school and cell phones.

Now, John and Kristen Anderson (our volunteer coordinator) are going through the mountain of books and getting them ready for distribution to the many community libraries and teachers we work with. Spanish textbooks and educational materials will go to needy classrooms, storybooks will go to libraries, and more and more children will be able to check out books and take them home to read with (or to) their families.

Huge thanks to Hoopoe Books and International Book Project for the book donations and to our donors who make it possible to ship them down and get them in the hands of the children who need them. You can read more about Child Aid’s book distributions here.