Belinda and I walked through the town this morning and it was
pleasant enough with lots of school kids and small businesses. Asking directions
at the cyber cafe we found our way to the English school that we (all of you
hang glider and paraglider pilots) are supporting (PayPal here: rgg1@charter.net). The owner of the cyber cafe (I think he may have been the owner) had his little girl at the school (paying the $25/month tuition).

We had a great visit and everyone is going over to the school on Friday morning. The school is lovely with beautiful bamboo walled classrooms with concrete foundations and thatched roofs. There have been many donations and they have the money to build the next classroom (one for each year as the students progress). They teach kindergarten through the second grade now. They have some donated laptops and there were high school students working in the office as interns using them.

There is a government school just a block away and of course most of the kids in
town go to that school, but this is a school where the kids that go there learn
English. It costs about as much to attend the government-supported school as it
does to attend the English school. Kids who attend the government school have to
buy three uniforms (even if their parents are poor). The yellow shirts for the
students at the English school are donated.

I visited all the classrooms and had fun with one class where I threw the small
students in the air if they said to me "I want to fly." An extra English lesson.

I am very excited about the possibility that the world wide hang gliding and
paragliding community (it was a paraglider pilot who knew about this school and
told Jeff O'Brien about it) could have a huge impact on a school that is doing
great work in the community. These kids are lovely and they appreciate the
attention that they get in a loving school. If our community really takes on
this project it will help out those in great need as well as show that our
community really does have a sense of social responsibility and can focus that
in areas where we are having an impact with our flying.