For a while I have been reading the fascinating letters of Major Robert Bateman who is stationed in Baghdad and writes regularly to the blog Altercation . In a recent letter he put forth a plea for school supplies for the school children of Baghdad. Here is an excerpt:
"Major Bob Bateman Dateline: Baghdad, Iraq
..........People often write to me and ask what they might send to support us here. I generally redirect them, or decline. We are well provisioned, and what we want (sleep, beer, sex), we cannot have anyway. But now I do have a request. A direct plea. We need school supplies. Well, we don't need them, some Iraqi kids do.
In the past some of us in this unit have taken supplies to various schools in the Baghdad area. One very generous batch came from an Altercation reader as a matter of fact, some months ago. But it has always been on a haphazard basis and generally only when we can fit it in as an adjunct to a mission we might be doing in the same area. It has also been dependent upon what happened to come in from various unorganized donations from friends and family back home. I want to change that.
There is a school nearby, three schools actually, and as with all elements of the Iraqi educational system, they could use help. We think that the total enrollment is somewhere in the vicinity of one-thousand. I want to flood this school with all of the pens, paper, notebooks, erasers, chalk, and any other school supply you can think of, as well as any toy you think that kids might want. The ages range from 6-13, but we think that one of the buildings nearby is a high-school. Optimally, if there is a benevolent somebody upstairs (FSM anyone?), some Altercation readers are in a position to establish a "sister-school" program as well.
If you are interested in helping you can write to Major Bob at Bateman snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com . "
So I wrote to offer my help and here is the reply:
"Great! If you want to send some school supplies, this is, generically, what the kids need. This list is not exhaustive (please, feel free to use your imagination as well), but can be used as a starting point.
First, the basics:
Number 2 Pencils and pencil sharpeners Pens (ball-point) Tablets of Paper (spiral notebooks especially) Folders and/or organizers Rulers Scissors (safety) Crayons Magic Markers Construction Paper
Then, if you're feeling fancy or expansive:
- Bookbags (Iraqi kids have now seen American television. They see our kids wearing bookbags.and want them too. Go figure.)
Coloring Books
Art kits (watercolor paints, etc)
Science projects (should be simple, although most science teachers can read some English here)
Discarded (but working) computers.
Calculators
Guiding principals should be to keep it simple, and it should not be something needing translation. Also, and this should be obvious, but nothing with any religious overtones at all. If you really want to do it right, buy some one-gallon bags and package the supplies in batches (so that each kid can be given a bag with supplies all at once). That way we can walk into a classroom and hand out 30 bags to 30 kids all at one pop. You know the deal, if you're going to chew gum in the classroom...you have to have enough for everyone. We try to make sure (with their teachers) that everyone gets an equal amount.
The person to send your donations to is:
SFC L. Wensink SCHOOL SUPPLIES MNSTC-I, J5 Baghdad, Iraq APO AE 09316
SFC Wensink will be here for ten more months. Include a note with your e-mail address so we can write back and thank you. Hopefully past that point we can set up something more direct to sustain the support for these schools. Feel free to cross post anywhere you think it might help.
Thanks, and regards from Baghdad,
Bob Bateman"
So, dear quilting friends, consider yourself invited to participate along with me to help these soldiers help the children of Baghdad. Please pass this along to your church and community groups or just do what you can on your own. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Adella