School Damage from Typhoon Flooding

School is planned to start on Tuesday. 500 students 17 classrooms and 17 teachers.

Below- Sister Cropper is standing by Annabelle Montenegro who has been teaching for over 35 years. Last year Annabelle, who teaches 2nd grade, was forced to teach another class of 2nd graders when the other teacher died unexpectedly. She taught 104, that's right, one hundred and four, 2nd graders for SIX MONTHS. She said she would have to stand on her desk and teach just so all the children could see her. On a normal year Annabelle has about 50 students.
The books from the library are under a coat of mud outside the library door. As you can see many classrooms have the desks and chairs outside so the classrooms can have the mud removed.
The books can not be thrown out because there is nothing to replace them with. Annabelle said it would probably take about two years for the district to get enough money to replace the books. In the mean time, the books that are contaminated from the flood get carefully dried out over a line when they are dry enough not to fall apart while hanging over the line. A mess to say the least.

More rain is in the forecast.

As far as mud goes, it is got the consistency of really wet cement. It just doesn't smell the same.

Tomorrow we will be going to Dumaguete to buy chalk, paper, erasers, pencils, and blank lesson plan books. A start.

Some of you have already pledged which is greatly appreciated! We ask that more join the "greatly appreciated group". You can't believe how appreciative these people are. We will be talking to the principal in Tuesday and getting a sense of what the specific needs are.

Contributions can be directed to our daughter Rebecca Rampton, 200 Lazar Lane, Southern Pines, North Carolina 28387 email your pledge to: ramptons@gmail.com.