We started Wednesday morning with pancakes and the usual assortment of jams, toast, yogurt, cereals, bananas and pawpaw. Elaine read the journal and Linda gave us our message for the day. Taiana made sure we knew our assignments for the day and then we were off.

Judy and I got a ride to our schools in the Global van from Tai. I arrived at Takitumu at about the same time as Elaine and Denise who had ridden their rental bikes. My day was fairly consistent with the previous one. My main assignment was to cut, fold and paste envelopes or pockets and cards and top flaps for the new shipment of books that had arrived at the school during the previous week. Ana told me that they had been waiting three years for the books to arrive from New Zealand. All had been donated. She said that she received letters from N.Z. stating “We hope you’re enjoying the books.” She’d write back “Thank you for the letter. We have not received the books.” She’d get another letter “We hope you are pleased with the books”, she’d write again “Thank you for the letter. The books have not arrived.”

Apparently, the correspondence went back and forth the like this several times. Finally the books arrived. An entire pallet of them all at once. And I mean boxes and boxes. About half of them were sorted out for the reading room, including the series readers and the rest of the boxes were waiting for me in the library.

Ana, the school principal had stamped the books with the school name and address. However, there were no card pockets or pre-made materials for starting a card catalogue system. Instead, I had numerous Xeroxed copies of pockets, two to a page to be cut out, then folded, then glued to the back of each book. There were lined cards on yellow paper, about six to a page to be cut up and then there were check-out flaps, about four to a page, to be cut out. Please take note: a computerized library software system has not yet arrived at Takitumu school in the Cook Islands.

It’s all quite labour intensive; and gluing technique is an important factor. Yesterday, I had four 6th graders helping me and we made 113 pockets. Today Barb, a previous 4 time Global Volunteer currently visiting the island on her own, and Sarah her cohort and Cook Islander now living in San Antonio, Texas, both helped me. We managed to make 133 pocket envelopes. I put both numbers on the white board to encourage our progress. So, we had a full morning of cutting, pasting and folding.

The talk was continuous, the laughs full and the stories flowing. I wondered more than once if this was what a quilting bee felt like. Barb and Sarah hung in there through lunch break at 10:00 when we had taro tops, onion and ramen noodles prepared by the teachers as well as a bit of tuna and toast.

Then it was back to our task. Sarah was anxious to see us complete all the cutting and folding for the day so that I could paste the pockets into the books during the afternoon. We made it! Yay!! So I pasted on my own until the second break when I stopped and joined in on the 6th graders ping-pong tournament.

The game was to five points so that each could have a turn. Tommy, one of my helpers and I took on their teacher and another student. My first point drew cheers. However, we ultimately lost in sudden death. When the drumbeats sounded the end of recess break I somehow found myself back in the library with 6 excited and sweaty helpers.

Although it was a bit late in the process, I tried to get our assembly line from the previous day going. We had three pasters, two cutters and Mere and I on quality control, sending back a few to the team when the top flap was pasted upside down or the glue was too mixed with sweat to stick. Internally I worried about how long the pockets would hold up as Barb had done out loud in the morning. And she hadn’t yet worked with the excited kids.

More than once I reminded them that our work was meant to last for the kids coming up behind them after they’d left the school. Finally we’d done what we could for the day and I sent the kids back to their class. But first, Tommy and Eddie turned up the radio, which had been playing in the library all day, and I got to see the most beautiful version of the Polynesian Temptations.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the kids also practiced the Spanish numbers and words, which I’d taught them the day before, and which Tommy and Eddie had copied into their workbooks.

When school let out I waited 15-20 minutes for the local bus, which arrived full of kids from Te Uki Ou School and Judy. I took a shower back at KiiKii and sat around watching a lone local surfer catch some of the best waves I’ve seen since arriving. Then Judy and I walked over to Club Raro where Barb and Sarah were waiting to share more jokes, teasing and stories. Back at the Vaka Lounge Ranch I listened to stories about the day from my fellow Vaka 95 teammates; and at this point, I’ve decided that it’s best for each to tell her own right here when the time comes.
In summary, I spent the day right where I was meant to be, surrounded by books, happy, excited kids and dedicated fun-loving adults.
Susan