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3. M A D A G A S C A R :
MERCY SHIP WRITES FINAL CHAPTER IN "MESSAGE-IN-BOTTLE" SCHOOL
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SCHOOLCHILDREN ARE BRUSHING up on their English - thanks to some old-fashioned communication and modern-day cooperation.
The recent delivery of a batch of secondhand books for high school pupils in Faux Cap, in the south of the country, marked the final chapter in a classroom story that spanned two years and hundreds of miles.
The texts were handed over by crew from the Anastasis, flagship of the Mercy Ships medical missionary fleet, at the end of her three-month outreach. They had been shipped across the Indian Ocean from South Africa where they had been collected by students at a school in Kloof, near Durban.
The long-distance link was forged in 1994 after girls at St Mary's Diocesan School followed their studies on navigation by writing letters and sealing them in bottles that were dropped into the water by a ship sailing between Durban and Singapore.
One message was washed ashore at Faux Cap, where it was found by an English teacher at the local high school. He wrote back, telling about his school and mentioning that it was difficult to get textbooks to teach English to his Malagasy- and French-speaking classes.
That led to a book drive back in Kloof, where staff and students gathered up scores of old books, and stored them until they could be shipped. The opportunity arose when the Anastasis visited Durban earlier this year, and crew said they would be delighted to deliver the consignment when they sailed on to Madagascar.
The collection and delivery of the nine boxes was organized by Colin McCubbin, the ship's relief and development projects manager - who is usually concerned about bigger cargoes such as building supplies and vehicles.
"We were touched to see these schoolchildren wanting to help others in a practical way - that's what the Anastasis is all about - so we were delighted to be able to help out by serving as the last link in the chain," he said.
When the ship returns to Durban on a goodwill visit, next month, McCubbin plans to go back to St Mary's to show photographs of the hand-over of the books.
During their time in Madagascar, volunteers on board the Anastasis performed 319 eye and facial surgeries, treated almost 5,500 patients at dental and medical clinics, and delivered US$150,000 of relief supplies.
Among the projects completed were the construction of two churches and a school playground, the design and installation of a rainwater collection system for a village, and the building of a school/community center in a leper colony.
Founded in 1978 as the maritime division of Youth With A Mission, Mercy Ships' four-strong fleet annually takes around US$3 million of free health care to the developing world.
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