Sunday July 25, 2010,
Give a Kid a Backpack’s (GKB)
Continuing a Promise in 2010….
About the mission:
“Continuing Promise is an annual humanitarian civic assistant
operation supported by U.S. and international military medical
personnel, U.S. government agencies, regional health ministries,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and U.S. academic institutions.
The relationships which are built amongst our partners help to preserve
peace and stability with Central and South America and the Caribbean
region.” (USS IWO JIMA, 2010).
Our passion:
No matter where we live, obtaining an education is very important.
Education is structured to teach us how to read, write, and calculate.
Education challenges a child so that they can be well prepared for
society. In the U.S. we are very privileged to be provided with a free
education. In certain parts of the world, children are not able to
attend school because most families cannot afford entry fees and/or school supplies. In some cases, families choose not to promote education to their children because they need additional income by allowing their children to work.
On July 19th 2010, two GKB volunteers, Janina Viteri and Kari Williams, embarked on a fascinating humanitarian trip on behalf of “Give a Kid a Backpack”. The entire trip lasts for a total duration of 4 months! GKB is joining forces with the U.S. military on a special mission called Continuing Promise. GKB is thankful to our donors and volunteers, to have the opportunity to distribute 4,000 backpacks filled with school supplies between Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, and Colombia.
Since July 20th, we have been adjusting to the way of life aboard a Naval vessel. As civilians, sometimes it is difficult to imagine what our military experience every day. We have been given a window into the lives of all of our branches of military on the ship, U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, as well as the U.S. Public Health Service, and Department of State. As we grow in our understanding, we see more similarities amongst all of the partners aboard the USS IWO JIMA. We are excited to learn from all of the fascinating and experienced players in this grand collaborative mission. Never have we been a part of such an impressive and inclusive operation! We are looking forward to our upcoming project in Haiti, where we will be distributing shoes and bags to the amazing people who need our help and support.
For those of you interested in knowing a little more about our experience so far on board the USS IWO JIMA:
We share most of the ship as if we were in the military. There is a respect level that I have not experienced before during missions, as the military utilizes a code of courtesy. Our living quarters resemble bunk beds- in the military they are referred to as racks. They are quite cozy once you get used to them. As expected everything is on a particular schedule, which allows an organized approach for coordinating efforts. As we wait to finalize our mission in Haiti, we have been focusing on getting settled and helping out where we can. Having seen our helicopters take off the flight deck with ocean surrounding the ship, we realized…..we are not in Orlando anymore!
More from Haiti soon,
Janina & Kari
