by Tylisha Miller

From the 13th of August to the 5th of September The Learning Center was base for Bequia’s first ever student textbook swap. It was the brainchild of Solana Gooding who has played a huge part in helping parents source textbooks every year. On the first week we were flooded with book donations, it was overwhelming and touching to see that in the challenging times that we are all facing persons are still digging deep for what little they have to share with their fellow Bequians. 
 
As the donations came in, so did persons seeking assistance with finding books for their children and though a swap was encouraged it was not mandatory so parents with no books to swap were still welcomed to take the books they needed. We set out to help as many children as we could and in the end managed to help over 20 children get some and even most of their textbooks.
 
A young boy came in one morning, with a book list in hand. I assisted him in looking for the books. As I went down the list, taking out the books one by one and organizing them in a pile for him we got to the end and realized he had just gotten most of his textbooks, an atlas being the only thing on the list we didn't have at the time. I hope that all the persons who donated feel a sense of joy and purpose in knowing that you played a part in assisting that young boy go back to school with a bag filled with the tools needed for his success.
 
The swap was a huge accomplishment thanks to persons like Solana who was inspiration and the working force behind the swap, Deverne who volunteered her time to working at the center assisting, Kabrina who even while preparing to give birth was driving around organizing books, Ronita who donated and assisted parents with obtaining books. A big thank you to all the donors and persons who helped spread the word.