The box arrived and like so many others was opened in order to prepare its contents for the trip to Malawi. This one had a return address that was familiar. It was a box from Olivia, a young girl from the western part of the U.S. who had captured our hearts earlier in the year when she sent a large number of pill containers for the successful, (now concluded) pill container collection program. Olivia also included some of her allowance to help in Malawi. When that program ended Olivia started looking for other ways she could help the people.
Now Oliver has sent another box of supplies for Malawi. She promised them earlier and she had stuck with her promise. We opened the box and along with eyeglasses, flip-flops, and a number of boxes of new crayons with one “slightly used crayon taped to the top of each box.” A hand written note was included in the box. It was from Olivia.
The text had been prepared in carefully printed letters. It reads, “Hello everyone, it’s me Olivia, my na – na decided to send her old glasses and some new ones and flip-flops along with the crayons. I taped a special crayon to each box. I hope the kids enjoy them as much as I do. Love, Olivia. (Each of the dots over the i’s and the period at the end of the letter were all in carefully drawn hearts.)