Job done

Posted by: pebblejacksonproject on: May 8, 2010

• In: News Articles
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Well I’ve had a fabulous day today sitting outside the Civan bookshop in Datca surrounded by piles of very lovely Turkish children’s books. It was my idea of heaven. I had a team of willing helpers. Yildez, wendys and my sis in law were in charge of applying the fantastic stickers that CJD had so kindly made into the first page of every book. Aysel was on the end of the phone advising me of suitable books, Trisha and Cemal the book shop owners were also advising me and running round supplying us with food and drink during the day. Then there were passers by all taking a peep. We were there from 10.30 until 15.30 and I spent around 1100 lira on top of the money I spent in UK for puppets, plastic storage boxes and a few dual language books. I will have the accurate total tomorrow. We think the carriage will be around 60 to 80 lira but wendys, my sis in law and myself will be paying for that. Trisha and Cemal have been so kind in selling me the books at cost price and so I was able to buy many more than if I went to a rep or any other book shop. There are a selection of books suitable for 7-14 year olds non fiction and fiction. They are high quality books and I think children will be so excited to see them. I’m not sure how many books there are but maybe over 70 for each school. Some TLF members asked me to put names of loved ones in the books which I did. I have photographed all the goings on which was all loads of fun and laughter. The official translator for Datca is translating the letter to accompany the books and my sis in law will find a way of thanking him (did I really say that)!!! I’m afraid with a gaggle of girls together we were getting a bit naughty and hysterical by the end.
Anyway thanks to all the people who donated, the many messages of support, my willing band of helpers, Emma who found the school in Sivas, Aysel who introduced me to the mountain school in Mugla and set my mind in motion on how to get them some books. Thanks to Tel for coordinating the action.Thanks to Mushtaq who collected the money and trusted me to spend it on books and not shoes and handbags. Thank you to Pebbles family and friends for trusting me and finally thank you so much to Pebble herself for giving me a reason to do this I enjoyed it so much. Pebble, there we go I have fulfilled my promise to you girl. I don’t have the lead to tranfer my photos until I get home next week so will post them at a later date. The books will be packed and sent by cargo in the next day or so and the two schools will get them a few days later. I would just love to be there to see their faces. Now my willing team and I are off ‘down the town’ for some much needed liquid refreshment.

Oh yes a final word – sadly the Civan book shop near the hospital in Datca will close soon. I think it is a sad loss for Datca. They have never succumbed to the temptation to sell cut priced, illegal copies of books and they provided such a welcoming atmosphere where people could call in for a chat and a coffee. I will miss it so much. Any way they have a closing down sale of all books, cards and other stuff so please call in if you are near.