THE REAL DEAL ON OUR MAIL!!!

We didn't receive our mail for the past two months because our previous address was not one the post office seemed to care about.  Long story.  To sum up the long story, our mail situation is all figured out.  Peace Corps was kind enough to give us our original address at the embassy back, and they'll deliver our mail to us every two weeks.  With that said, our real, actual, definite, working address is:

Paul and Alyssa Quinlivan, PCV
Peace Corps Guyana
c/o U.S. Embassy
100 Young and Duke Street
Kingston, Georgetown, Guayana
South America

We LOVE THE LETTERS the most.  Staying connected back home has been a struggle, so even a little note saying hello or a news article or comic will completely brighten our whole day.  Things seem to get to us easier in envelopes than boxes, even if the envelopes are padded.  Flat rate shipping boxes seem to save a lot of people money on shipping.

Again, LETTERS are our favorite thing to receive.  We love the packages too.  It's like Christmas but better.

Let me start this next part by saying we are not asking for things.  However, we have had many of you wonderful friends and family ask if we need anything.  Honestly, we need nothing.  Some things, however, would be helpful for our jobs and the projects we are starting, either because we don't have them available or we can't afford them on our little Peace Corps stipend.  I'll explain what we're trying to do so you know what these things are for.

Paul is starting to make some visual aids for the resource center and get some information in there for patients to read while they're waiting or when he's doing health talks.  He's also trying to get the school garden going with some competition between the grade levels.

Alyssa is doing some remedial skills pull out programs with the kids on literacy and math, and trying to get the kids and families into the resource center.  I'm also trying to start a reading club as well with some incentives to come and participate.  I'm also working on some teacher training as none of the teachers where I am are trained, and creating visual aids for the walls that can help the students learn.

Things That Would Be Incredibly Nice For Our Projects
* Large colorful permanent markers!
* Pencils (many kids don't have)
* Pencil sharpeners (no kid has - they use razor blades)
* Erasers (another thing many kids don't have)
* Flashcards (mainly addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, but also colors, shapes, etc.)
* Medical info pamphlets from doctors and dentists (any topic, but nutrition and basic well being are good)
* Early Readers for kids (any level - Hello Reader, I Can Read, Step Into Reading, etc - we have none)
* Stickers
* Kids songs and rhymes to teach the kids
* Education skillbooks for phonics!
* Small and INEXPENSIVE toys for kids (I'm talking from the dollar store or party city): balls, puzzles, balloons, bracelets, figurines, hair ties, hand held games, small writing books, colored pencils, small packs of crayons, bookmarks, stencils, colorful chalk, etc.

Things That Would Be Nice For Just Us
* Games for 2+ players (We have Uno, but Skipbo, Phase 10, anything like that or that we can teach others)
* Magazines, news articles, comics, etc. - especially news from around the world
* Guitar tabs (Paul says thank you so much for those he has
* Soup packets/mixes without MSG (non-existent in Guyana)
* Scraps of cloth (Alyssa's supporting a woman in starting a women's sewing group and is trying to learn some skills)
* Taco seasoning, pasta seasonings, any packet seasonings (we'll make it work)