A Moment in Time: Sharing Gifts in Cape Verde

It was July of 2003.  Barely one month married, Brett Bachman and his wife Hadley were on their way to Cape Verde West Africa, for a two year assignment in the Peace Corps. Their job assignment in the town of Tarrafal was to teach English at the local school-with 40 kids to a classroom and few resources for teaching.  It was a daunting job, but it was theirs, and they poured themselves into it.

As they began their second year of service, they also began to think about the project that would be part of their final year.  They were very much aware of the “library” room at the school. Its only claim to the name was a floor lined with boxes of books.  After talking to the school administration, Brett and Hadley identified the making of a library as their project and began to dream with the staff, of bookshelves, desks and chairs, a copier and a computer. This, of course, all came at a cost, and that is when Eighth Street enters the story.

The Mission and Service Commission identified their library project as the White Gift for December of 2004 and this congregation was very generous. Along with funds that the Peace Corps asked the School to pledge, the dream of a library with resources and a usable place to access them was realized, and all but completed by the time Brett and Hadley completed their service in July of 2005.

Over the years, Eighth Street has been responsive to many needs. Not often has there been opportunity to see the fruits of those gifts.  But in the summer of 2012, Brett and Hadley returned to Cape Verde and to the town of Tarrafal. Students, now grown, called to them by name, and at the school, they were introduced to new staff as the couple who had made the library. It was obvious to Brett and Hadley that this library had been not only appreciated, but well used. A school in a town in a third world country had a need, a young couple had a dream of meeting that need and this church partnered with them to make that dream a reality. And the gift lives on.

Source: Lynette Bachman.