So much goes into the Adopt-A-School (AAS) program yet few people see more than the one-week delivery process and think it begins and ends there. In reality, it takes most of the year to prepare, plan, stage and execute the delivery of books and school supplies to over 4,000 students and teachers who live along the Amazon and Napo Rivers.

In April, once the year's deliveries are completed and the volunteers have returned home, work for the next year immediately begins. We agree on delivery dates and plan the next volunteer projects. We discuss themes for our custom notebooks to decide the most important environmental topics that should be highlighted on the back and inside covers. All the data that was collected from the visits at delivery time are meticulously recorded and assessed for the following year's numbers. Inventory is taken of all leftover supplies and where appropriate, the surplus is given to community schools not officially in the AAS program but who have shown interest and responsibility towards educating their youth. The school supply order is calculated and the budget is crunched for any excess we may be able to carry over to the following year.

Once themes are decided for notebooks, our artist begins working on the drawings and presents ideas for our unique message. File folders for each community are updated, new ones are made and some are archived. During the summer after AAS deliveries, CONAPAC hosts teacher and community service workshops. Through the year we visit communities to observe how materials are being used and offer support where needed. In the fall, we do our yearly school/teacher/community evaluation and decide which schools will stay in the program and which will not be included for the following year. This is not an easy process and we take dropping a village from our program seriously. When you consider the communities working hard to be in the program, it's only fair to eliminate those that are not meeting their contractual agreements. Our staff and resources are tight and we want to work with the communities who are the most proactive and interested in improving their residents' lives by participating in the AAS program.

By the end of the year all supplies and notebooks are ordered. In March, all school supply bags are assembled and book packets are made by locals, who are temporarily hired to do this work. The process of making as many as 60 school supply bags and over 4,000 book packets takes more than six weeks to complete.

Logistics are complicated when there are no roads or stores in the jungle. Everything has to be in the right place at the right time and be in position for delivery when the volunteers arrive in April. We cover a 200 mile range where our current 57 communities are located. This takes weeks of organizing but somehow it gets done each year. As we enter the 19th year of Adopt-A-School the world has changed but the educational needs of children have not. Despite computers and internet access around the world, kids still need something as basic as a piece of paper, a pencil and a committed teacher. We're proud to provide these basic learning tools and with our donors' help we plan to do so for many years to come. Thank you for your part, see you in 2012 and beyond!

For more information about the Adopt-A-School program, please visit www.conapac.org/adopt.

What wonderful donors we have. They are so creative and so committed to the Adopt-A-School program, even going so far as to write a book with a portion of the proceeds benefiting CONAPAC. Recently released is Ann Hailey's charming book "Fishscale Girl" based on a real-life Yagua Indian child in the village of Palmeras II, which is located on a small stream of the Amazon River.

Pictured here is Rosita with a copy of the book. To order the Fishscale Girl:

On-line at www.CochiyPress.com/
One copy of the ($17.95 plus $2.00 shipping)
Book plus companion lesson plans ($23.90 plus $2.00 shipping)
Next-day shipping in 100% recyclable #2 and #4 packaging.
Libraries can order through email.

For every 75 books sold on-line, Cochiy Press supports one school through Adopt-a-School.

Visit www.FishscaleGirl.com, a commercial-free space for children.