Submitted photo: They are not dressed like Santa Claus, but these children from the Webster City Daycare learned a great lesson as they chose the books to send to a school in Dominica. Above in back from left to right are Frankie Battazzi, Kymber Long, Emi Wright, Kamia Askvig, Ahsoka Leiviska, Brantley VanEvery, James Kenney, Bentley Claude, Aurora Calles, Zephyr Wardellm, RJ Goodner and in front, Emmanuel Ortega-Agudelo. This is one of several classrooms who participated in sharing their books.

Christmas came early for some students in Dominica when children from Webster City decided to help them by sending books to this small island in the Eastern Caribbean Sea.

They learned a valuable lesson about giving when these children from the Webster City Daycare helped choose books to help stock a school library whose books were damaged from moisture and mold.

It started in October when Hillary Eide, the Webster City Daycare director, read a plea from her cousin who is serving in Dominica as part of the Peace Corps.

Tess Styler, Eides’ cousin who lives in Libertyville, Illinois, was assigned to work as a library aide there. When she arrived, the school that serves children of all ages, had a small supply of books that were damp and moldy. Her first task was to throw those away and find a way to replace them.

When Eide got the message, they decided to involve the children in the classrooms. They were told about the children that lived far from Iowa, and asked to choose books that they could share with them. All the classrooms, ages 2, 3 and 4 participated in choosing books that they would give away.

“I wanted our kids to physically see and feel what they are giving away and physically pick out something to give away,” said Eide. ” They all got to help put them in the boxes and be a part of it.”

When the classroom received back the photos, the kids at the Webster City Daycare were excited.

“They wanted to know who the kids were, where they were going,” Eide said, “And they wanted to know their names.”

They didn’t understand why they were sending books to children that none of them knew.

“This involved a lot of explaining,” Eide said, helping them understand that there are people and children who don’t have access to all the things we have here in the United States.”

Once they understood, they were happy to share some really great books with other kids.

The school in Dominic teaches children from preschool through sixth grade.

“Their reading levels are a lot lower than our kids, said Eide, “Their fifth and sixth graders are reading about two years behind our classes.”

Styler will be serving a total of 27months in Dominica. She arrived in July of 2025 and will remain there until August 2027.

“I always knew I wanted my work to be meaningful and surrounded by in-person engagement and connection,” she told her cousin Eide, “I applied to anywhere in the world within the education sector because I have always had a positive experience with school and wanted to be a part of children’s experiences as well.”

Styler created a wish list on Amazon for others to help out with books for this school. The link is:

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/CG9WKHQAPSN9?ref_=wl_fv_le

Because of their location on an island, the humidity will always be an issue. They will always need more books. There will be a need to replace them regularly because the paper draws moisture.

And hopefully there will always be someone who is willing to help.