Our friendship with the Pan American School of Bahia, which goes way back to 2006, has always been marked by extraordinary warmth and cordiality. Although PASB caters to the elite class in Salvador, they have always demonstrated an acute awareness of the problems in the city’s poor and degraded neighborhoods, and their many community service programs have effectively assisted the least fortunate local communities. Over the years, they have supported the ICBIE by donating educational materials and computers that have made a real difference in our work.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of a wonderful teacher named Maria Mandolini, last May PASB organized a Fashion Show on our behalf, and this week we received a generous donation from the proceeds of that event. Their gift couldn’t have come at a better time: our coffers have been running on empty for months, and their generosity will assure our survival through the remainder of this difficult and challenging year.
In order to thank them for their crucial assistance, yesterday Pietro and I made the long trip across town to Patamares to visit their beautiful campus, where we were greeted by former AOSR principal Tom Connolly, who, by a stroke of good luck (for us and for him, too), has just assumed that position at PASB, by the ever-enthusiastic Maria Mandolini, and the kind and empathetic Headmaster, Dennis Klumpp. Not only did they receive us with hospitality and warmth, but they were eager to discuss new plans for further collaboration in support of our work. That conversation continued again today, when Daniele and I made a second trip, because Daniele was eager to salute his former boss before returning to Rome tomorrow.
Words cannot express our gratitude, and we look forward to building upon this wonderful friendship.
Roy Zimmerman
