This message has been long overdue. I was meaning to send it two years ago when Loompaland made its début, and when, by pure luck, I decided to enroll my son in your summer program. It may have been pure luck two years ago, but it certainly isn’t luck this year. Your enthusiasm, transparency, positive energy and constant challenging programs make you pioneers in my eyes, and in the eyes of my son, who has been bragging in front of his friend about being an Oompa and nagging to go to Loompaland since last summer, when we unfortunately did not make it to Lebanon. To be honest I was skeptical at first. The program you promised at the beginning of this summer was very ambitious. I felt you were almost setting yourselves up for failure! The values, the activities, the fun, the learning, the online application (and all its components from the journal to the bus tracking, to messages…), the training of the Loompas, paying it forward… so so much! I thought to myself “they’re really not making it easy on themselves! Will they be accountable for all these promises? And over 200 Oompas on their hands!”… I should have known better than to doubt you though because you deliver… EVERY SINGLE DAY!! My son Hassan is not one to enjoy any kind of disciplined activities, he likes to do things his way… but not with Loompaland! He is up first thing in the morning, ready for the day ahead. To him he is having fun… loads of fun, making new friends, going to water parks and to the wild, playing sports, music, drama… But to me I see beyond, and I am so proud. Proud of the conversations we have after a day at Loompaland, proud of what is being instilled in my son: core values often not taught at school, but crucial for any boy who will grow up to be a good human being and a good citizen bringing about positive change in his environment. I’m proud of what he is learning as a mother, as an educator and as a Lebanese citizen. Your ability to give and the way you deal with those kids is not usual in this day and age, it is actually rare. The way you high-five the Oompas, how you drop down to their eye-level when you talk to them, your smiles, your patience, your kindness and undivided attention… many details that may be small, but that make you big. Big in the eyes of the parents who want the best for their children, and who are ever so grateful for the opportunities you are offering their precious ones. I wish you luck today and every day, now and in the future, and I will be looking forward to the remaining activities you are planning for this summer.