Trucker Buddy International truly has an international reach. Just ask the group’s president, Linda Caffee. She and her husband, Bob, owner operators with Caffee Enterprises, recently visited France to connect with their Trucker Buddy students in person. It was the experience of a lifetime.
How It Works
Trucker Buddy is a nonprofit organization that helps educate elementary students through a pen pal relationship with truck drivers. In the process, it burnishes the truck driver’s public image.
“Trucker Buddy brings a lot of attention to the trucking industry in a positive way,” Bob Caffee says. “I’ve always been safety conscious, but with Trucker Buddy I’m more conscious about making sure I look nice while I’m driving. I want to give the impression that I’m a professional and that a trucking job is a good job to have.”
Stephanie Derrien-Guivarch teaches sixth, seventh and eighth grade English in Saint-Malo, France, situated off the Normandy coast. One day, an advertisement for Trucker Buddy caught her attention. Corresponding with American truck drivers would be a great way for her students to learn English, she thought.
The Caffees correspond with Derrien-Guivarch’s students for five years now.
In the process, the students have become more proficient in English and have come to appreciate trucking as a profession.
“We send postcards or pictures of things we’ve seen on the road. Then the students do reports on them in English,” Linda explains. “They love reading the postcards. This whole experience has changed their attitude about learning English. It’s made it real for them.”
The Caffees have sent postcards and photos from regions across the United States: the Arizona desert, Chicago, Philadelphia. Through the Caffees, the French students are getting a taste of it all.
The French Life
Two years ago, Linda mentioned to Derrien-Guivarch that she and Bob would like to visit the students in person. They set about finding a way to make that happen. The four-day visit finally took place last spring.
For the Caffees, it was a thrill.
With the students and their teacher, the Caffees explored the Channel Islands, visiting landmarks occupied by the Germans in World War II. They went to the zoo with the seventh-grade class and visited Derrien-Guivarch’s house in Saint-Malo, a fortressed city.
Trailed by a local TV crew, the Caffees toured the walled city with students and later visited their inner-city school to meet staff and eat lunch.
At every turn, the students strove to speak English with the Caffees and in exchange teach them a little French.
Most striking of all was the water-surrounded abbey Mont Saint-Michel. The Caffees visited the beautiful landmark on the last day of their visit with the sixth-grade class.
“Built by hand, the abbey stands at the top of a mountain,” Linda says. “It was the most amazing thing we saw. Monks still live there. It’s fully operational after all these years. You just think, ‘I can’t believe we’re doing this.’ The whole trip was like that.”
Most moving was the parents’ night the school hosted. Over appetizers, wine and hard cider in the school cafeteria, the Caffees mingled with more than 100 of the students’ parents. It was an emotional gathering, especially because the parents were at first reluctant to have their children participate in the Trucker Buddy program.
Since then, much has changed.
“They thanked us over and over and over again for everything we have done for their kids,” Linda says. “It was really emotional. They said it was the biggest parent turnout they’d ever had for anything at that school.”
Parents brought gifts for the Caffees and talked about the pride their children take in their Trucker Buddy projects.
“Trucker Buddy has boosted the kids’ confidence,” Linda says. “Theirs is the only school in the region with a Trucker Buddy program, and it makes them unique.”
Overall, the trip transformed the Caffees.
It gave them a new perspective on the struggles the students face and how they help the students learn.
Says Bob: “I just think any driver would like to get into this program. It really makes you feel good to see that you’re making a difference in these kids’ lives. It opens your eyes to things.”
Sometimes trucking is more than just a job. What eye-opening experiences have you had? Join our community here and share them with us.