Dear friends,

After the Christmas holidays the children came back safe and sound, in good health condition and quite clean from their villages. This represents a big progress on the part of their families.

Only one little girl did not feel well: she had lost weight, was anaemic and her scalp was full of infected scabs. She is an orphaned, deserted child. Now, she is fine.

Dear Friends,

The new school year began in January. A lot of new children presented themselves, but I could not accept them all. Anyway, we managed to welcome quite a good deal of new children thanks to the Foundation “Aiutare i bambini” of Milan, which had donated us another school bus. Our children are now 56 in all. Most of them come from D’kar and neighbourhoods. They are either orphans or poor, needy children.

The first thing to do is make them have a shower, together with a careful check-up of their skin and, above all, of their scalp, due to possible fungi, infected stings and so on. Then, one after the other, they go to the wardrobe, where each of them chooses two sets of clothes and a pair of shoes. This sort of ritual takes place three times a year and is a moment of joy for all the children. For me, instead, it is really hard work. Our stock of clothing and shoes has been decreasing. All clothes and shoes have been donated by Italian and Swiss donors. To all the people who collect clothing, thank you very much.

It is not easy to make parents fill in the application forms for kindergarten. I toured several villages for three days together with Sarah, our teacher, who can speak many local languages and dialects. At first, I wanted to go by car, but, after two of our tyres punctured, I decided we’d better go on foot. We started our “pilgrimage” in the hot sun, wearing flip-flops ? it is too hot to wear shoes. Walking through thousands of paths, covered with stones and thorny plants, and treading on red-hot sand, we visited a lot of families. But the question was not that easy: somebody was not at home, someone else did but was drunk, somebody kept on chatting and did not let us go. People are generally kind, welcoming and grateful. Another problem is the spelling of names. Tsiqa, for example, can be written in different ways: Tsixma, Tsic’gma, and no doubt other forms are possible. No matter the spelling, to them this will always be their child, but for me it is a mess. In the end we went back home with our forms filled in and hot feet full of thorns.

We have bought school uniforms, so that the children are always clean during their stay at the Day Care Centre and we have enough time to wash and dry the dirty clothes some of them are wearing when they arrive in the morning. They all wear khaki trousers and a t-shirt: red for the girls, blue for the boys.

We have divided the children into two classes: the older, who will attend elementary school next year, go to kindergarten, while small children go to nursery. Children are taught basic things during the first term, like: going to the toilet, washing one’s hands, brushing one’s teeth, getting dressed, holding a pencil or a teaspoon in their hands, how to zip up and fasten buttons, how to lace one’s shoes and so on. They draw, paint, play with Playdoh and learn to use blunt tip scissors. The teachers tell short tales and teach the children words and simple sentences in English, like: “My name is Dabe…I stand up….I sit down…I am hungry…” and so on. A couple of days ago I looked at our little Ruta while she was going to the toilet right in the middle of our nice garden, repeating what she had just learn: “I am going to the toilet!!!”

We spend a half morning outdoors, in our small playground: the children play, dance, sing, play football or do some physical exercise.

I take the older children (together with one of the moms or aunts) to a nearby swimming pool once a week. This is when all children do have the most fun. Last time Tentu told me he was very worried about Rasha, one of our mums, who weighs between 90 and 100 kilos. “Ouma, how will you rescue Rasha if she is about to drown? You are not enough strong and we cannot help you!”.

The four oldest children among the resident ones go to primary school in D’kar. Annah, Katherina and Tentu have made it to the second class, while Joe has to repeat the year. He is a hyperkinetic child: he’s too physically active and lacks concentration. Years ago, when my children were small, I did not have much patience to help them with their homework. And right now Joe is trying my patience. Annah, instead, has been nominated as best first year pupil, while Tentu has been awarded a prize for good behaviour. Katherina could make more efforts, but she is a lazy little girl.

Our kids give me great satisfaction. Everyone more or less is making a great deal of progress.

Problems never lack, of course, and there is always something which does not work properly. Our project has been improving, the work to be done is a lot and we need you all. Many innocent children throughout the world suffer, are helpless and need help. They are the future of the world.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support.

Love,

Cecilia