Dear friends,

Fall has finally come: heat and humidity were just unbearable to me. Summer here in Botswana begins in November end ends in March. This season is marked by very high temperatures reaching a peak of 100-104°F and by heavy, spectacular thunderstorms. The clear sky suddenly fills with threatening, rain-burdened clouds bringing short but torrential rainfalls. And the evening thunderstorm illuminating all around through the almost blinding flashes of lightning is really impressive, it nearly makes you shiver. Rain is a real blessing for the Kalahari: the groundwater tables fill, the trees and shrubs turn green, the plants and the animals will be able to stand the following dry season. Pula, Pula!!

Water is like manna from heaven for Botswana, and for this reason the national currency is called Pula. This Tswana word means not only “rain” but also “blessing”, emphasising the fact that rain is a real blessing to the Botswana people. Moreover, any official speech always ends with the word Pula, in this case meaning “God bless you!”

Thousands of different insects, including mosquitoes, fly all around during the summer months. One afternoon, while I was in the courtyard with some children and the teacher to paint under the shed, the first raindrops fell: the thunderstorm was coming. Muttering to myself, I struggled with the mosquitoes flying around me to show their affection. H. looked at me with an amused expression and a sly smile. ‘H, why are the mosquitoes stinging only me? They could bite you a little bit too!’, I said for fun. From his look I realised he was thinking, then he said to me, ‘Ouma, maybe mosquitoes don’t see me because I’m black!’

The new school year began last January: many of the nursery kids went to preschool, while some of the older children are now attending the elementary school in D’kar. D. is one of these, and she has been named best pupil of the first classes. Generally speaking, it is not an effort for “our” children to fit in school, in comparison to the others: such results make me glad and hopeful.

Twenty-eight children aged 2 and a half/3 years old have arrived at the Paolo Zanichelli’s Children’s Home recently, which means that now the Home cares for over 110 children every day. They are really a lot, but how could you just send them away?

The children came back all in good health conditions from the long summer vacations, apart from a couple of exceptions (however much fewer than last year), which hints at a growing awareness in their families. Nevertheless, AIDS keeps on taking a heavy tall of victims: sadly, four children lost their mums in the first two months of the year.

Our project for women, “Basadi Bothagka” (“independent, hard-working women”), is going very well too: two mums and a grandmother of our children are currently involved and they are learning to sew some beautiful tapestries. I must confess that they are all very good and precise, they learn easily and attend the lessons regularly.

Thank you so much for all your support. Love,

Cecilia