April 2014
Dear friends, dear supporters,
Here I am, finally travelling! I can’t wait to see “our children” in the Kalahari. Twenty hours have passed since I left my home in Cocquio and it’s another six hours before arriving at my destination.
Currently, I am in a small plane on the way to Maun in Botswana. Underneath us, an immense expanse of land of varying shades of green stretches as far as the eye can see. In the rainy season it seems as though nature replenishes itself and breathes, everything growing, everything exploding with life. I love my Africa, she is wonderful … and I also love her peoples.
I am full of good intentions; I feel that I have a duty to still do much more for these people, for these children whose eyes are black, black.
I make myself a promise not to get discouraged by banal issues, to always want to listen, to try and understand and not to lose patience!
As I get off the plan in Maun, a gust of wind, extremely hot and humid, slaps us in the face. My three pot-bellied suitcases are the first to arrive; nothing is missing. They attract a great deal of attention because they are red, blue and purple in color and altogether they weigh 72 kg! I notice the customs lady eyeing me.
Given a number of unpleasant experiences with customs on previous trips, I know that it is best for me not to go first – it would be like jumping directly into the wolf’s den! I am agitated! “Calm down, Cecil,” I tell myself, “You wouldn’t want to have heart trouble over 38 pairs of new shoes (gifted by Pianeta Calzature di Caravate), 25 T-shirts to sell on behalf of Mosaico Euroafricano, pants, shirts and children’s toys, fabric for the women’s project, 3 kg of prohibited parmiggiano Reggiano cheese, another 3 kg of coffee and the extremely prohibited salami!”
I tuck myself and my cart in the middle of a group of French tourists who are waiting for their luggage. The woman in front of me turns around and asks: “Would you like to go ahead? I am still waiting for a suitcase!”
“So am I,” I say, lying!
She turns back toward her husband and, in French, says, “Mon Dieu, did you see how many suitcases this woman has!” Finally, the group starts moving towards the customs officer. My heart is racing, but with head held high, without looking either left or right, I follow the group and walk under the sign indicating, “Nothing to declare”!! This time it all went well!
Cuoma, the driver, is waiting for me with a wide smile. His son, Abraham, 17 years old and very handsome, is also with him. The ends of his dreadlocks are tied up with yellow wool and his nails are painted in various colours: red, turquoise, yellow and white!
We embark on our trip on the Trans-Kalahari highway. The road is all straight from here on in, the horizon is infinite and there are bloated black clouds threatening us with a thunderstorm.
It is very hot, the AC doesn’t work – oh well!
There is no traffic at all; there is never any traffic; we meet more cows and donkeys in the middle of the road than cars on it.
The huge cloud above us unleashes itself – it is pouring down.
It is impossible to see the road, but Cuoma continues on calmly, even though the windshield wipers don’t work! Again – oh well! Finally, we stop. We would need pliers to tighten the screw on the wipers, but we don’t have any. Very slowly, we move forward – under heavy showers and in the middle of donkeys and cows – until we reach the next village where, after a long search, we finally find the necessary tool. I am tired, I have had enough! But at least the windshield wipers work!
The last leg of the trip is on a dirt road. We find it completely flooded and it is still raining; there is water everywhere. Thousands of small frogs are jumping around in the puddles.
In the distance, I spot a group of Oryx and Kudu.
We proceed slowly, and after 26 hours and a half of travel, I finally arrive at my house in Africa.
The children welcome me with screams and shouts: “Ouma, Ouma!” They jump in my arms, give me lots of kisses and with their small black hands, they touch my white hair. The teachers clap their hands, singing and dancing, and the colossal cook takes me in her arms and lifts me up in the air. It is lovely being welcomed! I am extremely satisfied with their work; I find everything in order. They have made enormous strides forward since they started working here.
There is still so much to be done, and we all, together, want to continue and want to improve upon our work. We must ensure that the children of D’kar attend our nursery school in order to guarantee them a better start in life.
Maryna, my local colleague, left in early January.
For the time being, my son, Andreas, and his partner, Charlcie, who work not far from us, will take care of the school’s administration and supervise its activities. Anna Re, our colleague in Milan, recently travelled to Botswana twice in order to help us in this transition phase, as well as to deal with some issues related to the Children’s Home. There are a number of persons interested in replacing Maryna, and we will decide with care. In all cases, we would like to try to slowly hand over greater responsibility to our local staff, with the objective of making them autonomous in the future.
My health permitting, I hope to continue coming to Botswana regularly. This project must move forward and continue to thrive – it is simply too important to the impoverished people of D’kar.
A big thank you to all of our collaborators who put their integrity, capacities and commitment at the service of this project … and who do it with all of their heart!
I thank you all for your support and I send you a warm embrace,
Cecilia