Celebration day by Sara Vicente

Today cannot be described in any other way other than Celebration Day. From dawn to dusk the communities spoiled us and showered us with joy and gifts, always with a smile and a song.

We started the day in the Banhine community where we joined the celebration (99% in changana dialect) of the Pentecost Day. From this point forward we didn’t stop celebrating. With lots of dancing, oranges, peanuts and capolanas (traditional cloths) we left the community with the car loaded. We talked about the importance of children’s studying and having the support of their families to enable them to make their future Little Gestures. Father Amine talked about the importance of charity. Everybody should give a little of what they have, if they do not have money they could provide other things. For instance a community Mom could, at the end of her day, help the little children practicing their ABC. It was a lively joyful visit filled with good ideas for the children’s future.

We continued to Nhancutse, where the party continued under the orders of Mom Florda. The children were thrilled and we joined the dancing. There were some absent children for health reasons but most of them was healthy and happy. We assessed the monthly basic basket and moved on for another celebration, this time in Bungane.

Bungane’s community is smaller, just over 20 children. It is led by Mom Marta who appears to be not only the coordinator but also the family of each children under the programme. We realised with concern the high rates of children with malaria and Mom Marta agreed on the need to provide more training to the families on the use of mosquito nets they already have.

Before ending our day, and after another dancing session, we visited the Bungane well which is unstoppable in the true sense of the word. They start collecting water from 5 a.m. and the last container is filled around 5 p.m. 12 hours of relentless work, in a time where the draught seems to make the job harder. I couldn’t resist joining Mano Arnaldo helping him to fill a container. After 3 minutes we admired the strength of women and girls who secure the provision of water for all the population.

We successfully concluded our day, as always surprised by the local strength to fight adversity!