Just a few snippets from my diary
Friday 25th July
A rather long trip in Paolo’s van to Goru passing through lovely countryside. Unfortunately the
weather was damp and rainy and there was mud almost everywhere. Finally we arrived at the compound, but we had to get out of the van and walk to the lodgings as the track was so full of mud that we almost got stuck. We were followed by about thirty children, adorable dirty little urchins!
In front of our rooms there was a large muddy lake full of croaking frogs and God knows what else.
We were six in a room and started preparing our beds, first trying to attatch the mosquito nets down from the ceiling, then unfolding our sleeping bags on the beds right under the nets. They all looked like butterfly nets, and we looked like sleeping agels caught up in them!
Friday 1st August
Rather cloudy damp day. Children arrive on the compound really early and play in the mud waiting for us to start the lessons. It’s incredible, they have their best clothes on, but they are torn, muddy, worn out, stained, full of holes, wet, stinky, too big or too small for them. Many of the little ones have dribbling noses, filthy nails and sticky rough dirty hands. It sounds impossible but it is all true.
The one thing that amazes me, is the hair style of the girls, the way they plait their hair in hundreds of different ways. Incredible geometric designes in plaits on their scalps and then their hair hanging down in little pig tails clustered toghether or sticking out in all directions. The children’s hair styles are extremely creative and sometimes decorated with colourful ribbons scattered all over their heads.
It must be difficult with very crispy hair to create these works of art and apparently it takes hours and a lot of patience to elaborate them. Mothers seem to care for the children’s head, but not for the rest of their bodies.
So many of these little children need so much love and affection, you can see it by the way they want to touch you, hold your hand, pull up close to your legs and hug you. Unfortunately I could not hug them all at once as we had 120 little children in all.
Carroll Mortera
