Santiago island - Cape Verde - Heading back to Praia - The 23rd of November 2014 (evening)

I couldn't believe we had been able to handle all the presents to the children within the limited amount of time we had, though we didn't manage to engage in longer conversations with each of the children, as we might have liked.

 

I don't think we would have been able to accomplish all we did, had it not been for Mr. Meno (the gardian of the pension) and Marlene (the cook), who did all they could to "schedule" my stay. I was particularly happy to get to know the child (Maurício) his wife gave birth to whilst I was in Portugal  

Because it had unexpectedly rained and most people had taken to the fields we had to wait for quite a while till Sr. Meno managed to convince a public "hiace" driver to take us into town (paying for three places taking into account the baggage we had with us), despite having had to change at a stopping point along the way (Pedra Badejo) so as to get onto another bus heading to the final destination - Praia.

As we got back to the hotel we were staying at in the capital city Praia and as I was organising the letters and souvenirs the children had handed me for the "godparents" I thought of all the people who helped me keep this project "alive", particularly those (Mr. Breitenstein, Maria João Leite, Inês, Isabel Mègre, Beta, "Amigas de Portugal", Cecília, Dulce, Rosarinho and Adelaide), who provided me with extra money to cover for the expense regarding children who would otherwise not have got anything nor even their school needs ensured, as well as clothes (Beta, Dulve and Cecília); the "godparents" I have always been able to count on; João de Barros and Rui Neves who helped us through the check-in procedures at Lisbon Airport, the Mayor of Calheta who had his driver collect us from Praia to drive us to Calheta; Erica, Leinira and Tarine, who helped us immensely in the distribution procedure. I can't help mentionin my Cape Verdian students and friends who many years ago taught me what solidarity was about and were indirectly responsible for my love of Cape Verde and its people.