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Birthday Celebrations – Part II

So I finally got outside and I could not believe my eyes. The children are singing in changana (the local dialect), asking for “Mana Sara” until I show up. And then they sing “Here she is, now we are happy!”. Suddenly I realized the children in front of me were not from the Escolinha but from the Orphanage. They did the trip just to celebrate my birthday.

But the children of the Escolinha were there too, some 100, many had not seen me in a couple of years given I often come during their holiday period. Grown up, little men and women came to greet me happy to see that this volunteer came back and kept her promise.




They sang and danced for me for more than an hour, songs of love, of joy, of happy wishes and most of all, songs of gratitude. I can not help but feel unworthy of all they sing for me but in that special moment they are really happy that I chose to spend my birthday with them. And I felt sad of all I wished I was home the day before.


They invited me to dance with them, lift me up, give me presents that they made. There are postcards on the walls that they wrote and painted, baskets that they produced and finally they bring this huge birthday cake. Some of them had never seen such a cake before. And their eyes were shining with the thought of having a tiny piece of that white cover that looked so appealing.


They had lunch and even soft drinks as a celebration. Some of them, the bottle is bigger than they hands can handle, but all had their very own. After lunch, the big cake was split in tiny little cubes that we gave to them one by one. So tiny that we managed to do it all again and give them a second portion. As you would give them the cake for them to try, you could see the look of indecision trying to figure out whether they wanted a bigger piece or one that was filled with that white thing they did not know.


Because it was a day of celebration, they still got lollypops and whistles and the party went on in the play-garden. They would not get tired of singing, dancing, playing, jumping, whistling. It was a bigger party than my 18 year old fancy celebrations in Stones!

As they left, I had a mix of emotions that is hard to describe. I guess I knew I would never again have this day in my life and, at the same time, I knew the distance from the ones I love back home had just increased because it will be difficult for them to understand what happened in Escolinha do Andre that day.
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