Today was our first distribution in Togo,
at a primary school site named Klounou.
We gave out 500 bedkits; two and half hours drive from Lome.
The children were lined up with their new
outfits – t-shirts of yellow, blue, red, orange, and green with a bluish-green
skirt (for girls) and shorts (for boys) when we arrived. After blowing some bubbles and singing some
songs, we began the photo session.
At first the children were unsure what was
happening…but it soon became clear that the children that were leaving were
leaving with a gift (of a bedkit and backpack).
As I turned the children around to hang
their new backpack on their tiny little shoulders, I could see the happiness in
their smiles. Next we handed over the
bedkit and depending on how big (or small) the children were they hoisted the
bedkit up on their heads or in their two hands and went to join up with their
waiting parents. Now it was the parents’
time to smile. Although the day was warm
and muggy, the temperature was 34 degrees and felt like 44 degrees . When you
see everyone leaving with a smile on their face you are reminded that it is
worth every drop of sweat.
After many years partnering with Sleeping
Children as a member of the Rotary club of Dhaka in Bangladesh it was a dream
come true to experience a distribution in another country.
