Jog-a-thon & O Sapo e o Canto do Melro

Things have been pretty turbulent lately. We have been experiencing constant power fluctuations since last week and also the internet connection is bad or none at times. On Thursday week ago Maarten injured his leg. Nothing extraordinary. The day after it became a bit swollen but it seemed to be nothing alarming.

On Saturday morning M’s school was holding the 2nd annual charity Jog-a-ton to support the Viana orphanage.

Because Maarten has collected some money he insisted to walk symbolically at least one lap. It was necessary for the sake of the poor kid’s food, as he stated. Walk not jog! But once at the start line he forgot about his pain and was running with the others. He ran for second lap but could hardly reach the finish line. His wound actually burst open.

Maarten was very proud when Sister Dominga herself comforted him and thanked him for his effort but I felt bad. We had to hurry to the clinic. Luckily the bones were fine but his leg was badly infected. Since then we've been playing nurse and patient twice a day and it hasn’t been without tears and screaming.

Also this week we went to visit the poor community that I’ve already mentioned before. I volunteered to support the kid’s literacy, to help them with reading and writing. I know that this might sound crazy surely because my knowledge of Portuguese is very basic. But there is no public school in the neighborhood and the children are very thankful for any attention. According to the community chief there are some 980+ children of all ages in this tiny village! So, honestly, I didn’t really know where to start. I went to the school library and found some children’s book.

I even found one of Maarten’s favorites, from the Dutch “Kikker” series! And of course I had to do my homework first. I had no idea if the kids can read at all! I was surprised! Some of them were excellent readers but some couldn’t read even in their teen years. Not only children but also adults joined us and it was a lot of fun!