{"id":9161,"date":"2024-11-03T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-03T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kids-of-africa.com\/?p=9161"},"modified":"2024-10-30T09:41:36","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T08:41:36","slug":"happy-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kids-of-africa.com\/en\/happy-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dear friends<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There it was again: our village birthday party. It gets more beautiful every year. Why more beautiful? Because it gains in depth and commitment from year to year. I would like to report on this with a few brief thoughts, snapshots and quotes from our prot\u00e9g\u00e9s.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

From childhood to maturity: the gift of community<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What I mean by the depth and commitment of our annual rituals is the following:<\/strong>\u00a0Children are children. That is their happiness and their gift. Curious and open-minded, they discover the world with all their senses. In the early years, this usually happens in an environment protected by their parents. Fortunately, this was also the case for our prot\u00e9g\u00e9s.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Over the years, children become teenagers, their radius expands and they look for boundaries that they can cross. This often causes tension. And that’s a good thing. Because tension creates energy, which is vital. But a protective, loving look from their parents is also important for teenagers. Even if they think they have it all figured out.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A few more years later, teenagers become young adults. Then they sometimes realize that perhaps they didn’t understand everything when they were teenagers. This valuable experience helps them to mature. They often develop depth, new skills and sharpen their sense of values. I was recently so deeply moved and delighted by all of this in Kids of Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For example, Benjamin (21),<\/strong>\u00a0our promising law student, wrote to me that he wanted to use all the money that Kids of Africa gave him for a better Africa. He wrote that if he succeeded, we should always consider it his \u201clove letter to Kids of Africa\u201d. Do you see what I mean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Run for Fun<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But don’t get me wrong:<\/strong> at Kids of Africa, the children are still in the majority. Kids of Africa is a children’s village – even though I was so touched by the maturity of our eldest children. Because it shows me that our youngest prot\u00e9g\u00e9s are on the right path. It has to do with love, values, education and also with our sporting lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of which:<\/strong> the day after our birthday party, we also organized our annual \u201cRun for Fun<\/strong>\u201d. This year’s motto was \u201cRun for hygiene and water safety\u201d. Our prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Reagan, who is learning IT and graphic design at the school, took lots of pictures and produced the following video of our run. Take a look for yourself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n