day 30

I'm in Accra now. I visited the city this afternoon, but my thoughts are still focused on this morning when I had to say goodbye to Have, the friends I made and especially the kids.

I hope you won't mind if today I talk about myself and what this experience has meant.

There is no need to say that this morning was really emotional. I went into all the classroom to say bye, receiving many hugs and sad faces. I left my classroom for last. They knew the moment was coming, so when I entered they all went to the door to prevent me going out and they started saying "Sir don't go!", "I will miss you!", "Bring your family here!", "Stay till you're a grandpa!". I started to say bye to them one by one and seeing that almost all of them were crying, it was impossible to keep my eyes dry. It was really hard to go and on the road to Accra I had time to think.

I'm sure I did my best here but I also think that I received more than what I gave.

The countless smiles, the kind availability, the warm welcomes. I felt at home for one month. I had been living like them and I never felt poor. I was "Yevu", while raising one hand was enough to make a kid happy. 

If you don't learn here how important the simple things are that reside all around us, you'll never learn it. From now on I'll just have to close my eyes to see their little hands and receive some of that positive attitude.

Everybody please, today, think about something that makes you smile and be grateful.