Today, we returned to two of our oldest projects at A Little Gesture. A trip down memory lane that turned out to be a day full of plans for the future. Sometimes, we need to go back a few steps to look forward and re-energise the future. And so it was today.
Dancing with the little ones
Escolinha Flor da Infância is where our pre-school dream began in 2009. With the generous donation of a patron, we were able to build our first pre-school to house Vóvó Etelvina, who was teaching the children under a tree. Today, the school houses 70 children and, after “Vóvó” passed away, the school is in the hands of her daughter, Celeste. The transition to the next generation was not smooth, as many transitions are not. In the last few years, we have had moments of struggle with food shortages and teacher dissatisfaction.
Today, it was a relief (and an achievement) to arrive at the school and find the teachers thanking us for the training they are getting and the materials we are developing, while the cooks added a heartfelt thank you for the abundance of food.
Mission accomplished? Not quite.
Planning for impact
Food and education complete our first 2 pillars, and, as in everything, there is more work to be done to ensure we achieve an all-round long-term impact in the school. With a structured framework, it is inevitable to be more thorough in analysing our activities and our metrics, so we had our first deep-dive of the week into the 2 projects run at the school. Feed, educate, balance, accelerate, empower.
We discussed each activity, its worth, its flaws and its achievements. Benefiting from a solid team, we know we have a path ahead to further involve the families of the children and to ensure we provide the children with socio-development tools beyond the classroom. But we know we are on the right path. If only we could manage to finance the school maintenance to close the leaks in the roof!
While it feels a bit geeky to spend so long locked in an office with notepads and activity maps, a part of me is immensely proud of how far we have come. Spending time with the children is no doubt more fun, but it is the three hours we spent going through every detail of the school and planning the year ahead that allow us to truly change their lives. I am proud we can spend time looking into the future, rather than only solving the problems and “fires” of the past.
Going back to basics
Our second stop of the day was at the Escolinha do André, which, arguably, is where it all began. I did not start the sponsoring program because of Escolinha do André (instead, it was a group of Orphans in the area of Chiaquelane), but it was in the school where I lived for the 4 months that changed my life back in 2004. I was a volunteer in this school back then, and that is where I learned the ropes of the sponsoring program, where I got in touch with the everyday lives of the children, and where I realised that I could do so much.
That was the story I shared with the about 50 children and parents who were at the school to greet me. As the partnership faded in the last few years, I had struggled to personally meet with them, so it was good to be able to share the story, but also how we expect the sponsorship to work. At the end of the day, nothing happens without the child going to school. That is where it all needs to begin. I repeated my speech about each child and each family choosing whether they want to be part of this and seize this opportunity. I reiterated that we did not want to give up, even if they were not behaving so well, but first and foremost, they had to want to be part of this path.
Reigniting old partnerships
In the last few years, we have struggled to achieve good results from the Sponsoring Program in the school. So today, we sat down as a team to go through all the areas where we feel we can do a better job in this program. Again, we spend a few hours just going through the list of challenges, what we do in other projects and what best practices we can import here.
A key part of our discussion was really to get to the core of the struggle. Whilst best practices are key, especially as we have been operating for 20 years, the other large part of the equation is to be able to understand the local environment and how it is different from any other project where we operate in. Xai-Xai, where the school is located, is a real city. One that comes with the distractions and added challenges of keeping kids off the streets from begging or selling in informal markets. Either from their own will or on their parents’ behalf. It is this cultural understanding that allows us to identify what we can do next.
As we again go through our pillars, some immediate actions become clear. We know we need to attack school attendance and family interest first. We make a note about publishing rules of the road to issue to the families and remind everyone of what we are trying to achieve. The remaining activities around child intervention, after-school support, and social and cultural activities need to wait, even if we want to ensure they remain on our horizon. We discuss how we can best work together, and there is a glimpse of hope into re-igniting a new form of partnership with the nuns at the school. I can’t help but feel just an extra bit of warmth in my heart.
20 years ago, I wrote a song for the school. It read something along the lines of
Once I was lost, and then I found
that there was a place for me at Escolinha do André
That is the spirit that we are seeking to reignite in every child and family again. And it feels like it is more possible as a team working together than ever before.
Going back in time has its advantages. It is by analysing and reflecting on how things have evolved that we can see where crossroads have taken us in different directions. It is also the best opportunity to have authentic conversations about what we can do differently. With that, we can look into the future.