Beach Clean-Ups, Pancakes, and a Heart Full of Gratitude

Now that Wenzel and Leo Ferdinand have left, the atmosphere has shifted. Everything feels a little quieter, a little slower. It’s fascinating to notice how different constellations bring out different sides in the children.

The weekend, however, was anything but quiet.

On Saturday morning, we joined the Ocean Sole Mamaz for a beach clean-up and collected an impressive 140 kg of rubbish. We found countless toothbrushes, plastic bottles, flip-flops, plastic bags, and lolly sticks. Julius commented, “They must really like lollies!” It felt good to contribute, and we decided then and there that we would continue collecting bottles and flip-flops during our evening beach walks.

After the clean-up, we returned home to pick up our 274 pancakes before heading to the orphanage. We squeezed ourselves, and all the pancakes, into a tuk-tuk and were very relieved when everything (and everyone) arrived safely.

The afternoon began with a beautiful story shared by one of the caretakers about true friendship and helping each other when you least expect it. It set the tone for everything that followed.

The children quickly immersed themselves in activities. Assunta joined a kickboxing class, Polyxena happily sat while the girls styled her hair, and Julius disappeared to climb trees and find shade. During the kickboxing session, one moment stood out to me: each child responded to the instructor with a clear and confident “Yes, Sir.” It struck me, as this kind of respect towards teachers feels less common at home in Switzerland.

Later, a football trainer arrived, and the girls eagerly joined in again, while Julius wandered off in search of seashells.

And then, finally, it was pancake time.

We served them with sugar or chocolate spread. Unsurprisingly, the chocolate ones were the clear favourite and disappeared in no time.

Afterwards, the children and their caretakers gathered to sing together. Their voices were full of joy, and it was impossible not to feel deeply moved.

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What stayed with me most was their warmth and openness. Despite the challenges they face, they approach you without hesitation, holding your hand, asking questions, and radiating curiosity and kindness.

We felt incredibly grateful to spend that afternoon with them.

With full hearts, we made our way home, this time not by tuk-tuk, but on boda bodas (motorcycle taxis), driven by two young men connected to the safe house.

They thanked us again for the pancakes, mentioning that only a handful of them had tasted pancakes before that day.

That moment lingered.

It made me reflect on how much we take for granted, how fortunate we are to have experienced so much, and to live in a country like Switzerland, with access to education, healthcare, and stability. In the busyness of everyday life, it’s so easy to forget.

To round off the weekend, Assunta and Polyxena joined an art class by the beach, working with mixed media to create coastal scenes. The setting was beautiful, and it was a joy to watch how much they enjoyed the process.

And then came today.

We returned to a quieter rhythm. We did some homeschooling, and the children were focused and engaged. In between, we had our usual pool breaks. During one of them, Julius, with his sharp eye, spotted a ladybird but wasn’t entirely convinced.

“Mami, is this a ladybird or something else? It looks similar… but different.”

So we did a bit of research and discovered it was a common African ladybird. Julius was slightly disappointed that it turned out to be “just” a common one.

In the evening, we went to the beach, continuing what we had started over the weekend. In just 20 minutes, we filled two more with flip-flops and empty bottles. That settled it, we’ll come back tomorrow with more bags.

It was one of those calm, peaceful, quietly productive days.

One last note: on our way to the beach, we spotted the beautiful blue gecko again. This time, I managed to take a close-up photo, capturing the intricate structure of its skin.

And with that, we find ourselves feeling deeply thankful, for these experiences, for this place, and for everything we have.

We feel lucky.

We feel blessed.