I love Wednesdays. Work is balanced, everyone is in a good mood and children are lovely as always!

My work days are long, and my long-time friends and HOCT parents know I literally work non stop. A friend with whom I’ve been to the movies this Saturday nudged me at some point: “What are you doing, Vero, just highlighting table columns in your head right now?”

The thing about my work (both my jobs) is that it’s not a “job”. It is so much a part of me, something that I love so deeply, that I do not mind spending all my time thinking about it and thinking of how to make it better. 

Sometimes at HOCT we have various challenges, but we work through them with patience. I organize each day well in advance, preparing for any surprise that may appear. I do not have anything in control, but I do my best. Together with me, a team of hardworking people does their work – each in their own place and time. We are a good and beautiful team and I am grateful for each day. When you work with love, it never feels like a burden.

A little spark of kindness, can put a colossal burst of sunshine into someone’s day.

Kindness begins with the understanding that we all struggle.

-Charles Glassman.

Kindness doesn’t cost a thing, yet it’s the richest gift you can give.

A lot of things happened today in the HOCT garden: scholastics have been distributed to the children who attend school, food has also been offered with love, and we did everything we could to lift everyone’s spirits. Whether we managed or not… it is for you to say.

Tuesday, 13 – a lucky day. But then again, at HOCT all days are lucky.

Look below on this beautiful poster and you will see that we have a new girl: her name is Justice! Quite a name, no?

What is kindness, did you ever ask yourself?

Sometimes, miracles are just good people with kind hearts.

Today we work until very late, but finally weekend is here.

The children will enjoy their food, we will rest a bit.

See you all on Monday.

At HOCT, so much happens each day. Today was no exception. We had wanted to start the distribution of scholastic materials earlier this week, but the bad weather prevented us from doing so. Finally, today we managed, and we began working hard. Many, many children (over 150) came to pick their notebooks and pencils and pens, and to take a photo, because we all love the first-day-of-school photos. Distributing those photos to the eager long-distance parents was an even harder job, which I won’t finish that fast. 

Apart from this, we also distributed plenty of food, as usual, we assisted the children in writing letters and we responded to many messages that have arrived. All in all, just a normal day at HOCT.

Ever since I started working for HOCT and for the children, I got used to a very large volume of work on a daily basis. No matter what others think, I am a firm believer in the fact that working a lot is good for the mind. It gets you used to the effort, to fast processing of data, to multitasking, to having a vast attention over a large array of processes. And this is good: the mind grows.

At the end of each day, this question ponders in my mind: what can I do to make my work better? For sure, each day, there is something that can be improved.

Our lives are so much blended together, that I cannot even imagine myself without HOCT, nor HOCT without myself, nor myself without Mugoya Swaliki and all the good people working every day for this to happen.

Those children… they are not just photos. They are not just names. They are a part of my life and yours, they are endless nights of worry and tears, they are therapy sessions (that I attend), they are milestones, they are moments of joy and happiness.

Basti is deaf and he was once hit by a car; Igalo has hydrocephaly; Igulu is happy that his long-distance mommy has given birth to a baby-boy and he feels he has a brother. They have a story, hopes, and dreams. And this is why, when I give them all my energy, I feel that my life is not in vain.