There are two children in Babadogo, Felicita and Nicole. They’re sisters, the tailor’s two daughters. Felicita is deaf- mute, she speaks by her gestures and her eyes. She’s seven or eight and she works hard. She helps her mum to clean, cook and shop. Since she’s deaf-mute, her mum writes on the back of her hand the things that she needs to buy, and she goes and buys them by showing the list to the seller.
Nicole can speak and hear instead. She’s younger than Felicita. She’s smart and lacking of two incisors as all the children at her age. For this reason, her smile is very funny.
Their hair is twisted in small braids attached to their nape. They’re very beautiful.
The other day we went to the world day of the disabled. We’ve marched through pouring rain, singing in the mud.
The date with the other disabled children coming from the slums in the eastern area of the town was at the Babadogo’s primary school. We sat down under three broken tents, installed in the middle of the courtyard, waiting for the local politician who had to make a speech and bring flour.
We have been waiting for him for three hours at least. Nicole and I kept close to each other because we were cold. I gave her my sweatshirt and then she sat on my knees, and in this way we warmed each other up. We got asleep for a while. And then we chatted a little. I think we became friends, because the day after she said hello with an expression of anticipation in her look.
In the meantime, Felicita has been cooking together with some women. Sitting on a coal sack in the rain, she has peeled potatoes, prepared the fireplace, cut the vegetables. She’s a tireless worker, as many other children.
Nicoletta Rolla
World Friends' Supporter
Felicita, Nicole and their mother take part in the World Friends’ AFEMA Project, that takes care of the mothers with disabled children from Nairobi slums.