In mid-September a kindergarten was built in the Slovenian missionary Pedro Opeka’s village in Madagascar, with the help of the funds raised at last year’s ‘Let Them Dream’ concert. The following is a letter from the missionary Pedro Opeka on the subject of this project.
Dear President of the programme council of the 'Let Them Dream' – Danilo Türk Foundation,
It is with great pleasure that I write to inform you that we have completed the fine children’s kindergarten which you helped us build by sending us the necessary funds through your foundation “Let Them Dream”.
The kindergarten in the Slovenian village of the humanitarian project Akamasoa near Antananarivo in Madagascar in its final stages (July 2012). Photography by: missionary Pedro Opeka
The kindergarten was built in the village of Manantenasoa, where we can assuredly state that we have the largest primary school in the whole of Madagascar, as we now have 2,500 children enrolled in this one primary school. This is the reason why we realised how necessary it was to build a special place specifically as a children’s kindergarten.
So far we have had only one space for all the pupils, younger and older, of our school. Due to not only pedagogical reasons but also safety issues, it is a marked improvement to have a space dedicated to our youngest children. If we just use the one and only space for both our youngest and older pupils, accidents inevitably happen. The older children play boisterously and run about, accidentally knocking their younger brothers and sisters over.
There are 400 small children aged from 3 to 5 in our kindergarten which is why we deemed it necessary to build this children’s kindergarten where the smallest would have a special, safer place just for themselves.
The kindergarten in the Slovenian village of the humanitarian project Akamasoa near Antananarivo in Madagascar in its final stages (July 2012). Photography by: missionary Pedro Opeka
You listened to our wishes and request. You granted us our request and assisted us. You fulfilled our wish and through your foundation “Let Them Dream” helped to make these children of Madagascar’s dreams come true! We were very happy to receive this help and today we can, with great pleasure, announce that the beautiful kindergarten was completed in September 2012. This building is now completely finished and can admit up to 350 young children.
We also built bathroom facilities, as well as a wall with a fence to keep the children safe.
The Danilo Türk Foundation “Let Them Dream” sent us €50,000 for the construction of this kindergarten. The money was used in its entirety for the new children’s kindergarten in the village of Manantenasoa, and will be a pleasant reminder of Slovenia and of the President’s foundation.
We will tell our visitors with great pride that Slovenia has played its part in the establishment of the town of Akamasoa (‘Good Friend’). In this town, which was built to house the
poorest of the families from the capital city of Madagascar - Antananarivo, Slovenia has its own building!
I am enclosing a financial report in this letter. In it, it is clearly detailed what materials were purchased for the construction of the kindergarten and how the money was spent. Due to additional necessary work, we exceeded your gift of €50,000, as is visible from the invoice. We have all the receipts for the expenditures and which are available if you wish to see them.
I couldn’t finish this report without once again sincerely thanking the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Danilo Türk, as well as the ‘Let Them Dream’ Foundation for the immense sensitivity and generosity they have shown towards aiding these poor children, and letting them have their own piece of happiness, enabling them to learn in the nice, bright rooms of the new kindergarten.
In the name of all the families who send their children to this new school, I would like to thank the 'Let Them Dream' – Danilo Türk Foundation for this wonderful gift for the children of Madagascar!
Thank you and kind regards, Pedro Opeka, Madagascar