{"id":11458,"date":"2025-06-13T08:49:46","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T08:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aina-ets.org\/alices-testimony\/"},"modified":"2025-06-13T09:01:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T09:01:41","slug":"alices-testimony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aina-ets.org\/en\/alices-testimony\/","title":{"rendered":"Alice’s testimony"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If someone asked me to explain what the AINA Children\u2019s Home is…<\/p>\n\n

I\u2019d be tempted to call it \u201cWonderland,\u201d a magical bubble created to bring hope.But the entrance ticket is HIV.And just like that, the magic fades, leaving only a tiny village. <\/p>\n\n

As soon as you pass through the gate, you feel detached from the outside world: the dominant colors are the terracotta brown of the red earth that coats every corner of the village\u2014turning into a terrifying mud when it rains\u2014and green: a neat, clean green, framed by the colors of the playground and the beautiful plants.<\/p>\n\n

You barely step inside before you\u2019re swarmed by nursery kids aged 2 to 8: they cling to you, hug you, jump into your arms, kiss you, greet you\u2014and maybe throw in a playful smack or two\u2026 They play with whatever they can find: bracelets, rings, earrings, hair, the beads on your shirt\u2014anything can become a game.<\/p>\n\n

Boys and girls, at first indistinguishable, with names that seem impossible to remember\u2014because they usually have two, and most of them are the same or combinations of each other, often with equally tricky pronunciations.<\/p>\n\n

Then you turn your head and see the older girls.More guarded, they size you up, inspecting every detail.Almost certainly, they\u2019re doing laundry. They\u2019re amazing\u2014always punctual for their daily chore. In theory, the boys should do it too, but you\u2019ll rarely catch them at it. Some of the girls keep their distance, even come across a bit \u201cmean\u201d\u2026 but don\u2019t stop at first impressions: you\u2019ll end up loving them more than you thought possible. <\/p>\n\n

You\u2019ll almost always find the older boys playing volleyball.They\u2019ll call you in to join\u2014at first just to laugh at how you play, talking among themselves in Kiswahili so you won\u2019t understand a word.But once a bit of trust is built, any day becomes a good day to ask you for a new ball: yesterday\u2019s will have mysteriously broken, gotten lost, or been stolen.They\u2019ll tell you a ton of lies\u2014just like any teenager. Sometimes you\u2019ll get mad, but eventually you\u2019ll figure out how to handle it\u2026 and it\u2019ll be hilarious. That too will become part of the game. <\/p>\n\n

Then there are the less athletic ones\u2014or those who aren’t allowed to join.Leaning against the fence near the field, outside the dormitory, or wandering the village inventing their own games.They\u2019re often the shyest and most introverted.Focus on them too\u2014encourage them, cheer them on. <\/p>\n\n

It might feel impossible to interact with all 90 kids, but patience and determination will surprise you.It\u2019s a bit like joining a group that already knows each other\u2014you\u2019re the newcomer, the Mzungu.It\u2019s not easy.You have to be willing to be teased, to say yes to everything, and to spend as much time as possible with them.Only then can you really get to know them one by one, adjusting your approach to the thousand different personalities you\u2019ll meet.After a year of being there, the progress will be incredible\u2014yours toward them, and theirs toward you. <\/p>\n\n

At first, it\u2019s the most outgoing kids who will emerge, and you\u2019ll focus on them\u2014because everything is new and overwhelming.You\u2019ll need to get used to a totally different lifestyle, a language you don\u2019t understand, saying Mambo<\/em> and Poa<\/em> to everyone indiscriminately.But time will pass, and without even noticing, it\u2019ll all become natural, and you\u2019ll feel like a part of this incredible place. <\/p>\n\n

Will it be easy? No. <\/p>\n\n

Will it be hard? That\u2019s up to you. <\/p>\n\n

I don\u2019t know if they really learn anything from us. Some of them are just too little.But I\u2019ve learned so much from them.I\u2019m going back to Italy with my eyes and mind full\u2014with the awareness that I\u2019m privileged to be able to travel. <\/p>\n\n

You can\u2019t forget those gazes.Those smiles, those crocs on their feet, the runny noses, the laughter, the worn clothes always a bit dirty with earth, those eyes\u2026 you just can\u2019t forget them.Because eventually a bond is formed.And those gazes have names, arms, hands, specific little feet.And you\u2019ll remember every single detail. <\/p>\n\n

What will I miss the most? Hearing my name screamed at every hour of the day. <\/p>\n\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n\n

Aliceeeeee<\/p>\n\n

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If someone asked me to explain what the AINA Children\u2019s Home is… I\u2019d be tempted to call it \u201cWonderland,\u201d a magical bubble created to bring hope.But the entrance ticket is HIV.And just like that, the magic fades, leaving only a tiny village. As soon as you pass through the gate, you feel detached from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[277],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-testimonianze-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aina-ets.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aina-ets.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aina-ets.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aina-ets.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aina-ets.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aina-ets.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aina-ets.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aina-ets.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aina-ets.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aina-ets.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}