A letter from Said

Susan passed this on to me. It was written entirely independently by Said, who is the 15 year old second son of Sidi and to whom I gave a solar lamp:

Dear Caroline

Re: Thanks

First and foremost, I would say Thankyou for purchasing a solar lamp for me. Nothing could stop me to express my joy to you. Beginning with, before you bought me that solar lamp, I was using a kerosene lamp which sometimes goes off after the oil had run out. Due to ladk of that, I was forced to go to bed without going over my text books. Of course, when I am perusing my textbooks, the harmful smoke or soot enters my eyes which almost blinded my sight. Indeed, I was in risk of eye disease.

In addition, my mother sometimes got upset when she saw that I am using that lamp until the middle of nights. Because of that, I did not have time to study well. In my class, worst of all, pupils made noises which also distracted me. I only depended on the little time when a class or lesson teacher was absent. These disadvantages made my marks to be poor. But because of buying me a solar lamp, I do believe I will improve.

I would also thank you for buyin us a motorbike which was to do with our living. At first we used to count on mother for daily bread. She is industrious. However, when she is down with an ailment, we decided to take "French leave" so that we could run errands to make ends meet. It was not intentionally to play truant but because of hardship we encountered. In our classes, we were seldom attending lessons. But all our teachers knew facts about us.

Mother sometimes took a week when she had recovered from her illness. Because of that, we ended up missing lessons. It was sad indeed to see our future tumbling down. It did not take long when we heard you were ready to give us assistance. After buying that motorbike, we normally go on with our studies without any interruption. We also take our meals happily. For that, I am grateful for the kindness you have.

Yours faithfully

Said Bembaji