Anita's house was the first one I visited, and I was pretty shocked! Anita lived in a small room inside the YMCA headquarters in Thika. The room (no bathroom) had a bunk bed, where Anita and her sister slept on the top, her mother and two younger brothers on the bottom, and her stepfather on the floor. I became aware of a sad reality when I was there: single mothers who end up looking for a new partner for survival reasons!

Anita doesn't have more than three pairs of clothes: the everyday black dress with flowers, the school uniform, and the soccer uniform. 

Beacuse Anitta was lovely and a very good soccer player, I connected with her since the beginnig. At the time it was her birthday, my dad and two other people who had also volunteered at the location donated $30 for her to have a more special day!

When I arrived to pick her up and gave the news about her birthday, she smiled and asked to take her friend, Kassioka, with us. We went to the pool! Thika is an arid city, and it is scorching! The only pool we could use was the one at the university, where luckily we could also rent swimming clothes for them. They stayed there for hours; I watched the joy!

We stopped in the mall to eat; they wanted fried chicken and a Milkshake (of course, that wasn't what I wanted them to eat, but I wasn't in a position to say no...) They ate a lot, their stomachs were studying, and they laughed! 

While they finished eating, I went to the market to buy some pieces of cake, so she could eat with her family when she got home. We still had time and went to the street market to buy (used) clothes, and despite being the her birthday, the first piece of clothing Anita chose was for her sister! (Remembering that she has a total of 03 pieces of clothing).

Anita's slipper were broking so we decided to buy a new one! Kassioka also got a new slipper. Anita was ready to share her bday gifts with her friend. Anita bought another blouse... I told her I still had a little more money from her birthday, and she asked to take it home, she would help her mother to buy food for everyone. 

Anita's words when saying goodbye to me: ''Today was the happiest day of my life!

My words (which I couldn't speak): ''That was the coolest birthday I've ever been to in my entire life!'