April 2019: Senegal / Dakar: our friend Jean Djietou celebrates Easter and his birthday

Our active friend in Senegal, Jean Djietou, celebrates his 30th birthday on Easter Sunday.

Jean is constantly translating our web posts into French.

Hello Peter and Thomas, dear PBF family.

I am very happy and honored to write a short report about myself for the Foundation. On Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019, I will be 30 years old.

I am the youngest of a successful family with six children, born in Central Africa, in Cameroon. I had a happy childhood with mother and father and my siblings. I also have really rich memories of the ecclesial activities of my mother. My family is a very normal family, not wealthy, but we love each other very much. Since my childhood I am very fond of animals (horse, dog, cat) and very connected with my schoolmates. Many were orphans or had single parents. So I felt very much attracted and challenged by helping the needy.

From kindergarten to university, I was a good student. Fortunately, I came in contact with the Peter Bachmann Foundation, thank God! I almost wanted to cancel my education at the university after the first year, 2005. PBF offered to co-finance my studies in Sociology. I graduated with honors.

My mother was very happy to see how I could fulfill my dreams. My father died in 2009. Until then I volunteered as an English teacher in an orphanage in Douala, Cameroon. I also helped a sister community from Belgium during this time. They looked after street children. In 2010, I got the opportunity to work as a volunteer in Sao Tomé, Cap Verde, later in Mali and Sierra Leone. Finally, in 2012, I landed in Dakar, Sénégal. I live here.

Dakar is a beautiful city in West Africa, with a tropical climate. Senegal is a predominantly Muslim country, the language is French and Wolof (local language). I’ve been here for seven years now, first as an English teacher in a small language center for clerks. Since then, fortunately for me, with the support of PBF, I can work for the poorest children in slums in various projects: language teaching, art education, social engagement for the needy.

Honestly, I am very happy and thank God that I am allowed to work for and with children in need and poverty. Being with them everyday makes me happy. We work on small works of art, we joke and sing. I sometimes feel like a father of a hundred children. Occasionally I buy many cookies, we eat them together, tell stories and play stories, I am the foundation, Dr. med. Peter, Thomas Aepli, all donors and sponsors.

Happy Easter for all – with the request to receive my prayers on Easter Sunday for my 30th birthday ..

Jean Djietou