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