Our school celebrated the Days of Bread and Gratitude for the Fruits of the Earth.

Alongside numerous other activities, the students collected donations for the humanitarian campaign For the Girls of Benin from October 9 to 17.

Given that our school is international, filled with cultures from 27 different countries, the highlight of the celebration was the visit of Father Odilon Singbo on Thursday, October 17. Father Singbo is a priest from Benin who has been living and working in Croatia for many years.

Initiated by Father Odilon, the St. John Paul II Home was opened in Benin in 2015, providing a shelter for girls without adequate parental care. Currently, there are 36 girls and one boy in the home. Our students raised funds for the needs of the Home, collecting a total of 1,647 euros.

The school principal, Ms. Ljiljana Klinger, emphasized that abundance is a usual part of life for today's families, and these families are not immune to consumerist distractions. “In our school, we celebrate the Day of Gratitude for the Fruits of the Earth, which was originally the Day of Bread. Regardless of what we call it, we celebrate it to awaken the essential within us, which is to hear the silence of humility and deprivation that we need to address,” she stated.

The principal highlighted that all the blessings we enjoy as part of our comfortable lives do not necessarily belong to us. “They are privileges that we must acknowledge when we say the word - gratitude. Not everyone in the world is equally blessed with the gifts of everyday life. Our intention is to awaken joy and gratitude, both in children and adults, for the abundance we enjoy, and especially empathy and compassion for those who do not live in human dignity. The smile that adorns our faces reflects the joy in our hearts that feels gratitude and rejoices in what it has, rather than mourning what it lacks,” said our principal.

The life stories of the girls in Benin are extremely difficult. Their small lives are burdened from the very beginning by immense hardships, but each girl bravely faces them with a smile and a sparkle in her eye. The fate of the girls in the Home reflects the life stories of many children in Benin. Their lives are marked by poverty and the struggle for survival. Many families are cramped into small huts and dilapidated houses, lacking basic necessities.

Single parents often leave the house trying to secure a livelihood by selling various products (peanuts, palm oil, rice, coal), and the children are entrusted to relatives or friends. Despite their tremendous efforts, many fail to provide enough food for their children, leading to malnutrition. Children who lose both parents, cared for by relatives or acquaintances, often do not receive proper care and must work from an early age. Girls work as domestic helpers or sell porridge, fritters, and other items.

This is part of the life story of at least one girl placed in the St. John Paul II Home, and most of them share a common fate of losing both parents at a very young age. However, despite this, the girls in the Home are happy, smiling, playful, and healthy, and they regularly attend school. Over the years of the Home's operation, some girls have already grown into young women. To support them in their growth and education, our students have personally written and sent letters of encouragement to each girl.

“The educational system in Benin is such that most parents cannot afford to educate their children, leaving them with little hope for a better future,” noted Father Odilon Singbo in his address to the children and staff of the school. He shared that his parents could not pay for his schooling either, but he was an exceptionally smart child, and despite poverty, teachers promoted him to higher grades each year. In high school, for example, he paid for his lodging by working in the fields. “In terms of education, girls are the most vulnerable, as families that do have the means to educate a child will choose a boy. They believe that a girl will get married and move to another family, so it is not 'worth it' to invest in her education,” said Father Odilon. And education is the future of Africa, he emphasized. “Despite its immense wealth, the African continent is often in the position of a 'victim', needing assistance from others. Education would create an African person who knows how to recognize and manage the resources they have. Africa has much to offer socially, culturally, scientifically, and even economically. But for this, we need educated people who understand how the world operates on a global scale,” highlighted Father Singbo.

Father Odilon thanked the students of our school for becoming a small part of the future of the girls who live and study in the Home. “Goodness knows no color. It doesn't matter where we come from, what we are, who we belong to, and where we belong; what matters is that we are human and can do good for one another,” he said.

The first girl whom Father Odilon began caring for is now a future student named Colette, who lost her mother early and moved to Croatia this year. She is learning the language and preparing to enroll in university. Colette visited our school with Father Odilon.

“The biggest problem of modern society is the globalization of indifference, as Pope Francis says. We only observe the boundaries of the spaces we live in and do not look to others; what matters to us is only that we are well. It is very important to be able to see beyond those boundaries, to be aware that we belong to the same human species and that we are responsible for one another, entrusted to each other. That is why solidarity is crucial, which can be manifested through small acts of care and concern for others. Indifference is not an option for humanity; it is its defeat,” emphasized Father Odilon, thanking our students for sending this lesson to Croatian society through their good deeds in the aforementioned humanitarian campaign.

We are proud that this initiative from our school has resonated within Croatian society. Once again, we sincerely thank all the parents and students for their involvement in this commendable action, as well as all the staff who participated in the celebration of the Days of Bread and Gratitude for the Fruits of the Earth.