The atmosphere, the smiles and the sheer determination; this year's sports day, the first of many I'm sure, was one to remember. At 8 o'clock around 11 NGO's gathered together at the athletics stadium off of route 6 to compete in the sports day. I travelled on the back of a school truck to get the venue and then watched the other schools turn up with sheer excitement. ABC's truck approached with a sea of painted green and red faces to represent Portugal and was eager to get started. The stadium was a brick building with an open semi-circle grandstand which looked out onto a grass/dust circular area. Once inside the stadium all teams were given a set number of t-shirts, all sponsored, with their team flag on and events were explained. Events included: long jump, high jump, triple jump, 25, 50 and 100m sprint, wheelbarrow races, three legged race and egg and spoon race. It was the hottest day yet and with the sun beating down around 33 degrees, humidity in the air and a lack of shade I knew I was going to end up looking like a tomato by the end of the day. Everyone cheered for their team, surrounded the area where each event took place. Children came up for cuddles and plenty of high fives were shared. Once all events had taken place it was time for the award ceremony. Around 500 children, teachers and volunteers congregated on the stand to cheer on each team as they received a gold, silver and bronze medal plus a certificate for their school for taking part. The day was a success and the children loved it!

…One thing was clear to me: everybody smiles in the same language.

x