The ideal stall—a small, sturdy, waterproof tent with room for three tables, a pinboard and some boxes—was quickly set up. But hardly had our information brochures been laid out, the sewing products beautifully arranged and the wheel of fortune for the young visitors placed at the perfect distance from the brochures when the first shower was already pouring down on us. As some of the donated wheel-of-fortune prizes turned out to be fabulous little helpers—the “back scratchers” were repurposed as tent-roof water removers—the brave stallholders survived the rain showers that set in every 30 minutes in pleasant dryness. No one let this stop them from presenting steps information to the Alafia visitors, even in this weather.

The sunny Sunday far outshone the rainy Saturday in weather terms and visitors to the festival came to linger at our stand. Our motivated team provided interested visitors with lots of information about our work and delighted children with great prizes. Many left smiling with one of our red steps balloons and sampled, together with their friends and parents at the neighbouring stalls, one or another African meal or danced exuberantly in front of the stage to the sounds of African bands.

At this point we would like to sincerely thank all the volunteers for their dedicated efforts, which made the smooth running at the stand possible with their knowledge and their communicative skills!