By Mrs. Elisa Bell
NCSA PAO and IKM Office
On 5 December 2011, Director NCSA, Lieutenant General Kurt Herrmann and his wife, Ursula, had the pleasure of joining the Le Pastel Children’s Home in beginning the construction of their new kitchen!
For the past two years, NCSA has focused its charity efforts on Le Pastel, a home for children suffering from severe domestic problems. Since public support only covers limited expenses to keep the home running, Le Pastel greatly appreciates any external help. With the additional help of NCSA, Le Pastel is able to realize this large project, which will improve the lives of the children living there; not only today, but in the future as well!
The construction "kick-off” ceremony began with Director NCSA giving a welcome speech in French. The Director explained that at the end of 2009, NCSA began collecting for Le Pastel at many functions; such as NCSA receptions, the NCSA Family Day, and the NATO Information Assurance Symposium. He also mentioned the support of the German community who helped to realize this large project. He thanked everyone for helping to make this dream a reality for Le Pastel! Following this, Mrs Martine Scaillet, the Director of the ASBL Les Gentianes, which owns four homes for children with difficulties, also thanked everyone for their continued support of Le Pastel.
The Director NCSA was then invited to "break ground” by knocking down some of the wall where the new addition will be added in January. Padre Alois Berzl, the German chaplain, blessed the home of Le Pastel and asked for the protection of all who live there.
Following this, DNCSA and his wife, Ursula, handed out small gifts of sweets to the children. The evening was pleasant, with a mood of celebration! A band, under the lead of Mrs. Jana Math, provided musical entertainment, while the children of Le Pastel made very good waiters and waitresses handing out appetizers.
The current kitchen at Le Pastel is a very small room, insufficiently equipped and in poor condition. It’s unbelievable to think they cook for almost twenty people in such inadequate facilities every day! The new addition will be 40 square meters, in total, with the new kitchen being 20 square meters. Official construction work begins in January, and Le Pastel plans to have the new kitchen completely installed by the end of next summer. One of the home’s wishes is to have an industrial dishwasher, and an induction stove. Since the kitchen will need to serve 16 children, between the ages of 3 and 14 years old every day, it must be controlled like a restaurant. For example, there must be two different sinks; one sink will be for cleaning the dishes, and the other for washing and preparing food. Additionally, the new kitchen will need to have two refrigerators in two separate rooms.
Although the home is off to a very good start, Le Pastel still needs more support to complete this large project! On 21 January 2012, there will be a benefit concert for Le Pastel consisting of several SHAPE groups. Tickets for the benefit concert can be reserved at support@SupportLePastel.net. For more information on how you can support Le Pastel with the new kitchen and other ongoing renovations, please visit our website at http://www.supportlepastel.net/The_Project.html