Yesterday we had a very moving show at school. None of the schools of our friends has such an assembly hall as big as ours. We were a bit scared when we started rehearsing our musical, seeing so many empty seats in front of us. It’s going to be hard work, filling the hall. We worked hard, and when the time came, all seats were sold out! The teacher told us not to look through the curtains, but we couldn’t stop it. We looked carefully from one of the side curtains. Everybody was there, friends, families and schoolmates. We were very nerv-ous, and moved at the same time. We had achieved an important goal: to help people in need… I’ll tell you how this story started two months ago: I was already in bed, listening to my mother’s radio. They were talking about Haiti; lots of people were dying of cholera, a disease that only affects the poorest people. -“That’s unfair”, said my mother I couldn’t sleep; my head was full of questions: What sort of sickness affects only the poor? Does it visit banks to see if there is little money? I got scared, for I had just spent most of my savings in a com-puter game. -Why did mum say it’s unfair? I have been told at home that I have rights and obligations. I try to have more rights, but I never thought, not being sick, was a right. My God! Am I going to have problems with my empty piggy bank? Next day I started an investigation. Our motto at the “superhero academy” is “when in doubt, look for information”. The first thing I discovered made me angry.

-Cholera appears where there is no clean water or sewage system. That’s why it affects the poor! On the other hand it’s easy to cure, you only need water! How is it possible then that so many people are affected? Here you only have to open a tap to get all the water you need. The unfairness made me sad. The poorest people get sick because there is no potable water or sewage system where they live.

“Super Pepo” The musical

“Super Pepo” The musical -What about their rights? I found out then that important things like health, food or going to school were not possible for all children since their birth. When I told my friends about Haiti, they couldn’t believe me. Emma’s elder sister was there and told us: -“The world we live in is unfair. Many persons don’t have the most elementary rights”. -“¿What can we do? I asked.

Emma, a very impulsive girl, said: -“Let’s go to Haiti!” We looked at her surprised: -“Emma,we are eight years old. We can’t travel over there”. -“So ? There must be someway we can help.” Sandra said: -“That’s what NGOs are for. We could collect money and send it to help these people and cure the disease”.

“Super Pepo” The musical

-“Will our savings be enough?” I asked. -“No”, said Sandra. “Lots of people must know this. Let’s find a way to make many people col-laborate”. -“I got it! I got it! A Musical!” said Emma. She likes to sing and dance and does it very well. We all liked the idea very much, and decided to tell the teacher. She was surprised and looked at us for a mo-ment: -“I think it’s a great idea. You can do a musical with songs about children’s rights. I‘ll help you”. Lucas didn’t like the idea. He is very shy. When the teacher asked him in the classroom he blushed, began to sweat and found it very difficult to speak. Just imag-ine him singing and dancing in front of a lot of people!

“Super Pepo” The musical For a week, Lucas didn’t appear at the rehearsals. Then one day he asked Emma’s’ help. He wanted her to help him choose a pre-sent for his sister. He was so shy he knew he wouldn’t dare ask the shopkeepers’ help, if he didn’t find anything he liked for his sis-ter. Emma went with him, but Lucas took a long time to choose the present and they were very late. -“It’s seven o’clock! The rehearsal was at six o’clock!” said Emma. “Today we were going to distribute the roles, and we had to discuss our preferences”. -“Sorry Emma. By my fault you are not only going to be late, but you will miss your favourite role”. -“It’s Ok Lucas. The role isn’t important. What is important is taking part in the musical. I’ll see you in class to-morrow!”

Emma ran home and left Lucas thinking about what had happened: He wasn’t capable of taking part in a musical, and so, he couldn’t help other people in need, because he was shy, and Emma had missed her role be-cause she wanted to help him. The Next day, Lucas joined the group, and took part in the rehearsal. The only role that was left was the tree. On performance day he was very nervous, trembling. To calm down, he thought that, what he was suffering was nothing compared to the suffer-ing of the sick people in Haiti. He should try to overcome his fears. When the show finished clapping lasted ten minutes non-stop! The clap-ping was even stronger, when the teacher announced the money col-lected! We all felt very proud. The effort had been useful! And Lucas taught us, that real superheroes are those people capable of overcoming their fears, like he did, to help others.