Sr. Julie's April Report
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Hip, Hip, Hooray!!! The April Program and the Olympic Program have been successfully completed.
On Monday as our children were participating in the Olympics our little Margaret was courageously running her last race. She died peacefully surrounded by those who loved and cared for her at about 4 PM. She was a 10 year old girl from kario bongi who was rushed here last week for care in the sick room. She received nursing care around the clock with nurses coming in from the Leatoto program and a per diem nurse. She was very sick when she got here but the doctors and nurses did the best they could for her.
We were gifted to have Margaret with us for a week. She was lovingly cared for by nurses, doctors, volunteers, staff and the children. I believe the last week of her life was probably the best of her life. She gifted us with her presence and we gifted her with our love. We believe she is now celebrating a life that is free of sickness, pain and suffering as she is warmly embraced by her loving God. This week please take time to pray to Margaret to help us to care for all of our children.
(Select on the "permalink" to read the full report)
Bookmark :
Hip, Hip, Hooray!!! The April Program and the Olympic Program have been successfully completed.
On Monday as our children were participating in the Olympics our little Margaret was courageously running her last race. She died peacefully surrounded by those who loved and cared for her at about 4 PM. She was a 10 year old girl from kario bongi who was rushed here last week for care in the sick room. She received nursing care around the clock with nurses coming in from the Leatoto program and a per diem nurse. She was very sick when she got here but the doctors and nurses did the best they could for her.
We were gifted to have Margaret with us for a week. She was lovingly cared for by nurses, doctors, volunteers, staff and the children. I believe the last week of her life was probably the best of her life. She gifted us with her presence and we gifted her with our love. We believe she is now celebrating a life that is free of sickness, pain and suffering as she is warmly embraced by her loving God. This week please take time to pray to Margaret to help us to care for all of our children.
(Select on the "permalink" to read the full report)
Elizabeth is still sick but is fighting hard to get well. She was even able to get out of bed and watch some of the Olympics this week. For this effort she was awarded an Olympic medal at the request of Faith one of the other children in cottage C. She was also given a medal at the closing Ceremony even though she could not get out of bed. I keep teasing her that she has to be ready to go to school on Monday but i am afraid it will be awhile before she gets back to school. She has lost a lot of weight and is very weak. She insists on staying in cottage C rather than going to the nursing room. The Mums and children of cottage C love her and are taking good care of her. Joyce is spending a lot of time with Elizabeth and all of the other kids are visiting her, supporting her and praying for her. With all that love she has to get better. The doctors and nurses are also keeping a close eye on her. Please keep praying for her.
Ken is doing well. He gained a little bit of weight this week and Mum Ann picked him up and spun him around to celebrate. He actually for the first time ate a whole plate of mexican rice when we went to Karen. This is a first time he has ever finished all his food. He also celebrated by running the fifty yard dash in the Olympics. Because of his efforts to run the race he was given a medal and on the closing day he was named the MVP of the Olympics because he personified the Olympic Spirit and he was presented with another medal.
Some good news is that our Nyumbani family has grown by 3 this week from the Leatoto Program. We have 6 month old Ean in cottage G who comes to us from the Kibera daycare. Four year old Ann is in cottage E from karibongi. Five year old Sharon from Kibera. Sharon arrived on Monday so she immediately joined in all of our Olympic activities and went to the movies and Splash with us too. All 3 children seem to be in good health and were warmly welcomed by everyone here. The only problem we had was all of the kids were fighting over whose cottage baby Ean should go to. Cottage G kids won.
Our Olympic Week was a great success. We started on Monday with the movie CHARIOTS OF FIRE and then we had our opening ceremony for the first Kenyan Nyumbani Olympics. Each country processed in carrying their countries banner, a torch, and each child had a lapel flag that they had made as the Olympic anthem was played. Then we lined up in front of school and we played the Kenyan national anthem as each Kenyan athlete stood proudly and listened. Then, cottage AB who represented Uganda stood proudly as the Ugandan national anthem was played. We heard the Togo national anthem as Cottage C stood proudly. Cottage D stood proudly as the Tanzanian national anthem was played. Cottage E represented Sierra Leone and and stood proudly for their anthem and finally cottage G stood proudly for the Senegal national anthem.
Then I gave a little speech saying that the real purpose of the Olympics was not competition but a time for young people from around the world to get to know one another and build relationships. We are all citizens of the world and we need to grow together as family so we can lovingly care and love one another. We need to care for one another as we share all of our resources so that no child in any country goes to bed hungry or sick or homeless.
I thought that God has provided our world with all of the resources we need to care for all of our children but some countries do not want to share. They only want to take care of their children and forget about the millions of poor children in third world countries who suffer from the disease of poverty.
After saying all this it made me realize that this is exactly what Father Dag and Nyumbani have done. By building relationships with people around the world we have made them not only aware of the disease of poverty in Kenya but we have also challenged them to be part of the solution. Thus people from many different countries support all of the Children of God Relief Institute programs in Kenya. Father Dag certainly had the Olympic Spirit and he has passed it on to a lot of other people so that his work continues to flourish in Kenya. He has passed on his Olympic torch to Sister Mary and to so many others. May that TORCH OF LOVE always burn brightly in all of the hearts of the Nyumbani supporters.
On Tuesday we watched the movie COOL RUNNINGS and then more Olympic contests.
On Wednesday we watched the movie the Miracle all about the USA ice hockey team winning the gold in the 1980 Olympics and then more contests.
On Thursday we watched LIKE MIKE 2 and more events.
We finished on Friday with HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS followed by our CLOSING CEREMONY.
For this we processed around the oval wearing our balloon hats with our banners and torches as the Olympic anthem rang out. As we passed the reviewing stand Sister Mary and Protus were there to cheer us on. We then all stood for the Kenyan national anthem and then each country stood for their own anthem. After that we had a wonderful presentation by the St. Paul Miki Ensemble. I really think they should be hired for the next Olympic half time entertainment. Anyone involved in hiring people for that?
Then I reviewed what i had said about relationships in the beginning and added that the Olympic winners aren’t just those who go home with medals. Anyone who got to the Olympics and finished their competition is a winner. I told them to think about the Jamaican bobsled team who carried their bobsled over the finish line. They were big winners that day in their own hearts and in the hearts of all who saw them and look at how many friends they made by the end of the Olympics. It is always important to set goals for yourselves and to strive to accomplish those goals no matter how difficult it is. We must always strive to be the best that we can be even if we are not number one like the USA ice hockey team and we should never hesitate to set goals for ourselves even if we are not sure we can attain them. The fact that we are striving to win is what is important. We can learn some lessons from Elizabeth and Ken.
After each event medals were presented. Some were presented by Sister Mary, some by Protus and some by Father Justius from the Village. Katie had brought some medals from the states and Protus gave me some track medals that Father Dag had given him for the kids. So, from Monday to Thursday we used those medals.
On Friday we used the Olympic Torch medals donated by Joe Dag. It was great as Protus gave each child his/her medal and each child proudly accepted their medal. Everyone was happy. Hopefully, as the kids look at those medals they will remember to set future goals for themselves and never to give up hope. Wouldn't it be great to have one of Nyumbani’s finest represented in a future Olympics? The possibility is their as long as proper nutrition and medicine is available to them. It is a reachable goal for them. Of course, I also mentioned to them that most Olympians are university graduates so it really helps to have both brains and brawn.
Now, I can hear my brothers and sisters ragging on me. I was and am a fierce competitor. I hate to lose especially to my brothers or to Hallahan High School but i think I am a good sport about losing. To this day no matter what I am working at doing I have to do it to the best of my ability and always finish what I start. I am very focused and goal oriented when it comes to my ministry and many people have benefited from this.
SO, I DO PUBLICLY ADMIT THAT I AM EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE BUT I DO SOLEMNLY PROMISE WHEN I PLAY BASKETBALL WITH THE NYUMBANI KIDS I WILL NOT TRY TO BEAT THEM BUT WILL ALLOW THEM TO WIN (unless it is the teenage boys and girls). I WILL PRACTICE WHAT I PREACH.
Hope all is well with all of you. Please take care of yourselves. You are loved and missed. Julie
Ken is doing well. He gained a little bit of weight this week and Mum Ann picked him up and spun him around to celebrate. He actually for the first time ate a whole plate of mexican rice when we went to Karen. This is a first time he has ever finished all his food. He also celebrated by running the fifty yard dash in the Olympics. Because of his efforts to run the race he was given a medal and on the closing day he was named the MVP of the Olympics because he personified the Olympic Spirit and he was presented with another medal.
Some good news is that our Nyumbani family has grown by 3 this week from the Leatoto Program. We have 6 month old Ean in cottage G who comes to us from the Kibera daycare. Four year old Ann is in cottage E from karibongi. Five year old Sharon from Kibera. Sharon arrived on Monday so she immediately joined in all of our Olympic activities and went to the movies and Splash with us too. All 3 children seem to be in good health and were warmly welcomed by everyone here. The only problem we had was all of the kids were fighting over whose cottage baby Ean should go to. Cottage G kids won.
Our Olympic Week was a great success. We started on Monday with the movie CHARIOTS OF FIRE and then we had our opening ceremony for the first Kenyan Nyumbani Olympics. Each country processed in carrying their countries banner, a torch, and each child had a lapel flag that they had made as the Olympic anthem was played. Then we lined up in front of school and we played the Kenyan national anthem as each Kenyan athlete stood proudly and listened. Then, cottage AB who represented Uganda stood proudly as the Ugandan national anthem was played. We heard the Togo national anthem as Cottage C stood proudly. Cottage D stood proudly as the Tanzanian national anthem was played. Cottage E represented Sierra Leone and and stood proudly for their anthem and finally cottage G stood proudly for the Senegal national anthem.
Then I gave a little speech saying that the real purpose of the Olympics was not competition but a time for young people from around the world to get to know one another and build relationships. We are all citizens of the world and we need to grow together as family so we can lovingly care and love one another. We need to care for one another as we share all of our resources so that no child in any country goes to bed hungry or sick or homeless.
I thought that God has provided our world with all of the resources we need to care for all of our children but some countries do not want to share. They only want to take care of their children and forget about the millions of poor children in third world countries who suffer from the disease of poverty.
After saying all this it made me realize that this is exactly what Father Dag and Nyumbani have done. By building relationships with people around the world we have made them not only aware of the disease of poverty in Kenya but we have also challenged them to be part of the solution. Thus people from many different countries support all of the Children of God Relief Institute programs in Kenya. Father Dag certainly had the Olympic Spirit and he has passed it on to a lot of other people so that his work continues to flourish in Kenya. He has passed on his Olympic torch to Sister Mary and to so many others. May that TORCH OF LOVE always burn brightly in all of the hearts of the Nyumbani supporters.
On Tuesday we watched the movie COOL RUNNINGS and then more Olympic contests.
On Wednesday we watched the movie the Miracle all about the USA ice hockey team winning the gold in the 1980 Olympics and then more contests.
On Thursday we watched LIKE MIKE 2 and more events.
We finished on Friday with HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS followed by our CLOSING CEREMONY.
For this we processed around the oval wearing our balloon hats with our banners and torches as the Olympic anthem rang out. As we passed the reviewing stand Sister Mary and Protus were there to cheer us on. We then all stood for the Kenyan national anthem and then each country stood for their own anthem. After that we had a wonderful presentation by the St. Paul Miki Ensemble. I really think they should be hired for the next Olympic half time entertainment. Anyone involved in hiring people for that?
Then I reviewed what i had said about relationships in the beginning and added that the Olympic winners aren’t just those who go home with medals. Anyone who got to the Olympics and finished their competition is a winner. I told them to think about the Jamaican bobsled team who carried their bobsled over the finish line. They were big winners that day in their own hearts and in the hearts of all who saw them and look at how many friends they made by the end of the Olympics. It is always important to set goals for yourselves and to strive to accomplish those goals no matter how difficult it is. We must always strive to be the best that we can be even if we are not number one like the USA ice hockey team and we should never hesitate to set goals for ourselves even if we are not sure we can attain them. The fact that we are striving to win is what is important. We can learn some lessons from Elizabeth and Ken.
After each event medals were presented. Some were presented by Sister Mary, some by Protus and some by Father Justius from the Village. Katie had brought some medals from the states and Protus gave me some track medals that Father Dag had given him for the kids. So, from Monday to Thursday we used those medals.
On Friday we used the Olympic Torch medals donated by Joe Dag. It was great as Protus gave each child his/her medal and each child proudly accepted their medal. Everyone was happy. Hopefully, as the kids look at those medals they will remember to set future goals for themselves and never to give up hope. Wouldn't it be great to have one of Nyumbani’s finest represented in a future Olympics? The possibility is their as long as proper nutrition and medicine is available to them. It is a reachable goal for them. Of course, I also mentioned to them that most Olympians are university graduates so it really helps to have both brains and brawn.
Now, I can hear my brothers and sisters ragging on me. I was and am a fierce competitor. I hate to lose especially to my brothers or to Hallahan High School but i think I am a good sport about losing. To this day no matter what I am working at doing I have to do it to the best of my ability and always finish what I start. I am very focused and goal oriented when it comes to my ministry and many people have benefited from this.
SO, I DO PUBLICLY ADMIT THAT I AM EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE BUT I DO SOLEMNLY PROMISE WHEN I PLAY BASKETBALL WITH THE NYUMBANI KIDS I WILL NOT TRY TO BEAT THEM BUT WILL ALLOW THEM TO WIN (unless it is the teenage boys and girls). I WILL PRACTICE WHAT I PREACH.
Hope all is well with all of you. Please take care of yourselves. You are loved and missed. Julie
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