Thank you for always helping and praying
for us with a generous heart.
Here is
bulletin No.14 of “Walking Together”. The content summary is as follows.
The class at the “Maria Ines Vocational
Center” is shown in the photo on page 1. You can see how seriously the students
are listening to the principal, Sr. Maria Luz. The photo below is at the
Tamagawa/Shirayuri Kindergarten, where students are playing. Relief supplies
were sent to the school and those that were not needed at the school were sold
and the earnings there were used to purchase additional supplies such as
playground equipment.
Page 2 is a report from Sr. Yoshida Fumiko.
The ebola disease has ended, but in the town of Lunsar, the close of the mines
had a great affect and the market has shrunk. While prices have increased,
economic conditions have been tough, and therefore the town seems like it is
not safe. On the contrary, from kindergarten to high school at the OLG school,
including the Maria Ines Vocational Center, seem to be lively. Middle school
and high school students are in preparation for their upcoming tests.
From the last part of page 2 and onto page
3, is a letter from Sr. Shirahata Kazuko. She first talks about visiting the grave of Sr.
Negishi Michiko who passed away 3 years ago. She continues by talking about Martha G. Hernadez Martin del campo , Misionera
Clarisa Superiora general’s visit to Japan. Sr. Shirahata says that during
their visit, she mainly talked about the activities of Walking Together and the
Misionera seemed very pleased. She finished off by expressing her sympathy for the
natural disaster that has continued and sends her prayers for celebrating the
upcoming Christmas holiday.
From the latter half
of page 3, is a report from Fukuoka Kazumi, a nurse who volunteered for 2
months at the Mile 91 Clinic in Sierra Leone. She expressed her surprise at how
doctors and nurses were giving their best to respond to clients in a medical
environment where much is lacking, and also how energetic the Italian and
Spanish volunteers were. She also talks about how the lunch distributed daily
at the OLG School has been of great support while there are still many children
who suffer developmental delay due to the lack of food supplies, and also how
reliable and supportive the Sisters have been during the civil war and Ebola
outbreak.
Comments from
students at the Yamato Gakuen St. Cecilia Elementary/Middle/High School, where
Sr. Shirahata gave a speech, starts from the second half of page 4 and goes
onto page 5. They all reflected on their daily lives with what Sr. Shirahata
talked about.
The second half of
page 5 is an activity report about a volunteer group called the Polvoron
Committee at the Catholic Azabu Church, which sent a mass amount of umbrellas
and rain coats to Sierra Leone. The photo shows the umbrellas being inspected
and disinfected.
Letters from
supporters follow on page 6, and as usual, we feel the Walking Together bond
getting stronger every time we read these messages.
The second half of
page 6 is a report from a kindergarten. It is a story about a child who found a
10 yen coin and talked about what to do with the money with his classmates, and
eventually decided to donate to the poor children in Sierra Leone. Our staff
visits this kindergarten every year.
Page 7 is a
bulletin from the headquarters including a report from the general meeting,
support money sent, and shipment of support supplies, etc.
A photo from
Fukuoka-san (volunteer) is on page 8. The top photo shows the happy faces after
the vow of 2 Sierra Leone Sisters. The middle photo shows the village people welcoming
the food project (free milk distribution) van, the bottom photo shows smiles of
the very friendly children in the neighborhood.
Representative of
Walking Together
Katsujiro Kanno
(Translator Ayako Nokuo)
＊”Polvoron” is a name of a Spanish snack