Summary of bulletin
no. 37 of “Walking Together”
P.1 Message from Madre
Martha G. Hernandez Martin del
CampoSuperiora General Misioneras Clarisas titled “Thank you to
the dearest members of Walking Together”.
The message expresses her thanks
on how this bulletin helps communicate news and information about Sierra Leone,
how she felt God’s warmth with the graduation of 3 scholarship students, etc.
She also talks and thanks Father
Sekine and Kyoko Waki on the book they have published, and also appreciation to
the Polvoron at the Azabu Catholic Church, which has supported Sierra Leone for
a long time.
Lastly, she expresses
her wish that Sr. Yoshida and Sr. Shirahata are well in Japan, and thanks
representative Kanno and the members of Walking Together.
P.2～P.3 Report from Sr. Shirahata (no. 1 and 2)
Report
no.1 (July 25) talks cleaning up before her return to Japan, welcoming
volunteers from Spain, and the graduation of Tamagawa Shirayuri Kindergarten.
After testing negative for the PCR test before leaving, she flew into Haneda
via Turkey, and arrived at the Monastery at 10pm along with sisters who had
welcomed her. After 2-3 days rest and time with family, she met with members of
the Polvoron of the Azabu Church and Walking Together.
Report no.2 (August 20) summarizes events in August. From the 4th
to 13th, she spent time at the Monastery in Karuizawa, relooking
herself, thanking God for all the love and her promise to God to live life to
the fullest.
She also spent time at the
doctor (Orthopedic, Internal Medicine, Ophthalmology etc) in Sakurashinmachi
and then again spent time with family.
P.3～P.５ “2022 Annual Finance Report” by Sr. Adriana JuarezNavarrete
and Sr.Esmeralda Franco León
2494 students and
support funds $92,505. ①
School lunch support $59,400 : along with support from the
government, was able to provide very nutritious meal. ② OLG education support/scholarship
$7,270 : used for 5 scholarship students, childcare fee, etc. ③ MI education support $7,270 : used for school fee support and
textbooks for 35 students. ④⑤ Multipurpose $7,400 (5,400＋2,000) : roof repair and maintenance for 5 schools. ⑥ Kindergarten multipurpose support fee $7,300 : Mainly used for 6
month salary for 18 teachers, since Kindergarten teachers do not get paid by
the government. This cost will be called “Kindergarten
Teacher Salary Support” from next year.
⑦ OLG school medical support $1,800 ⑧ Mile 91
Clinic support $700 : good feedback on mobile infirmary facility ⑨ Special lunch fee $1,000 : used for once a year lunch with meat
⑩ Christmas gift $365 : handmade dolls by Sr. Shirahata for girls and
toy cars for boys.
With all
this support, lives were saved. They also say they will continue to do their
best so that the children keep smiling and have high hopes.
P.5
right～ beginning of P.8 “What god knows” Q&A with Sr. Shirahata
A
session with Sr. Shirahata was held on July 23rd at headquarters.
Sr. Shirahata started by thanking the support of Walking Together – especially talking
about how children are able to eat lunch.
There
were questions regarding her health, medical checks she’s had, her
plan for her stay, reaching retirement age as a teacher, teacher salaries,
education fee for students, etc. She answered each one very politely.
When asked
about if there were concerns that support funds from Walking Together would
decrease or not be available, she said that it is fine and that God is aware.
To the question “do you have desire to stay in Japan and spent quiet time here”, she waved both hands and said “no, no!”. The children and how cute they were, was her answer to “What keeps you motivated”.
P.8
Voices from support members
“Heard that Sr. Shirahata will be in Japan for a while. Will not be
able to meet her, but will feel her very close” “Very
touched by the letters from scholarship students” “Feel
the human connection by reading messages from staff” were
some voices heard.
P.8
Announcement from headquarters follows. General Meeting for the year 2023 was
conducted on September 17th and all deliberation matters were
approved.
(photos)
P.1
left : Pyramid challenge with friends (Sports event)
Right : Kids who did well at the Spelling contest
P.2
top left : Sr. Shirahata’s embroidery
P.3
top left : With Sr. Shirahata (at Headquarters on July 23)
P.8
bottom right : Sisters at the mobile infirmary
(Copy:Hiroko Maruyama、 Translation:Ayako Nokuo)
★The Future of "Walking Together”★★
The "Walking Together" is now in
its 10th year of activity. Over the past year, the committee has been
considering how to manage the future of "Walking Together".
“Please don't give up on the children of
Sierra Leone and help them for a while longer.”
The late Sr. Rethisia Negishi 's wish was
the reason why we launched "Walking Together" in a great hurry 9
years ago. We were all inexperienced in taking charge of such an organization,
but thanks to the generous prayers of our supporters all over the country, we
are grateful! Thank you! We have been able to
accumulate years of "Thank you!
However, after the fifth year, we began to
hear voices of concern about how long we would be able to continue these
activities. The reason for this is the aging of the population.
Many of the supporters of this association
are the same age as Sr. Rethisia Negishi and Sr. Bernadette Shirahata, and
every year we receive letters from some of them saying that they are no longer
able to continue their support due to old age. Although the representative of
the company says, "I am still fine...," he is now at an age where he
could fall ill at any time. Under these circumstances, we were united in our
determination to "continue our current support activities as long as Sr.
Bernadette Shirahata and Sr.Clara Yoshida are doing their best in the area.
If we find ourselves in a situation where
this is just not possible, we would like to consult with the Japanese District
Director of Mission St. Clare.
We would like to take the time to consult
with the Japanese District Director of St. Clare to see if it would be possible
for those who are able to continue to provide support to send the funds to the
Japanese District Director of St. Clare, and for the District Director to remit
the funds to the area.
On July 23, we were able to invite Sr.
Bernadette Shirahata, who is returning to Japan, to our headquarters to listen
to Sister's talk. We were also able to hear Sister's frank opinion on this
issue (see page 5~ of the bulletin). In her remarks, Sister stated the
following.
'Maybe we'll lose some support, but that's
okay. That's something God knows."
I am overwhelmed by the faith of these
sisters, who live their lives with absolute trust that God will always do what
is best for us.
We hope that our support for Sierra Leone
will continue, but our greatest hope is that the people of Sierra Leone will be
able to stand on their own feet.
We will leave the decision of timing to God
and hope to do our best to support the relief activities that we can do now. We
would also like to value the opinions of our supporters in the future. Please
feel free to send us your opinions at any time. Thank you for your continued
cooperation.
（Translation: Chiaki Yoshihara)