Yvonne raises £900 for Roma Girls!

Hello all,

See below my recollections of Sr Kierran's visit to our parish church in Reading on Sunday 03 June 2007. Pictures of time at home will follow soon, hopefully. I forgot the camera at home and so did not take any at the mass. This went very well. Lonely and Chanda Mulenga came, which was really great. Hilda also came but after Sr Kieran had left (-about 5:30pm-she had had a long day and had to rest before yet another trip the following day.Mass was very touching, she received a very warm welcome and gave a very heartfelt thanks and speech from the heart.

Everyone had a lump in the throat and me tears....here is the bit about Roma I learnt...the school was set up in 1953 at a time when the education of girls was not even heard of. Girls were to be married and have children and be wives.....The sisters set out to fight this, against all odds. It continues to be a huge struggle even today, due to many barriers- poverty being the biggest. Sr felt overwhelmed by the support and generosity...She never thought there would be a link for Roma to experience such generously so far from home....She felt proud to see that what the school sets out to teach the girls....a sense of community, belonging, service and generosity to others...the Catholic values are evident today. She prayed that God would bless them all for their generosity- and did mention that although it would be drop in the ocean of need, it would go a long way in helping them continue to educate girls. 'Educate a woman and you educate the family'....The hand the rocks the cradle.....

The parish priest was also very happy that Sr Kieran came over and hoped that this would be the beginning of a lasting relationship, one that the parish would continue to support regularly, rather than this one off cheque of £750.00. After mass, a basket of cash donations was made and a further £150.00 was collected/ given! There were only a handful at this mass- in a small church in a small village- and yet so much given......In my running around I forgot to capture the moment on camera.....it was an amazing day and well worth the effort. See parish bulletin on the newsletters link http://www.saintmichaelsonningcommon.org.uk/

Best regards to you all...I shall check my eroga mail now so I hope none of this is repetition to you.

Yvonne Mubanga

PS. the African boy on the cover picture is my son Muma who received his first holy communion last Sunday.