Aids Orphans Rising

AOR Has a New Blog!

2009-08-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

Please visit AOR's new blog at www.aidsorphansrising.org

2009-06-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

Music is what feelings sound like.

Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness. ~Maya Angelou

Want to change the world? Use the gifts God has given you! Celine Ferland after receiving her Ph.D in music, the flute, wrote to me and said what could I ever do for the children?

She has changed the world for the children at the missions of the Religious Teachers Filippini in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Thousands of children now know the joy of playing a musical instrument and have learned the peace that comes from the mellow sounds of the flute. This beautiful music is helping them realize that there is meaning to life after all!

Learn more --Goto http://stlucyorphanagefluteschool.blogspot.com/
and read about Celine’s project. The photos were taken by Celine's niece, Safia.

So what talent has God given you? Share it with the orphans. They need you.
Find me we can plan a project together.

There is nothing in the world so much like prayer as music is. ~William P. Merrill

God bless you.
Sr.MB

p.s.

Worldwide, it is estimated that more than 15 million children under 18 have been orphaned as a result of AIDS. Around 11.6 million of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa!

The children need your talents!

2008-12-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

God’s sign is the baby, a child. God’s sign is that he makes himself small for us. He asks for our love: so he makes himself a child. He wants nothing other from us than our love, through which we spontaneously learn to enter into his feelings, his thoughts and his will – we learn to live with him and to practice with him that humility of renunciation that belongs to the very essence of love. He teaches us to love the weak. In this way he teaches us respect for children. The child of Bethlehem directs our gaze towards all children who suffer and are abused in the world, the born and the unborn. Towards children who are placed as soldiers in a violent world; towards children who have to beg; towards children who suffer deprivation and hunger; towards children who are orphans or unloved. In all of these it is the Child of Bethlehem who is crying out to us; it is the God who has become small who appeals to us. Let us pray this night that the brightness of God’s love may enfold all these children. Let us ask God to help us do our part so that the dignity of children may be respected. May they all experience the light of love, which mankind needs so much more than the material necessities of life. *

Thank you so very much for all you have done for the children at the missions of the Religious Teachers Filippini. Your countless hours working for the orphans, the hundreds of miles you have run, biked, climbed and even baked will not go unrewarded. Your generosity in helping to feed, clothe, house and educate these children has truly made a difference in their lives. May you and your families be blessed in a most special way throughout this coming New Year. Be assured of the daily prayers and sacrifices of the Sisters throughout the world. We look forward to doing even more for these children in 2009!

*adapted from the 2006 Christmas Homily of Pope Benedict XVI

Thanksgiving for all

2008-12-01T07:20:00.000-08:00

“ Jesus is my Lord” is boldly displayed above the door post of this one
room shanty in Brazil. But look closer, below are the words ,”and there is nothing
that I want”!

On this Monday after Thanksgiving I pray you have the same sentiments. Most of us do have all we need!

But sorrow, sadness, and terror, abound in this world. We must be strong in our Faith or as Pope Benedict XVI says, “…without faith, there is no hope and without hope there is not future.” Make sure you pass this Faith on to your children and friends. They need your strength.
This International Day of AIDS awareness spread the word around about the orphans from this terrible disease. In New Jersey there are over 22,000 such orphans, not to mention the millions world over.

My Thanksgiving prayer was for the children and for all of you who work so hard to help them. God hears your prayers and sees your efforts to reach out to them. Continue to pray for them, only divine intervention can help resolve a problem of such dimesions.
God is listening! Watch the attached video clip, these Brazilian girls are happy and getting their lives back in order thanks to your goodness to them. Nothing better!

God bless you.
Sr. Mary Beth

The Day Momma Died!

2008-05-10T18:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother’s Day to all!

Most of us had great mothers and we can understand what this little girl is going through. There is no sadder time in your life than when your mother dies, or perhaps the saddest moment is days later when you realize she really is gone and life will never be the same.

For the million of children today that are the orphans from AIDS there will be no Mother’s Day for them. Every 14 seconds new orphans are formed from the death of their parents. The family is the basic unit of society, and if we do not help the Child Headed Households* stay together society as we know it will disintegrate!

So what can you do for them? Pray. As Christians we take Mary the Mother as Jesus as our mother and believe she hears our prayers. It is the month of May, offer at least one Rosary for the children. And pray for those kids in Myanmar too!

Something else you might do! The prices of wheat, corn and rice have increased 66% this year. The World Bank believes it is affecting more than 100,000,000 people from having enough to eat. Most of these are children. This week Congress will begin discussing the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill. Just send a quick email asking your representative or senator to support the part of this bill that will help feed the poor. This site http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/ is an easy way to access them by your zip code.

I know this feels like work. One quick click! Do it for these kids that have no mothers to feed them.

Thanks so much for working so hard to save the orphans.
Be assured of my daily prayers for your own intentions.

God bless you.
Sr.MB

*Child Headed Households are children of one family, all under the age of 18, trying to live together as a family.

The number one way to make your kids happy!

2008-03-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

Scientific proof: Money can buy happiness!

Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else!

Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly boost happiness, was recently scientifically proven by a team at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School.

Their experiments on more than 630 Americans showed they were measurably happier when they spent money on others -- even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them happier.

Volunteers were given $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it. Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it. The study believes that as little as $5 -- may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day!

So what they have proven is that age old adage…it is better to give than to receive!

Throughout the world our Sisters teach the children this concept through their mission appeals. Even in Sassi, Ethiopia one of the poorest regions that we service, there is a collection for the poor! We are trying to teach them that there are children worse off than themselves, they all must give something even a penny. The first picture above shows the children briinging their gifts for the poor, and the second one their joy after distributing the gifts.

On those days when the kids or grandkids are torturing you because they are bored with nothing to do, give them some money and say, “Go do good with this money!” They must give it away to the neediest person they come across and report to you their findings. I promise you they will come home very happy and with some great stories.

So, on this day when Jesus gave not a penny, not a dollar, or $5 but himself for us, let us take a minute and reflect on this most generous act portrayed so well in this poem by Lucado.

The diadem of pain
which slice your gentle face,
three spikes piercing flesh and wood
to hold you in your place.

The need for blood I understand.
Your sacrifice I embrace.
But the bitter sponge, the cutting spear,
the spit upon your fact?
Did it have to be a cross?

Did not a kinder death exist
than six hours hanging between life and death,
all spurred by a bertayer’s kiss?

“Oh, Father,” you pose,
heart-stilled at what could be,
“I’m sorry to ask, but I long to know,
did you do this for me?”

Thank you so very much for your prayers and support.
Have a beautiful Easter.

God bless you.
Sr.MB

It’s almost Lent! What’s the best way to help the poor? Get Rich!

2008-02-01T04:47:00.000-08:00

Lent begins on Wednesday, February 6. What can we do to deepen our spiritual lives and help the poor? There are always the regulars, i.e.give up candy, sweets, etc. But the Bible exhorts us to also go beyond ourselves and help the poor. What’s the best way?

I read in an old book yesterday that, “The poor do not need charity: they need inspiration. Charity only sends them a loaf of bread to keep them alive in their wretchedness, or gives them an entertainment to make them forget for an hour or two: but inspiration will cause them to rise out of their misery. If you want to help the poor, demonstrate to them that they can become rich: prove it by getting rich yourself.” Wallace Delois Wattles. The Science of Getting Rich. 1910.

Now that’s a novel way to celebrate Lent, Get Rich!

But Rich has gotten a bad reputation. The author goes on to explain when one is truly rich spiritually and actually they have the opportunity to do great good for this world.

Kelly in a Testament of Devotion proposes that,“ The deepest need of men is not food and clothing and shelter, important as they are. It is God. We have mistaken the nature of poverty and thought it was economic poverty. No, it is poverty of soul, deprivation of God’s recreating loving peace.”

And so, is it the poor who are lacking God or is it the rich? And is it because the Rich are lacking God, we have the poor? What a dilemma!

The truth is we all need God and without Him there will be no peace for the rich or the poor. And we all need food and shelter!

So for Lent what should you do?

Two suggestions:

1. Make a resolution that you will try to pray always. Say small prayers all day long during Lent. Lift your mind and heart to God all through the day. You’ll need to make some reminders for yourself. St. Frances DeSales’ desk was outside a church that chimed its bells every 15 minutes. He got into the habit of making a spiritual communion every time he heard the chimes. Think of some way you can pray often. Should you fail, it’s ok, just start again. There is no rush you have 40 days!

2. Give one thing away from your closet every day for Lent. Wow! It will be empty by Easter and many poor people in your town will be walking around with some nice clothes and shoes! Who should you give it to? Put the article of clothing in your car. You’ll find some one needy. Put the intention in your mind and the right person will arrive!

At the Religious Teachers Filippini Women Promotion Center in Adigrat, Ethiopia (pictured above) we are trying to inspire young girls to one day be rich! In a good sense! Many of these girls are orphans or single mothers who are trying to avoid a life of prostitution. We train them in many marketable skills so they may become very successful, but also to have faith in themselves, realize God’s abundance abounds and gratitude toward the Good God who made them. Religion is rarely a problem for the poor people that I encounter. They love God and want honor Him and to do His Will.

This center is unique to Adigrat as it is the only Pizza Gelato Café in the city! The ovens were built by a man who came from Italy who wanted to do something for the poor using his talents! And good benefactors have provided the industrial gelato machine and a vehicle to transport the supplies needed. Recently we had our first graduation ceremony of 21 girls. Fifteen have found work and the remaining five are being helped to secure positions. These girls are going to make it in this world!

Because it is a training center many poor people iin the town are able for the very first time in their lives taste delicious pizza and have a cool gelato!
Perhaps from this information you too will be inspired to use your special talents to help those in need.

So have a good Lent, pray for the poor and make sacrifices for them!
Write and let me know how your Lent goes!

God bless you.
Sr.Mary Beth

p.s.
If you would like to learn more about these girls and the orphans from AIDS go to
http://www.aidsorphansrising.org/
or listen to this interview
http://www.insidescooplive.com/author-pages/Lloyd-Sister-Mary_Beth-reading-interview.html

Want to be 7 years younger and help the orphans from AIDS?

2008-01-08T12:27:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all! Did you know they are celebrating the year 2000 in Ethiopia! They follow the calendar designed by Julius Caesar so all there are seven years younger!

I was fortunate to have recently been in Ethiopia, and to be a bit younger! Our children, in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, are so good and all want an education! Many of the orphans, besides attending school, work at some small job to help raise money to support themselves and their siblings.

Our biggest challenge at this moment is providing food for the children on a remote plateau called Sassi. Pictured above, you see that Sassi is much similar to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Good people have helped us solve their water problems by digging a deep well and putting in cisterns to capture the rain water. But providing enough food for the children and delivering it is the greatest challenge! Most of these children eat once a day. Presently we are able to provide them with a small roll, with luck some fruit and some milk each day. We are working towards providing a hot meal for them.

Do you know what ended hunger in America? The school hot lunch program! Most of the children in Sassi leave home without breakfast and walk many miles on incredibly rocky terrain to get to school. No one can learn on an empty stomach! Please do what you can to help us provide for these children.
And in the news they report that the first prediction of 25 million AIDS orphans by 2010 has doubled to 50 million! This is only two years away! Incomprehensible and disgraceful! What can one possibly do to help these children? In my new book AIDS Orphans Rising there are many suggestions of real things you can do to help the children. Without help from good people this will be the worst disaster this world has ever known.
Thank you and God bless you.
Sr.MB

P.S.
If you would like 100 % of your donation to provide a hot lunch for these children please send your donation to:
Religious Teachers Filippini
Mission Fund
455 Western Ave.
Morristown, NJ 07960

You can get a copy of Aids Orphans Rising on http://www.Amazon.com

Anna Nicole Smith and St. Lucy Filippini, could they possibly have anything in common? Read on to learn more!

2007-03-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

One can only have deep feelings of sorrow for the highly-publicized death of this poor girl. The loss of her life started long ago, but could her tragedy have been avoided?

Today is the anniversary of the death of St. Lucy Filippini, March 25th 1732! Could she have helped Anna Nicole? What could St. Lucy ever have in common with Anna Nicole Smith?

St. Lucy spent her life helping young girls and women at risk. She would lead them ever so gently to Jesus that they would turn to a life of virtue. When one is close to Jesus one cannot stray far from Him. Had Anna Nicole gone to school with St. Lucy as her teacher how her life would be so different! Both she and her son would still be alive today! And her poor infant daughter would have a loving mother.

Reminded of today’s Gospel-who of us could condemn her? Jesus asks those of us without sin to cast the first stone. Funny, not one stone was tossed!

So, is there an Anna Nicole Smith in your life? Do you know some young girl headed down the wrong road? How can you help her? Pray for her, let her know she is loved for the goodness within her, not for her external beauty. St. Lucy would bring the girls close to Jesus through prayer and meditation. Perhaps you can teach someone how to pray, simply, even just one Hail Mary. Ask her to say it with you slowly, and encourage her to say it every day. The Blessed Mother will lead her on the right path.

275 years after her life on earth we continue the works of St. Lucy in our schools for women and young girls throughout the world. We ask you to pray for the Sisters that they might gently lead these young souls to God.

These young girls are students at St. Lucy School in Adigrat, Ethiopia. They’ve lost their parents form AIDS and must provide for themselves and their siblings. We ask you to pray especially for these girls, abandoned and desperately needing help, to provide for the smaller children. Pray that we may find them before they turn to a life of enduring sadness and tragedy.

Thank you for all of your help. May you have a good final week of Lent.
God bless you.
Sr.MB

Please don't tell them I am a Leper!

2007-01-28T07:59:00.000-08:00

Recently I told someone that January 31st is World Leprosy Day. “Haven’t they cured that yet?” was the brusque response I received. Yes, leprosy can be cured, but the disease continues to affect 15 million people worldwide. Nearly 5 million of them live in India, and one-fourth of these are undernourished children below 15 years of age. Leprosy still ranks as a major public health problem!

The Leprosy bacterium can infect nearly every organ in the body. The face and limbs are mutilated because the germ prefers cooler ambient temperatures, not 98.6F. No one is really sure why children are predisposed, but you can be sure living in a filthy environment with dirty drinking water and poor nutrition contribute greatly.

What’s a mother to do? I accompanied a young mother and her three children, all lepers, to the village clinic to pick up their medicine. The doctor explained they would each have to take three different drugs a day and return every three months. He then poured a three month supply of pills into a piece of old newspaper, bundled it up and wished her well. If you are counting, that’s 1080 pills! One bright note, the medicine was free. The family returned home to a one room hut with no nice medicine cabinet and no sanitary source of drinking water - not even clean drinking glasses. I asked the mother if she could organize the daily doses and make sure the kids take them. She said they were usually good at taking them for a week and then they all gradually stop taking them. And so the saga continues.

One night the doorbell rings at the convent being the closest one to the door I went to see who it was. It was a man with leprosy and three children under 5 years of age. His leprosy was very advanced, he had very few gnarled fingers, a very deformed right foot, and a really damaged nose. He said, “Please take my children into your hostel as my wife has just died from AIDS and I can’t take care of these children, please let me leave them with you and I will go on to the Leper colony”. I was so happy that we have Siena Home a hostel for children in need. We were able to help this man provide for his children.

I was very proud to learn that our school in India was one of the first to take children with leprosy into our school. The Sisters made sure that these children received their medicines daily and were in no way a harm to the other children. At first some parents complained but when Sister was able to explain the circumstances to them they all accepted these children. One of these children was the little girl who came crying to Sister, “Please don’t tell them I am a Leper”. Ironically she is an orphan from AIDS!

Thank you very much and God bless you.

Sr. Mary Beth

P.S.

Please if you haven't helped recently do what you can to help our Sisters to provide for the very needy children of this world. 100% of your gift gets to the kids!

Think --Tax time is coming --it's either the Tax man gets your money or the kids.

The Religious Teachers Filippini is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization and will send you an acknowledgment of your contribution.

P.S.P.S.
Don’t think you are so safe --

there are an estimated 7,000 cases of leprosy in NYC!!

Nothing ever goes wrong in my world!

2007-01-09T02:00:00.000-08:00

Wouldn’t you love to be able to say in 2007-- “Nothing ever goes wrong in my world!”

Peace is what we are all looking for at this time of year. Try to remember some of your most peace filled moments. Mine always come after I have sacrificed to help someone else. And you too, I am sure, whether it has been after hard day’s work, the end of a big project, or even just washing up after a good dinner. You sit and reflect and see that all is good in your world. A very old theologian wrote, “Nothing ever goes wrong in my world!” He goes on to explain nothing can go wrong in his world because God is in charge. It may not look right to him all the time but his faith in the Divine lets him realize that he can just do the best that he can do and then just accept the inevitable.

I am writing to thank you for all you have done for the children this year. The Religious Teachers Filippini have been able to feed, clothe, educate and bring the love of the Lord to thousands of needy children because of your sacrifices. Some of you have made special prayers and sacrifices others have climbed mountains, run hundreds of miles, designed web pages, given monetary support, and helped in so many ways, God will bless you for this though at times it may not look so. My wish for all of you is: May you have the strength to do what is expected of you and a faith strong enough to accept whatever God sends. And in doing this may you receive so much peace that you too can honestly can say with that old theologian, “ Nothing ever goes wrong in my world”.

Why should YOU get weighed and measured?

2006-08-20T06:08:00.000-07:00

Getting measured can be of great importance to your health. From your weight and height have the doctor calculate your BMI, or do it yourself. If your BMI is greater than 25 it would be good lose a few pounds, do some exercises or begin a walking program. If it drops below 25 check the cause. It may be from weight or height loss. It might even be muscle loss from some medication you are on. Many diseases can be prevented or halted when a person has early knowledge of these changes. Children’s BMI should also be checked. Their BMI should be within range if low contact your doctor and if high you’ll have to get them out the door doing some fun exercises. Teach them something they can do for life.

Looking at our AIDS orphans as a group they a all look like normal children, and they have a great energy level. When you measure them it tells a different story. See the little boy’s arm circumference measurement in this picture, the yellow going to red on the band? It indicates that he is malnourished and in need of good food. All of our children when they arrive at St. Lucy Mission are malnourished. In this world 23 children DIE from malnutrition every minute! The Sisters work very hard at helping the children achieve normal growth levels. When children are below normal levels they do not do well in school and are subject to catching many diseases. Malnourished girls grow up having difficulty giving birth and many have miscarriages.

So it is good for all of us to keep up with our measurements. But most especially the children as malnutrition is the cause in more than half of all child deaths.

Calculate your BMI yourself at http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/bmi.htm and take action if needed. And do something good for the undernourished children TODAY!

God bless you.

Sr.MB

p.s.
By the year 2010 there will be 25 million orphans from AIDS.

Can Bill Gates end terrorism?

2006-06-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

Bill Gates is to be commended on his choice to work full time on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He has helped the world a great deal already imagine all the good he can do working at it full time. Do you think he has the ability to end terrorism?
A recent question at a Simpleology 101 forum-- “Will eradicating poverty end terrorism?”
Ending poverty will not end terrorism.

Will education end terrorism? Hitler, Castro, Saddam, and Bin Laden were all very well educated and rich? So what will end terrorism?

One thing only will end terrorism…Love

So take another lesson from Bill Gates – go out and love your neighbor.
The one thing that distinguished the Samaritan from the others is that he did something!

So what has this to do with AIDS orphans? See the children pictured here – they have no one in the world, no mother and on this Father’s Day, no father. They are at a delicate age they can go either way towards good or evil, make an effort this week to give a hand to those who are giving them love.

Happy Father’s Day.

God bless you. Sr.MB
aidsorphansrising@yahoo.com

Orphans remember their Teacher!

2006-05-28T00:58:00.000-07:00

When thinking of your school days did you ever feel like saying, “No one ever taught me nothing!”—or should it be anything! Once we’ve been through school it’s easy to think that we taught ourselves all we need to know! Not so! Have you ever watched a first grader struggling to hold a pencil to form the letters just right! We would be nowhere without our teachers.
The children pictured here in Zalambessa, Ethiopia took some time to thank their teacher Sr. Antonia! They are 70 in the classroom with others who were not registered because there was not enough room sitting outside the window hoping to learn too!
It’s Memorial Day tomorrow! Besides remembering the fallen soldiers that gave us our freedom, take some time to thank or at least say a prayer for your teachers, that set you free when they taught you to read!! Think for a while where you would be without the education you have. Perhaps you can give an orphan a chance to learn! "Euntes Docete Verbum Domini" Write me your thoughts. aidsorphansrising@yahoo.com

God bless you.

Sr. Mary Beth

Aids Orphans and Playing Hookie!

2006-05-15T01:11:00.000-07:00

Did you ever skip school in May? The weather is so great and the beach is calling you!
Many of the orphans from Aids skip or even quit school because they have to work. These three sisters told me they had to drop out of school when their mother took sick and now she has died. The older two can at least read and write the younger one can not write even her name and does not know even how to add.
Do children have a write to an education?
The Religious Teachers Filippini think every child has the right to an education, how about you?

Religious Teachers Filippini
455 Western Avenue
Morristown, NJ 07960

srmel@vfemail.net

AIDS Orphans on the Rise with Resilience--It’s beyond coping – do you have it?

2006-04-30T01:41:00.000-07:00

How do you respond to the flat tires in your life? To the loss of a job? To serious illnesses? How do you respond to the death of loved ones? How do you bounce back?

Coping is defined as escaping the challenges that confront oneself. Luzze writes that the children living in a child-headed households can cope better than we think they can, particularly with the right amount of adult support.

The problem is that children in child-headed households often lack adult support and supervision.But this blog is not about children who are just coping.

These children that I am trying to introduce to you have a resiliency way beyond their years! Resilience is the act of rebounding or springing back after being stretched or pressed, or recovering strength, spirit, and good humor.

Pictured here is a very resilient little girl. She attends St. Lucy School in Adigrat, Ethiopia. The school allows the young children to complete their elementary school education for free while also learning a trade. This very resilient young girl is showing the Sisters her handwork that will be sold. She will receive her earnings that will help raise her 3 younger siblings!St. Lucy School will continue to educate her and hundreds like her until she is old enough to live on her own with her younger brothers and sisters.

The challenge is all about helping the head of the CHH promote their own resiliency to their siblings so that they become more resilient themselves.

Are you resilient? You can't help these kids unless you are!

Religious Teachers Filippini 455 Western Ave. Morristown, NJ 07960

Orphans getting covered!

2006-04-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been so cold that you wake up with your teeth chattering? That’s what happens when you sleep in a city with an altitude of 7,896 feet without a blanket! The best present to give a child in Adigrat, Ethiopia is a blanket! And I am happy to say that someone has just donated 9,000 blankets for us to distribute to any children we find! Love in action!

“Only if I serve my neighbor can my eyes be opened to what God does for me and how much he loves me. The saints—consider the example of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta—constantly renewed their capacity for love of neighbor ... No longer is it a question, then, of a “commandment” imposed from without and calling for the impossible, but rather of a freely-bestowed experience of love from within, a love which by its very nature must then be shared with others. Love grows through love. " From DEUS CARITAS EST BENEDICT XVI
Read through this Encyclical of Pope Benedict slowly it will change your life!

H5N1 Bird Flu Scares Aids Orphans!

2006-03-31T05:37:00.000-08:00

In Ethiopia the kids are not afraid of catching Avian Flu but more concerned that many of them will lose their source of income! This young fellow came to St. Lucy Center when he was just six years old. He was joined by his only living relative, his 3 year old brother. Sister started him on selling six eggs at a time. He now has his own house and a yard full of chicks that are able to support the two of them in good style. Many children are living off their own microenterprises.

What can one person do to help halfway across the world?
Perhaps you have some ideas of your own to help others get started!

God bless you.
Sr.MB
srmel@vfemail.net

Doing it all -School, house, the kids and yet a kid!

2006-03-26T05:43:00.000-08:00

These girls are all under 18 years of age and have the responsibilities of a grown adult. Both parents have died from AIDS. Many are taking care of three or four siblings, the house, cooking, going to school and working! Yet they have a smile and can break out into a song and dance with little coaxing!
It was not always this way. Most of these girls when they arrived at St. Lucy Center with their siblings were starving with no place to live and no education.
You can help us in so many ways. Go to
http://14seconds.tripod.com
and join us in keeping the smiles on the faces of these children!
God bless you.
Sr.MB

MARCH MADNESS

2006-03-21T06:25:00.000-08:00

Even in the poorest parts of the world they know of basketball! How do such sweatshirts make their way to the remote corners of the earth? Many good people of the USA give their extra clothing to groups that collect for the poor. Here once a month a truck comes to this city and dumps a large mound of clothes. The children run out and you would think they would grab as many clothes as they could but no, they are quite clever. They pick through the pile and put on what they need, shirts, pants, jackets, one on top of the other. Then go home an deposit them in their one room homes. And wear as needed. You see you never wash your clothes in this part of the world, water is so scarce, you wear your clothes until they fall off!

Happy Spring! Next time you put on a clean clothes say a prayer for these children.

It's easy to help these children just call 973-538-2886 and say you would like to help the children of the missions of the Religious Teachers Filippini.

It's a Small World!

2006-03-17T06:46:00.000-08:00

So many small orphans! You’ve got to picture this town. More than a thousand of these little souls have no one else in the world but each other. And more come to town each day. Sr. Desta makes sure they have a place to sleep. See the cement structures in the back. For three dollars a month we can rent one room, and so little brothers and sisters call this one room home! They have a blanket on the floor, paste some pictures on the walls. No bathroom. No need for a clothes closet as they wear their clothes until they fall off! In the morning Sister goes and collects them and makes sure they get to school Feeding all of them is the biggest challenge. They survive on so little – sometimes all they eat all day is one roll and a cup of milk. But yet they smile. And as one little boy said to me it was more than he had before he and his brothers and sisters moved to town!

Have a great St. Patrick's Day!

God bless you.

Sr. Mary Beth

For more information concerning our work please email me at
srmel@vfemail.net

or mail a contribution to:
Religious Teachers Filippini Mission Fund
455 Western Avenue
Morristown, NJ 07960

100% of your gift goes to the children - I promise!

The Religious Teachers Filippini The Religious Teachers Filippini is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization.

Protect the Girls

2006-03-11T02:33:00.000-08:00

After my mother died, I went to my mother's mother. In 2001, she died, so I stopped school. . . . Then we went to my auntie, my mom's younger sister. . . . Most girls find that they start keeping up with [having sex with] stepfathers or uncles. Most are raped. They have no say. They think if you bring them to the police, there will be no one to keep me. So they keep quiet. -Patricia M., age sixteen from Human Rights Watch interview, Lusaka, Zambia May 22, 2002
Through girls' own testimonies, this report shows sexual assault of girls in Zambia in the era of HIV/AIDS to be widespread and complex. It documents several categories of abuse that heighten girls' risk of HIV infection, including (1) sexual assault of girls by family members, particularly the shocking and all too common practice of abuse of orphan girls by men who are their guardians, or by others who are charged to assist or look after them, including teachers, (2) abuse of girls, again often orphans, who are heads of household or otherwise desperately poor and have few options other than trading sex for their and their siblings' survival, and (3) abuse of girls who live on the street, of whom many are there because they are without parental care.
This is one story that can be multiplied over and over in every nation with AIDS orphans. You feel helpless when you read of the millions of orphans at risk, what can we do? St. Lucy worked tirelessly to help young girls in similar situations more than three hundred years ago! We, too, must continue her work. Pray, sacrifice, do whatever you can to make this world a better place.
God bless you.
Sr.MB
p.s. for those new to linking, click the underlined words to go to the site of this information.

Dana Reeve's Death

2006-03-09T09:07:00.000-08:00

How very sad it was to hear of the death of Christopher Reeve's wife Dana. How she cared for her husband so lovingly. My heart goes out to their only son, William. He's only 13 years old and now totally alone!

And as I was praying for him I realized he is just like these poor orphans in Ethiopia. Unlike these children he's got economical support, but he has lost those he loved the most. No amount of money can bring them back. Take a moment and pray for him and for all the children of the world that have lost their parents.

18 million orphans in Africa by 2010

2006-03-04T11:55:00.000-08:00

Don’t get scared but “ The worst is yet to come," warns a report issued by the UN Children's Fund. By 2010, there will be about 18 million orphans in Africa alone. The majority of these children will be between the ages of 10 and 16 and will be left without critical guidance, protection and support(like food and clothes and water!). The problem is overwhelming, the need is immense, but we can help them.
Three quarters of all CHH are led by girls. Pictured here is a CHH led by an 11 year old girl who is trying to raise her 2 younger sisters, her 2 younger brothers and go to school! There are usually three to eight children per household and these children try to stick together as much as possible.

What’s your opinion? Do these children have a right to support so they can remain in charge of their lives without fear of being split up or sent away?.

Many of you have asked how you might send money instead of socks or flip flops. We thank you for this most kind thought and "The Religious Teachers Filippini" promise that 100% of your gift will get to the children. Not many organizations can make that promise – and it is tax deductible!

Please make checks payable and mail to:
Religious Teachers Filippini Mission Fund
455 Western Avenue
Morristown, NJ 07960

Great book that gives you a real picture of how these children are living.
Children of AIDS : Africa's Orphan Crisis by Emma Guest

What's in a Name?? CHH...Aids Orphans

2006-03-02T08:09:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the great response for my sock request!!

Since the term Child Headed Household aka CHH might be new to some of you I'd thought I would speak of that today. Every 14 seconds a Child Headed Household is formed. But what exactly is a Child Headed Household?
Look to your right, and you see children who have survived the death of their parents from AIDS. A CHH is brothers and sisters under the age of 18 struggling to stay alive and remain together as a family. Not a new phenomenon to history, but in years previous most CHH came about because the parents had died from war. I won't bore you with statistics today but last year 43,000 new CHH were formed in Ethiopia! YIKES! ALL THOSE KIDS WITHOUT PARENTS!!

So since you are into feet...these kids could use some flip flops for the summer!!

God bless you all.

Welcome to the World of AIDS ORPHANS

2006-02-28T12:10:00.000-08:00

The great thing about the AIDS orphans that I have met is that they are happy, do not feel sorry for themselves and are struggling to survive with their brothers and sisters. Sure they have their sad, pity me moments, but on the whole they are up and out everyday making the best of what there is. I hope through this blog many will come to know these children, and know that they want a good life-- not just material things -- but a good and peaceful existence!
One real thing you might do today...collect socks i.e. for little people and ship them either to
Sr. Lette PO Box 12 Adigrat, Ethiopia...or give them to your local charity that helps AIDS orphans...nothing worse than cold feet!!

God bless you.