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HOLY MASS AT MERCY HOUSE

On Tuesday, the 9th of August, Women’s Day, we again had the privilege of celebrating  Holy Mass at Mercy House. A good number of our Mercy House Family, those who live in and others who live out, were present.  The celebrant was Father Gauthier-Malulu, a Jesuit Father from DRC, who was spending a month in South Africa to learn English. He works in the Ivory Coast, teaching Theology at the Jesuit University there.  Father gave an excellent sermon (in French!) on living like a child, as described in the day’s Gospel reading.   We remembered in our prayers, all our benefactors, friends and supporters, all over the world, without whose help we could not survive. We thank Father for giving of his time and sharing his spiritual richness with us. See photos.

GARDEN PARTY IN UK FOR MERCY HOUSE

 
On Friday, 5th August, our loyal friends in the UK, held a Ploughman’s Luncheon in the beautiful garden of Mick and Penny Finn in Chichester.  This was to raise money for Mercy House and we hope to direct the funding towards our Education Programme for 2017.  As the photos show, it was a beautiful sunny day and around 50 people attended, enjoying cheese and wine and delicious puddings. There was also a “Guess the weight of the cake” raffle and a “Bottle Tombola.” Mrs Judy McGregor had made a poster showing aspects of our work.  Clearly the occasion was a joy for all.  A very warm and sincere thanks to all our supporters in the UK who never tire of putting themselves out and working hard for us.  We look forward to some of you visiting us one day! See photos.

CONCERT FOR MERCY HOUSE

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On Friday, the 22nd of July, a concert was held at the Anglican Church in  Bosham, West Sussex, England, to raise money for Mercy House and an orphanage in Romania. It had been arranged by the parish priest of the Anglican Church in Bosham , Father Martin Lane and Mrs Kate Phillips of Assumption Catholic Church. How encouraging that we here in South Africa and the orphans in Romania are being remembered, supported and helped, so generously,  from people as far away the UK.
The choir at the concert came from as far away as Australia! Jane, daughter of Mrs Kate Phillips, recently qualified as a doctor, having studied in New South Wales, Australia. Whilst there, she joined the choir at Christ Church Cathedral.  It was she who invited the choir to travel to the UK and give of their excellence at a concert in Bosham.  And it all came true! We attach some photos of the concert. The young lady playing the flute, which she apparently did brilliantly, is Louise Underwood. 
 Mrs Judy McGregor, leader of our Mercy House Team in the UK, has described the concert as “most successful, with a good turnout and stunning voices…. the talent and gifted musicians were truly something to behold.” A good sum of money was raised which will be shared by the Romanian orphans and Mercy House. A very sincere thank you to all who were part of this magnanimous gesture, Mrs Kate Phillips, Jane, Louise, Father Martin Lane, Kathy Campbell, and of course, all the choir members.  Many other unseen workers also deserve our thanks.  We won’t forget your kindness and will remember you in our prayers.

May you and all who supported the fund-raise


THE WONDERFUL STORY OF JABU

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Mercy House was founded in order to help refugee orphans and young people whose lives have been disrupted by war in Africa. So we have always only helped refugees. This time, we have made an exception, since the mercy of God is for everyone!
Jabu is a young Zulu boy who lost both parents when he was quite young. He had to drop out of school in Gr 10, as there was no one to pay the fees.   He stayed for a while with his sister, but when she acquired her partner this was no longer possible. When I, Diana Beamish, met him, he was sleeping on the hillside above Bienvenu and survived by begging on the corner of Mons Street and Observatory Avenue, where you will still find him.  I watched him for several years as I passed and always wondered why this very fine looking young boy was not at school. I befriended him and found out about his life, to see how we could help. He started to come to Mercy House for food and managed to find a South African couple who rent a room in Bertrams, and allow him to sleep on the floor in their cooking area.

This year I asked Jabu what he would really like to do, what he is interested in.  He said that he would like to do sewing.  I found out about a training school   in Johannesburg, called Sew Africa, where he is now enrolled for Saturday classes learning how to make trousers, skirts and jackets. We hope to go to schools and ask if we can offer his wares there in the future.  We trust that other opportunities will arise. An unknown man, called Vincent, also befriended Jabu at the corner, and he too wanted to help. He has donated money for him to buy materials for his work.  Likewise, he is going to ask his personal tailor to accept Jabu as an apprentice for the month of September, so that he can learn more about the trade. Another bonus is that one of our co-workers, Felicity Borland, has got Jabu a sewing machine, so life has  looked up for Jabu  – even his appearance has changed. He has hope and a goal and we ask our readers to pray for him. Any further progress will be reported in our next update. As I often told Jabu, God always lets down a rope! 


FAREWELL TO FELIX

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On Wednesday 31st August our Sudanese, Felix, moved out of Mercy House to make space for others. Felix has been with us for 5 years. We met him when he was still selling wares on the pavement in the street.  Since then he has completed a Master’s Degree in Biomedical Technology and got an excellent job with an American-based company which has also offered to pay for his Doctorate studies! Felix incredible tenacity of purpose, his tremendous hard work and dedication have got him to where he is today and we congratulate him for this.   Go well Felix.

MERCY HOUSE DOES COMMUNITY SERVICE

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On Monday, 2 May, we went to the park for a picnic. But before we had it, we did 2 hours of hard work cleaning up some of the huge piles of rubbish at the side entrance to the park. We managed to fill as many 80 large bin bags with litter and left them neatly in the street for the Council to pick them up. To our surprise and relief, they did in fact do so. A great time was had by all and the experience was not just fun, but also community building, surely also a learning experience for our young people.

THE REMARKABLE STORY OF FELIX MADE

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Felix is an orphan from Sudan who has lived at Mercy House for 5 years. He came to South Africa in 2008 and took to selling ice-creams on the street, then set up a small street stall in Pretoria. In 2011 he found his way to Mercy House, where he asked Diana for help to study medicine. This did not seem possible at the time. Felix made a deep impression, even the first time he came to us. His remarkable enthusiasm and belief in life radiated in his smile. Even though his dream seemed impossible, he never gave up on that. We introduced him to (now) Dr Emmanuel Taban, whom we had assisted with schooling and who, through the mediation of Comboni Father Jo Sandri, had been able to gain a medical degree and went on to become what he is now, a specialist physician, with his own practise. Dr Emmanuel decided to give something back: he assisted Felix with finance for a large part of his studies, not for medicine but for a degree in Biomedical Science at the University of Johannesburg. The balance of monies needed was donated by Mercy House and also gained through Felix’ s tireless searching for, and getting, part time jobs along the way.

Felix is currently completing his Master of Science Degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. On the 11 April 2016, he even started his first job with H3Africa Initiative at the Sydney Brenner Institute of Molecular Bioscience, an organization based in Johannesburg which does research on key health issues in Africa under the National Institute of Health (NIH), funded from the United States of America. Better still, his new employer has offered him a scholarship to do his doctorate (PHD), after one year of work. His employer must have been impressed with him, since, even in his very first week of work, Felix was booked to attend a conference in Senegal from 11 to 26 May 2016 in the field of the research work which he will be doing.

Mercy House is proud to have contributed to Felix’s amazing achievement, certainly due to his unbelievable determination to get to the goal of his life. His story really does prove that dreams can come true and we wish him well.

Felix has this to say to all who have helped him on his path:

First and foremost, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to T. Diana Beamish, of Mercy House, for everything she has done for me from day one till today. Indeed without Mercy House, everything would have been impossible. For all this, I am very grateful. May God bless Mercy House. Secondly, my sincere thanks go to Dr Emmanuel and family for their tireless financial support. Dr Emmanuel, you are a brother. May God bless you. Thanks also to Lawyer Neels Coertse for invaluable legal assistance with documentation. Lastly, I want to thank Mrs Gordon-Grant who has faithfully every week brought sandwiches for the students, St Richard’s Church in England who supported me financially and Saint Augustine’s Church for their support. I am grateful and will remember you all.

Felix Made

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