African Mission expanding

The Bismarck African Mission in Kenya is expanding again to serve more orphans.
 
In addition to the regular pastoral and religious services provided at the mission by Fr. David Morman, regular missionary work continues which includes ministering to the AIDS orphans at the Gekano and Ichuni parishes. The mission recently expanded to a third parish in Manga and now can minister to 475 AIDS orphans. The current number of orphans served by the mission stands at 432 with plans to add more in time.
 
All of this is made possible through the generosity of the annual African Mission Appeal conducted each spring in our parishes. This year, the 31 ^st annual appeal will be held on March 7-8. Parishioners are invited to, once again, contribute to the needs of the orphans served by the mission. This year’s theme is “By our actions, we bring hope to their lives.”
 
Father Morman works with a small staff of just two primary people who have served the mission for years—Rogers Osoro, assistant administrator, and Sr. Mary-Teresa Auma—who are both native Kenyans. The mission wouldn’t exist without their invaluable service and dedication to providing care and services to the orphans. To give an idea of all that the mission provides, here’s a breakdown of services, goods and funds provided: school tuition and fees; school uniform; monthly cash stipend for each AIDS orphan to purchase oil for their lanterns so they can study in the evenings; monthly maize allotment; school awards for students who meet qualifications. In addition, the mission provides livestock to elementary students to receive a chicken and high school students receive a goat which they can keep and use the eggs and milk. The mission continues to provide orphans and widows a heifer to raise and to keep their offspring.
 
As needed, the mission provides blankets, mattresses and solar lights as well as assistance in providing materials for building homes. The mission also sponsors an annual Christmas seminar where each AIDS orphan hears a guest speaker and enjoys a meal of a bottle of soda and a small loaf of bread, and a gift consisting of flour and cooking oil.
 
Also, funds are available to increase the number of college scholarships for our AIDS orphans to attend college, a trade school or a computer school; and doubling the number of students who can attend a boarding school, so now 10 boys and 10 girls will be able to benefit from that outstanding education. 
 
A few other expansion plans included the hiring, in October, of a local woman to coordinate the Water with Blessings project and be the main teacher for the program that trains women to use a special water filter. This woman, Lilian Kwamboka, is remarkably a product of the Bismarck Diocese Mission orphan program having received blessings from the Mission as a child.

—Staff report