Orphanage visit

On the last night of our Bangalore trip, Fr Nelson and I visited an orphanage run by Fr Joseph. We met him Thursday at the 100th birthday party. He is a friend of the Msc. His congregation take in boys from Bangalore and surrounds who either have no parents or have difficult homes. The were very clingy and I had to abandon my personal space boundaries but it was great to be there. They danced for us, we share a mean and then said the rosary. Father put the hard word on me for sponsorship and we will help as much as possible for the fees of a lad who wants to go to University. He has been there since he was an infant.
A very challenging and thought provoking visit. Here is a photo.

Half Way

I have been teaching in Mysore for the best part of five weeks now and I have just 5 weeks to go.

Here are the issues the Brothers need to address if they are to do well in their exams at the end of the month:

Punctuation

·            Capitals for the start of each sentence

·            Capitals for Proper nouns

·            Full stops and commas

·            Direct and indirect speech

Sentence structure

·            Subject and verb at (near) the beginning of the sentence

Spelling

The correct use of articles – a, the

Use of correct tenses

Conjunctions – joining words: because, and, but etc.

Possessives: John’s pen.

Singular and plurals.

I have only three more weeks to hammer these through to them. I will put posters up around the room to reinforce them.

Wish me luck.

The "Annual"

At the end of each year most schools hold some form of concert to conclude and celebrate the year's achievements. Because Indian schools spend January and February preparing for exams at the end of their academic year, they usually have the Annual, as they call it, in December. St Francis School was preparing for theirs last year when it was postponed due to heavy rain, a rarity before Christmas. So it was rescheduled for last night and I was luck enough to be invited as a special guest from Australia.
The school's Mantra is Dream, Believe, Achieve and the whole night's performance centred around this theme. And the kids really believed it!
St Francis school goes from Kindergarten to 10th Standard. There is then a state set exam. Students then leave and go to PUC (Pre-University College) to do their 11th and 12th years. So this was the last blast for the Year 10 and they really let everyone have it.

Stories included the homeless Korean boy Sung-bong Choi who won Korea's got Talent, Helen Keller who was blind and deaf and Mother Theresa and her work among the homeless and abandoned. While I would love to have shared this event with many of my family and friends, suffice it to be represented here.

The First Profession

Today I attended the First Profession (Vows of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience) of six novices of the PDDM (Sisters of the Divine Master) order at their mother house here in Bangalore. I met them at their Noviciate House near us in Mysore when Fr Nelson went there to say Mass for them.
Until then they had been just another group, in blue saris, that I saw each morning at mass at Villa Joseph. They invited us to their profession and asked us to pray for them. I sent their names and eventually their photo to my mother to include in her prayers too.
So today, they made their vows amid the joy and admiration of their families and sisters and lots or priests.
Fr Nelson and I were special guests and were treated like royalty.
Here are some photos and I hope you like.

As novices

Their Names

As Professed Sisters 

Wearing Garlands as brides

Ready to leave for 2 weeks with their families