Dear Mr. President and dear Members of the Foreign Missionary Brotherhood of Thessaloniki. Hail in the Lord always. Thank you very much for sending the ophthalmologist Mrs. Katerina Alexandrou, a member of your Brotherhood. She worked with great dedication and relieved many people with glasses and medicines that she brought from Greece. Above all, she gave testimony and is an example to follow. Together we ordered the equipment for our eye clinic “Agia Anastasia” in the girls’ orphanage which, God willing, will now start operating with a local ophthalmologist. This year and for the third consecutive year we again had the pleasure of the volunteer work of dentist Mrs. Maria Demenaga.
With God’s help, the operation of our school “St. Ignatius” began and was completed and equipped thanks to your own love and help. What remains is the filling and landscaping of the surrounding area and fencing which will begin after the end of the monsoon towards the end of October, because now the whole area is a lake and the downpours continue. In the boys’ orphanage, 5 of the 13 rooms have been equipped. Each room will house 8 children. The kitchen and part of the dining room has also been equipped with 9 tables and benches, and the construction of the rest of the equipment continues. The Holy Trinity Chapel was also remodeled; all that remains is the installation of a simple, low Temple. Next Our Lady Sunday, August 15, we will receive the first orphaned boys. In the girls’ orphanage our little girls are growing and progressing. Seven are already going to university, and this year we took in 25 little ones who are going to kindergarten. We are trying to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, because I believe that children are the future of the mission in India. The bad news is that one of them, Irene, 14 years old, has fallen ill. From April 14 to May 20, I ran to the hospital every day for test after test and we finally found out that she has tuberculosis. Luckily she is cured, in 6-7 months the doctors say she will be completely well. I’ve isolated her with a nurse watching her so she doesn’t catch anything else. The heartaches are not lacking. I am sending you some recent photos that I printed out since, unfortunately, a CD I sent you was apparently lost. I am relying on your love and prayers. Your help, in these difficult times that Greece is experiencing, is more than ever valuable and necessary for the continuation of the work. I thank you again from the depths of my soul and I wish that Our Lady be the shelter and help of all.
With honour and much love in Christ
Nun Nectaria
