Day 3 Charity Sisters

We want to express our gratitude for your joining us on our South African journey. It is always a pleasure to introduce you to new family members of

Arm In Arm In Africa.

We had an early morning start by visiting the hospice staffed by the Missionaries of Charity Sisters. The

hospice is located in one of the largest black townships in the Cape Town area with population of over 1 million people. We had the honor of spending time with the residents ranging in age from infants to elderly.

The sisters provide amazing and loving care, as was evidenced by the smiles of those living in the facility. Please note the beautiful twin girls sporting the new sundresses. Our thanks to Sofia, our 90+ year old friend from rural St. Cloud who made these beautiful dresses.

We had the opportunity to spend time in one of the poorest primary grade schools in the townships. The average annual tuition for each of the children is approximately $1.25 in American dollars. For many of the families this is very difficult to pay. In talking with the principal, it was painfully noted that she struggles to be able to have any school books for the children. She relies on having to photocopy school books from neighboring schools. An improvement of late has been to include vegetables and fruit for their school meal. All of the children rely on this one meal. When school is not in session, they simple have less to eat.

Once again, as we were welcomed in our "walk about" through one of the townships, we were reminded of the importance of hope. We draw your attention to the photo of the single child and the hope we continue to see in the children. It is a challenge in our world to keep hope alive and to insure that everyone has the opportunity to sleep safely and to have enough to eat.

Again we thank you for your support for Arm In Arm In Africa and for making a hope-filled difference in our world.

Peace and hope,