Dear Sisters,

Loving greetings to you from all our blind residents, staff and Sisters of Margaretha Home for the Blind.  The school semester break of our blind students is over, and now they are all back to their respective schools, i.e., to Batino Sped School, Quirino High School, Isabela College and to our Mother Pauline Learning Center for the Blind.

Just a brief update about the events during these days.  We provided educational hands-on and exposure programs to all our blind residents.

Our special blind students went on an LRT( a city train) ride.  The LRT staff assisted the group, as we rode the train together.  The girls were taught, how and where to get the card ticket, how to insert the card to get in and out of the train station, where to stand while waiting for the train, and they also experienced to stand inside the crowded train during the ride.

Our normal blind students went to the National Library and spent more time in the library area, that is specially arranged for the blind.  There they were assisted by the blind librarian.  A library staff toured them into the different areas of the library also.

The highlight of these days was the ecology program presented by the normal blind students (as they learned in their school) for our special blind students.  They divided themselves into three groups.  They explained in a very simple way to our special blind girls and dramatized to them the causes, prevention and what to do in cases of fire, flood and earthquake.

On November 7, Sister Adalberta, Superior General, and Sister Maria Luisa from our Uruguay-Argentina Delegation came to join us here in Quezon City.  We first had our community meeting for two days. And from November 11 to 13 we went to Mindoro, an island here in the Philippines, and met the new group of our Kaisa ni Mother Pauline or our SCC Lay Associates.

With this email we would like to inform you also, that we offered a Mass at Margaretha Home Chapel last November 5 for you and all our friends and benefactors.  Know, that you were remembered in a special way.  Thank you for all your help extended to us.  May our good God continue to bless you and your family.  Please remember us also in your prayers.  God bless us all!

Lovingly,

The Residents and Staff of Margaretha Home for the Blind

Sister Theresia, SCC

Sister Maria Dolores, SCC

Dear Sisters,

Once again loving greetings to you from all of us, the blind residents, staff and Sisters of Margaretha Home. It has been a while, since you heard from us, but that does not mean, that we forgot you.

As of today, all our 16 blind girls are doing well. They are busy with their classes at the Mother Pauline Learning Center for the Blind, at Batino Sped Elementary School, at Quirino High School and at Isabela State University. In the afternoon, our special blind girls - and the other blind residents after they come home from school - are busy doing the Christmas cards at the Helping and Healing Hands Workshop for the Blind. We are going to sell them in a school in Marikina. This school is very much supporting us. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your help extended to our mission for the blind. Together with your love, support and prayers, we are able to uplift the dignity of these girls/young women of Margaretha Home.

We thought to share with you the pictures of our blind residents and also some pictures of the activities of this summer. Hope, you enjoy the pictures.

Know that you are often remembered in our daily afternoon rosary prayer time. In grateful love, last Saturday, October 8, our Mass at Margaretha Home Chapel was offered for you and all who support and help us in our mission for the blind.

Thank you and, please, remember us all in your prayers. God bless you and your family. Greetings also to our Sisters there with you.

Gratefully,

MHB Residents and Staff

Sister Theresia

Sister Maria Dolores

Queridas Hermanas:

Una vez más cariñosos saludos de todas nosotros, las residentes ciegas, el personal y las Hermanas del Hogar Margarita. Ha pasado ya tiempo desde que han oído de nosotros, pero eso no significa que las hemos olvidado.

Todas nuestras 16 niñas ciegas están bien. Están ocupadas en sus clases en el Centro de Aprendizaje Madre Paulina para los Ciegos, en la Escuela Primaria “Batino Sped”, en la escuela secundaria Quirino y en la Universidad del Estado de Isabela. Por la tarde, nuestras ciegas especiales – y las otras ciegas después de regresar a casa desde la escuela – están ocupadas haciendo tarjetas de Navidad en el Taller para ciegas “Manos que ayudan y sanan”. Venderemos las tarjetas en una escuela de “Marikina”. Esta escuela nos apoya mucho. Queremos aprovechar la oportunidad para agradecerles toda la ayuda que nos brindan para nuestra misión con las ciegas. Gracias a su cariño, apoyo y oraciones, podemos elevar la dignidad de estas niñas y jóvenes del Hogar Margarita.

Hemos pensado compartir con ustedes las fotos de nuestras ciegas y algunas fotos de nuestras actividades de este verano. Esperamos que disfruten de ellas.

Sepan que a menudo las recordamos en nuestro rezo diario del Rosario. Con amor agradecido, el pasado sábado 8 de octubre, nuestra Misa en el Hogar Margarita se ofreció por Uds. y por todos los que nos apoyan y ayudan en nuestra misión para los ciegos.

Muchas gracias, y por favor, recuérdennos en su oración. Dios las bendiga y también a sus familias. Muchos saludos a nuestras Hermanas allí. Sus agradecidas

MHB Residentes

Sister Theresia

Sister Maria Dolores

Dear Sister Adalberta and Sisters,

Blessed Feast of Mother Pauline to all of you, Sisters.

We were all united in our Eucharistic Liturgy in honor of Mother Pauline this morning.  It was a con-celebrated Mass with a Pilipino, a Chinese and a German priest.  All of them are friends of our small community.

After communion, Ate Rose made her first commitment as a Kaisa ni Mother Pauline and our other Lay Associates renewed their commitment.

Our blind girls presented a beautiful song, dance and musical program.  They even performed a candle light dance.

About 150 people were served with a simple lunch and enjoyed the opportunity to socialize and meet new friends.

We are happy to share this celebration with all of you and we all wish you a happy day also.

Lovingly,

Sister Annelyth

Sister Theresia

Sister Maria Dolores

VERSE I:

CHORUS:

VERSE II:

VERSE III:

They Have Jesus – that is the Title of the book the painter wrote about it

With this painting we want to represent our Philippine Unit and the mission we feel to have in this overpopulated tropical country.

Jesus eats with 12 street children – we cannot count how many of these children we saw already in the streets of Metro Manila. Every day we can see the environment of the poor represented in this painting by the table, the dishes, the cat, the dresses of the children, the dark background, the dirty ground…

Nearly all our girls in Margaretha Home come from this background – also some of our candidates and employees.

In the Philippines the Church wants to be the Church of the Poor, and there are many efforts for it, but there are also many difficulties to go this way, because many influential people in the Church are rich themselves, and often there are more efforts to build beautiful Churches than to reach out to the poor. Very often other Christian groups show more concern than our Church. Therefore we see our Mission in reaching out to the poor and to uplift their situation.

We also realize a very poor knowledge of our faith among the people because of very minimal preparations for the Sacraments. Here is a real need of evangelization – even in this predominantly Catholic country.

Our Eucharistic life-style can empower us. They have Jesus in this painting. We want to bring Jesus to the poor, the blind. We want to be Jesus for them. The painter painted the table of hope – in this difficult time we want to bring hope to the blind, to those who are hopeless and in darkness.

The material with which we decorated the painting is called “Malong,” a local material from the very poor southern islands of the Philippines. It is used to sleep in, to dress and to decorate. It is also used as a shield to dress in public, to get some privacy even in a very populated place.

This Bamboo candleholder we use for the Profession of our Sisters and for the First Communion of our blind girls. Bamboo is a local basic good. It is often used instead of steel and wood. Our Tabernacle is made of it also. Even homes for the poor in the Provinces are often made of Bamboo.

Here the Bamboo holds the light. We want to bring light in its different meanings to our blind girls, to many blind people in the Philippines who are so often abused, neglected, abandoned in terrible ways. But in this overpopulated country there are so many people who have the same experience. Sometimes we feel very powerless, we can only help some of them, but we still can show the presence of Jesus even in this very often so lost world of the poor. Even the Church is very often helpless, and many representatives do not respond in a way we would expect.

If we do not want to get lost in all this misery we have to focus on the experience that we also have Jesus. And we have the support of the Congregation and live our Mission within the Congregation. We cannot save all these poor people, but He will show us where He wants us to show His presence and hope.

The Mission Statement of the SCC Philippine Unit, which we formulated during our Unit Chapter last year, expresses how we – as a small Community of two professed Sisters and a Novice – understand our Mission in the Philippines:

“Our Eucharistic life-style empowers and impels us to be Christ’s light in our “Church of the Poor.” As truly women of Christ-like love, we want to uplift and guide the blind and those who are in need in our wounded world with an undivided, happy heart.”

Sr. Theresia Barkey, Philippines