St Mary School in Charlotte, MI, is a small school with a huge heart!

When Kathy Partlow visited St Mary’s to share stories and pictures of St Clare with the student body of 64 students, they immediately caught her spirit and were determined  to raise enough funds for a sponsorship.  Naming their campaign KICKING IT FOR KENYA they began. Through “Dress down Days”, sales of school supplies and novelties (pictured below) they raised the initial $460. An enterprising young 3rd grader then, set on reaching the school goal, asked her parents to contribute the final $40.

Congratulation to students, staff, teachers, administrators and parents alike.

Indeed St. Mary School in Charlotte, MI is a small school with a huge heart!

We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give”

These words, written over the archway within Chestnut Hill College’s main building,  are the same words delivered at the Chestnut Hill College Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 11^th in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.  These words introduced Bud and Sue Ozar who received honorary doctor of laws degrees at graduation that day.

Each year at Commencement individuals are honored who exemplify a core value of Chestnut Hill College,  ”Service to one another and to the global community.”  According to Margaret Carney Mc Caffrey, Board President, the Ozars provide an example of a husband and wife who witness their faith through commitment to family, church and society. In addition she highlighted the Ozars’ work in family life ministry, education, service in Samoa and Kenya and fundraising through Friends of Kenyan Orphans.

Pictured with their doctoral citations are Bud and Sue with Carol Jean Vale, SSJ, President of Chestnut Hill.

While they were at St. Clare Centre for Girls, Sue Ozar and Kathy Partlow team-taught Form 2 a class that combined history and writing.  Kathy spent the first few days giving the students an overview of the American Civil Rights’ Movement. Using the speech as a model, Sue worked with the students on writing their own “I Have a Dream” essays following Dr. King’s format.

Below are excerpts from several of the girls.

From Catherine…

“I have a dream that one day I will rule Kenya as the first women president.  Through this all women will have power and see that they can, if they wish, work hard in their professions.

I Have a Dream Today!

I have a dream that one day, I will make my country a place of justice.  That is, I will work to abolish tribalism, corruption and so no to racism and segregation.

This is my hope and this is my faith.”

From Sapiyo…

“I have a dream that one day no child will be called a street child.  Every child will be treated equally whether an orphan or with parents, from poor families or rich families.  All will get the same education and the same employment opportunities.

I Have a Dream Today!

I have a dream that one day peace will rule all over the world.  I dream of a nation where there is no war, no enmity among people, where people live without fear of one another.

This is my hope and this is my faith.”

From Julianna….

“I have a dream that one day in Kenya corruption and discrimination will end and everyone will live together as brothers and sisters.

I Have a Dream Today!

I have a dream that one day this nation will have leaders who will rule with justice, where all women will be given their rights fully.

This is my hope and this is my faith.”

From Teresa…

I have a dream that one day my fellow nomads will not be segregated and they will have all rights to education and their own land.

I Have a Dream Today!

I have a dream that my country, Kenya, will have good citizenship so that corruption and tribalism will stop and racism, and segregation will stop.

This is my hope and this is my faith.”

Students from Brownell Middle School in Grosse Pointe raised $382.50 to support Father Riwa’s Tilapia Campaign.  In fact, it was a combined effort of the Drama Club, the GEAR Up! Club and the school’s NJHS.   Brownell NJHS students sold candy and water during Brownell’s recent Drama Club production.  GEAR Up! (the student action group at the school) sold Swedish fish in cleverly made paper origami-type packets, which were recyclable.  The students had a QR code on the front, which would lead to Friends Of Kenyan Orphans’ web site.  When the purchaser opened the packet and ate the Swedish fish, a picture of the fish drawn by a class 4 student from St. Clare could be found.

Brownell Middle School teacher Joanna Porvin presented the check to Friends of Kenyan Orphans.  Joanna traveled to Kenya with Bud and Sue Ozar in 2010 and has remained a strong supporter of Friends of Kenyan Orphans.

The girls at St. Clare Centre for Girls love to recite poetry, tell stories, sing and dance.  They especially enjoy doing it when visitors arrive and also when visitors leave, especially if the visitors have been with the girls for a period of time.  The American teachers were ending their stay at St. Clare at the end of February, so the girls planned a final farewell for them.  The younger girls recited poems and acted out stories.  The girls in class 7 were competing the next day in a drama competition, so they presented their piece.  Classes 5 and 6 had studied the skeletal system and so each group sang and danced one verse of “These Bones, These Bones, These Dry Bones.” Form Three sang a song they had learned about the American Civil Rights’ Movement, “We Shall Overcome.”

HOWEVER, the American teachers were not to be outdone.  They too had planned a performance.  They began singing and “shaking” to  “Alabama, Mississippi,” based on what some of these teachers had taught to the secondary students.  From there they sang, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”  As they sang, they brought St. Clare’s administrators up on the stage.  They then surprised St. Clare’s teachers and brought them up.  By the time they had finished, all the adults were singing and clapping as were the children.  It was a wonderful experience for all.

Mr. Kiberia, one of the teachers at St. Clare Girls’ Centre, entered his class 7 students in a local drama competition that occurred on February 22.  The theme of this year’s competition focused on the March 4 elections in Kenya and was “No to violence in the elections.”  The students worked very hard preparing a backdrop for their presentation.  In addition, they developed costumes that they used as they presented a dramatic interpretation of why saying “No to violence in the elections” is so crucial in Kenya.  They left St. Clare early in the morning, did their presentation and returned taking third place.  Mr. Kiberia and the girls were pleased with how they fared, learned a great deal and are already talking about next year’s competition.

                                                                                                                                        (The girls practicing their drama competitive piece)

(Earlier this year, Sister Kathryn began a new photojournalism class.  As one of the first assignments, Carolyn and Julianna decided to report on this new class and their reactions to be a part of it.)

THE NEW JOURNALISM CLASS

It is our pleasure to be in the new photojournalism class. We (seven girls from forms 1 and 2) have seen how Sister Kathryn works with the previous class and so we have longed to be in this class.  It is so enjoyable since it is very rare in our country to see young people able to operate something as precious as a camera.

We offer many thanks to our dear Sister Kathryn who is always ready to volunteer herself for our class every Wednesday.  Lots of thanks from our dear sister who is always ready to volunteer herself to teach our class on every Wednesday.  We have really enjoyed taking portrait photos and close-ups.  They are very challenging, however.

I want to be in the class because it is a way for me to nurture my career.  I have always longed to be in the photojournalism class because I want to be a NEWSCASTER.

The seven of us have learned all the rules for the class, especially time management.  We do not have a lot of time since we start our class at four in the afternoon.  We practice with the cameras during the class because practice makes perfect.  We have learned well how to work with a camera and it is now not hard for us.

Many other students would like to join this class, but it is not possible because of the scarcity of cameras.  During class, we sit around our table, pray with Sister and then begin class.  We thank God for having wonderful Sisters who work in so many ways to motivate us and help us develop our talents and careers.

BY CAROLYN

My FIRST Journalism Class

It was on a Monday morning when Sister Kathryn put a note on the notice board. I was very happy because the form one and two students were told to write three reasons why they would like to be journalists. We all wrote because it was competition between seventeen students and only seven students can take the journalism class. We wrote our reasons the best we could and handed them over to Sister Kathryn hoping to be chosen.

Sister chose three students from form one and four from form two making a total of seven students. I glad that I was among the chosen. She then put a notice requesting the chosen members to meet on Wednesday at 4.05 pm.

We all eagerly waited for that wonderful day.  Immediately at 4.05pm, we were in the journalism room on time.  Sister was already there.  We sat down and remained silent until everyone arrived. When we were all settled we listened to a reading read by Sister. We then meditated on it by keeping quiet and going deep into ourselves, thinking about the reading. We said a word of prayer and started our class. Sister talked to us about a lot of things, but she first told the rules and regulations to follow as journalists.  She also said that a journalist is one who is able to analyze different pictures. We were given some books to read that were about journalism. Indeed it was a great day for me.

We were all given memory cards and cameras. Sister showed us how to insert the cards into the cameras. We were shown how to take pictures, how adjust brightness, how to zoom, and by the end of the day we had learnt a lot of things. We were then given the cameras to go and put into practice what we had learned. We took a lot of pictures.

I really appreciate and thank our Dominicans Sisters for the good work they have volunteered to do. I promise to always pray so that God can shower them with abundant blessings.

BY JULIANNA

(Click on Mary’s photo for an in-depth interview)

Mary Ibianski, a teacher at Seneca, a middle school in the Chippewa Valley District in Michigan, spent most of February teaching science to classes 5 and 6 at St. Clare Centre for Girls.  Mary found St. Clare to be a “safe, caring, loving environment for the young girls who are there.”  Mary observed first hand that the girls have an amazing bond with each other, treating one another with respect and kindness.  The girls believe that God will indeed protect them and as a result they are a very prayerful community.  According to Mary, “These girls exceed anyone’s expectations.  They absorb everything they learn and want to learn more.”  In addition, Mary feels that the teachers and staff at St. Clare are dedicated to the well being of these young women.

(Below, Mary has just presented a Seneca Middle School hat to the school’s sponsored child.)

The students at St. Clare Centre for Girls took national examinations in December.  We have received the results of the scores for classes 1-7.  These scores compare St. Clare to the thirty- seven other schools (public and private) in their region (zone).  Clearly students are working very hard at St. Clare and teachers are teaching hard because St. Clare came out on top or near the top over and over.

Congratulations to the staff and students for their wonderful success.  Keep up the hard work.

Class 7- 2nd place overall – BEST in Kiswahili and Social Studies

Class 6- 1st place overall – BEST in the zone in ALL subjects

Class 5-1st place overall – Top scores in English, Kiswahili, Sicence, Social Studies

Class 4- 2nd place overall – Top scores in Science and Social Studies

Class 3- 1st place overall – Top scores in ALL subjects

Class 2- 3rd place in zone – Top scores in Social Studies

Class 1- 1st place overall – Top scores in ALL subjects

In early February, Bud and Sue Ozar delivered some important papers to Madam Sarah, the administrator at St. Clare Centre for Girls.  (Bud is shown presenting the papers to Madam Sarah.) St. Clare is now fully registered as a school.  This means that the government of Kenya acknowledges that St. Clare has met all the requirements for a legitimate school.  As a result, all other educational institutions in the country will recognize any degrees and courses from St. Clare.  As a registered/accredited school, national exams can be administered at St. Clare and the girls will not need to travel to other schools to sit for these test.  Congratulations to Madam Sarah, and the teachers at St. Clare.