Maggie & John

Gifts Galore

The first Sunday after our arrival here, we gathered all fourteen of the Bakhita St. Brendan’s girls together and presented the gift bags that were so thoughtfully prepared by generous donors.

The gathering began with prayer, song and opening remarks before getting to the important business of gifts! The girls were delighted to receive the gift bags and appreciated every item. Once again, the lightweight hoodies were the biggest hit. As it turned out, it was an unusually cool 70 degrees that day, so many girls came in last year’s hoodie and showed up at church a little later in this year’s model. They are lucky girls.

A very big thank you to the shoppers; you did great!

This year, we also invited former Bakhita girls who have graduated from high school and are now being supported by Bakhita Charities as they attend university. Five of the girls live nearby and are currently on break.

We made gift bags for these girls also containing the ever-popular lightweight hoodie. Their bags also contained some extra pocket money, so it’s difficult to say what was most appreciated – but they were very grateful for the gifts.

The girls who are in a university or vocational school had the chance to speak with the high school girls about the opportunities for furthering their education. They were also able to share some of the challenges and answer many questions.

But wait, there’s more! Dinah, a local woman, worked at the Bakhita Village home as a house-mother for many years and worked tirelessly with the 2018 Bakhita Outreach Team to ensure the well-being of eighteen girls. She is an amazing, caring and humble woman.

We presented Dinah a gift bag containing a lovely hooded poncho for cool weather, lotion, lip balm, and a cash envelope. But the highlight was the presentation of a gold framed certificate thanking her for her hard work. Her two children attended the event (and received gift bags) and Dinah was just beaming.