The following email was received by Saint Gabriel Home founder Krystyna Pryjomko from American student Casey Donahue, who has just started her volunteer period at Saint Gabriel Home. Casey is the latest in a growing community of volunteers from all over the world who have generously contributed their time, skills and compassion to the children. We sincerely thank them and invite you to enjoy Casey’s ‘first impressions’ of Saint Gabriel Home.
Dear Krystyna,
I am settling in wonderfully. You are so right, Sr. Flora is very wonderful. What a beautiful smile, a contagious laugh, a gentle soul! I love watching her interact with the little children, and just marvel at how blessed they are to have their ‘Mama Flora.’
The children are thriving. I am so impressed with their English and how generally well-adjusted they are, considering the horrors that many of them have been through. I feel so well taken care of here, and I am so content to have these few months to give as much as I can to the children and help the Sisters.
So far, I have helped Sr. Flora with her book-keeping on her laptop, since I am a super fast typer, and she is very grateful. I have been working everyday at the school, and since it is exam time, I am proctoring, correcting, calculating, recording, and organizing all of the grades into final lists and report cards. The teachers do this all by hand every semester, and so my help is much appreciated, and I am happy to be of service at such a busy time.
I am also thrilled at how my timing has worked out. First, I may help with this busy exam time. Then, I can spend a month focusing only on the children in the home, which is very exciting. I look forward to playing with them, holding them, loving them, speaking with them. I feel like I can do the most good, just spending time with these children who very much need both my love and my English! Finally, in the last month I am here, I can again teach at the school as the new semester kicks off.
By my third day, I already knew each child by name. It is easy not to pick favourites, because they all have such strong personalities! Neema is very sweet and gentle, and has an adorable giggle! Jenifa is a very strong leader, very maternal, though Paskalina appears to be the alpha female. Matilda also appears to be a leader of the younger ones.
The older boys, Patrick and Tumaini, just love to play, and really love spending time with the male volunteers. I am glad they have a masculine role model. Teddy was one of the first ones I met, and seems to get picked on a lot, so I tend to give her a lot of attention. The younger ones are just so funny, especially Mariamu, who loves to sing, seems to have a great sense of humour, and is also quite mischievous. She can take care of herself, that's for sure!
Damiani and Hans are just adorable, as is the teeny Maua. I just love to cradle them in my arms. I don't know if I've forgotten anyone, but if I have, they will certainly feature in my next update. I see what you mean about the toys often being put away. I brought three books, but by the second day, I found that two of them had disappeared. I see that the new toys are often confiscated because the children fight over them and often break them, but I have already avoided a few crises of this nature by facilitating games in which the children share the toys, and with the right instruction, they really can play harmoniously. I hope to instil the habit of sharing, but of course it is very hard, since they do not have toys of their own, and understandably, they therefore cling desperately to anything new before it is taken away.
There is plenty to do in my time here, and I am very happy. Hope all is well with you!
Love, Casey
