Advent appeal

Well showed my bug bites to several friars in the house. 2 are of the opinion that it's a rash - an allergy because it's so profuse and clustered. Others say it's definitely bed bugs. Well whatever! I'm still stuck with the itch and pain. One thing everyone agreed was: get rid of the bed immediately, and sleep on the floor if necessary. The bed and mattress have to be burned.

Now to business - the Advent appeal has nothing to do with my bed bug problem. It's actually from Fr Vincenzo. His area where he lives (Musky in the outskirts of Cairo) is very poor. The children are malnourished and eat only one meal a day of boiled vegetables (1 or 2 leaves). The janitor of our monastery works part time in a school, and he collects half-eaten bread, cuts of the dirty parts and with the bits leftover, he brings back to our monastery to feed the children. They're all christians. Vincenzo says that they get to eat meat only twice a year - in Easter and Christmas when our parish cooks something special for them. The cook scraps the grease from our cooking pans to bring home to feed her children - a little fat in their diet. Vincenzo is very upset by the situation.

He asked if any of you kind people out there can donate a little money so that the children (and adults) can have a little something more to eat during Christmas. In fact he reminded me twice last night before I came home. Just US$10 is enough to feed a child for several weeks if not a month. Because of the poverty, corruption is rampant and so he warned not to send any money directly to him. It will definitely be stolen. He asked that I collect the money here in Jerusalem and pass him the money whenever a friar goes to Musky from here.

So share a little Christmas cheer to the less fortunate Catholics in Cairo - US$10 is little but it means alot to the children in Musky and the surrounding villages. But remember a cheque of US$10 will get a large commission deducted by the bank and what you're left with is actually less than US$5, so think of a better way to avoid bank charges. You can pass the donation to Katie who'll give you a receipt. The money will be brought to me when the next pilgrimage group arrives, and I'll acknowledge it in my blog. Then I'll pass it to the friar who's going to Egypt.

Thanks people! Christmas will be so much more meaningful when you share it with others.