Mercy House

December 2011

2012-01-14T12:11:00.003+02:00

HOLIDAY FUN

Lucky Boys

Moise

Zeng

The Christmas holiday started at the beginning of December and ours was full of fun.

Moise and Zeng, are seen here visiting their favourite horse, Beauty, who lives at the Spruit in Hyde Park.

The same two lucky boys, thanks to Mrs Rosemary Benjamin, were able to spend a week right beside the sea in Plettenberg Bay, where they visited the beach daily, visited the elephant park, had elephant rides, visited the monkey sanctuary, had a motor boat ride and so much more. It was one of those holidays that they certainly will not forget. Thank you Rosemary...

SHADADI VISITS HIS FAMILY

Shadadi was placed Mercy House as an "orphan from Burundi” by the UNHCR in the year 2001.

After much prayer and a search of 9 years his family was traced. He was able to go down to visit his re-found family during December in Cape Town. Currently he is studying at Wits Medical School.

DIBABA BREEZED IN FROM THE UK!

To the great joy of everyone, our beloved Dibaba, who is on a Richard Branson Bursary at Stowe School in the UK, was given the opportunity by his sponsor to come home for Christmas for 3 weeks and escape the cold European Winter! Dibaba is always a breath of fresh air and he was so happy to be home again. Wearing the same beautiful smile, he left us to continue his studies on 3 January. Go well Dibaba.

MAKING THE PLACE BEAUTIFUL FOR CHRISTMAS

It was Bertraud, seen in the photo,and Fabi, who offered to repaint Mercy House in December.

Bertraud

Fabi

Zeng, seen mowing the lawn, and several others, joined in making our house "Something Beautiful for God," before Christmas.

ST VINCENT DE PAUL LOYALTY

Every year the St Vincent de Paul Society of Bez Valley gives Mercy House a holiday braai. They also support us substantially throughout the year. We are greatly indebted and indeed very grateful to them for their loyal support.

The 2 photos above show their members enjoying the evening with us, Mr Gus Wilcox (in the photo) being their leader. Thank you S v de P.

SURPRISE CHRISTMAS MEAL

On 8 December, an advertising company called Volcano, gave us a most superb Christmas meal. A team of about 8 of the employees came down in the morning and worked all day into transforming our play centre into a beautiful Christmas scene. A delicious meal was served and of course Father Christmas arrived with a gift for everyone present, with their names on. We say a very big and sincere thank you to them all for their hard work and love and to the company for the lavish celebration…

WELCOME VISITOR

Polish Kasia Wawiernia, who worked as a volunteer at Mercy House from 2000 to 2004 and who now works for the United Nations in Guinea Bussau, paid us a short visit and is seen here in the picture with Shadadi, whom she knew a as a small boy and who is now taller than her!

WELCOME BACK EMMANUEL

It was with great joy that we welcomed Emmanuel back to Johannesburg on 15 December. Emmanuel is an integral part of our Mercy House family, having lived with us for some time until his marriage last April. He designs and maintains our website and, together with Mr Attilio Dalvit and Michael Holding, maintains our computer room and internet. Emmanuel is now setting up his own business in Johannesburg and is seen here with his wife Natalie soon after his arrival.

The above photo shows Mari Bernard with her husband Festus, at the baptism of their new baby, together with Mrs Rosemary Benjamin who has been a great support to them.

A BEAUTIFUL AND WELL-EARNED CELEBRATION

We were happy to share in the joyful celebration of the wedding of DR Emmanuel Taban and his beautiful wife during the holiday season. Emmanuel came to Mercy House as a young boy in the mid - nineties and, with Father Henry of the Combonis, we were able to get him into Jeppe Boys High School, where he did his matric. From there, with the help our Comboni Missionary Fathers, he was able to do a medical degree at Medunsa, and this past year, qualified as a heart and lung specialist. Having been captured by Muslim extremists as a schoolboy in Sudan, indoctrinated in the Muslim faith, even having to change his name, having had to escape and flee down Africa as a young boy alone - yes, it's all true - the struggles of his life have only produced the best in him: his incredible determination to get to his goals has been relentless.

He deserves the rewards he has got, including his lovely wife. Emmanuel, we are proud of you and wish you all the good that you certainly deserve.

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION

A huge debt of gratitude is owed to Rosebank Union Church, Investec and our School Sandwich Circle Ladies for the costly and beautiful gifts which all received at our Christmas celebration.

Likewise, huge thanks to Mrs Anna Picrakkos of Benoni for donating a large amount of chickens, cold drinks and bread rolls for our lunch. St Vincent de Paul of Victory Park also supplied a lot of food.

The photo shows the gifts being given out and Inez on the chair blowing the bubbles that each recipient was supposed to catch before getting the gift! Comboni Fathers Jeremiah and James as also Brother Eric are seen sharing in our joy on Christmas day.

WE ENDED OUR YEAR UNDER THE SIGN OF THE CROSS

It was a shock beyond telling for everyone to receive the news, shortly before midnight on the 31st December that our beloved Fabi had passed away in the early evening of that day.

Fabi, together with his younger brother, Danny, and sister, was an orphan from the DRC. The 2 brothers have lived at Mercy House for some time, being completely part of our Mercy House family. Fabi had gone to stay with his sister in Germiston in early December and his brother, Danny, also went there over the holiday period. So, providentially, Fabi ended up spending the last month of his life with his closest family, though no one would ever have imagined what was going to happen.

Fabi was still so young. His death came very suddenly. He had even gone on foot to take a taxi to the hospital that morning. It has been found out that Fabi had sickle cell anemia and needed a blood transfusion urgently. Unfortunately it did not reach him in time. A terrible, terrible loss and blow to us all. We will never forget him.

May he rest in peace and intercede for our Mercy House family from his place in heaven.

MERCY HOUSE VIDEO

2011-11-02T12:25:00.000+02:00

MERCY HOUSE IN MOURNING.....

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Sister Fidelis (Left) and Tish (Right) at Mercy House

It is with immense regret and sadness that we announce the passing on of our beloved Tish Holding. Her death was so completely unexpected that everyone is simply reeling at this harsh reality.

Her ashes were interned on Saturday 24 September in the Maryvale Catholic Church Garden of

Remembrance.

Tish Holding

Tish will be sorely missed.... She and her husband, Peter, have been an integral part of our Mercy work and we will not be able to fill the huge vacuum that is left behind. .We thank her husband, Peter, for the support both he and his lovely wife, have given to our Mercy work and are sure that

Tish will continue to work for us from her home in heaven, where we hope she will be even more effective for our mercy work than before. Her memory will live on - may she rest in peace and get the reward that her good life has certainly earned. We love you Tish - remain with us in spirit....

........YET WE ALSO HAVE MUCH TO CELEBRATE .......

We are happy to announce that Sudanese orphan, Felix, received the award of TOP STUDENT OF THE YEAR at the University of Johannesburg.

Lovely photo of Felix getting his Top Student of the Year award. Our first doctor, Dr Emmanuel, who has just qualified as a heart and lung specialist, bought the suit for him,since he too is Sudanese and is also very proud of him!

Our Dibaba in the uniform of his new school in England, where he is on a year's bursary..

Fabio graduated from the Central Johannesburg College with his N6 certificate in Civil Engineering, Bertraud passed his N2 and so our achievements continue, making our work well worthwhile inspite of difficulties we encounter on the way..

The picture of our little Kevin and others at the park, shows that we also

have fun relaxing when we can!

Little Kevin

At the Park

Tish in action on weekend

Youngest Enrique

having fun on weekend

LATEST UPDATE

2011-08-22T12:39:00.005+02:00

ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END

It was with grateful hearts, albeit also a little sadness, that we said good bye to Anja, our student volunteer from Germany. Having spent about two and a half months with us (her second stint at Mercy House), she left on 27 July to continue her studies in Germany.

The photos of our outing with Anja to our nearby park, show just how much fun we had with her around. We thank her most sincerely for her love and tremendous dedication, and look forward already to her next visit.

We have no doubt at all that we shall remain with her, deep down in her heart...

Go well, Anja, we love you!

A GRATEFUL TRIBUTE TO OUR SCHOOL SANDWICH CIRCLE LADIES

Ms Diana Gordon Grant has only been with Mercy House

for around 6 months,and yet she and her husband, Tim,

have done so much for us in that short period of time.

Just one of the many ways in which Diana helps, is, that 

she heads the School Sandwich Circle, a group of ladies who,

more - or- less once a month, donate a Weeks's supply

of sandwiches which our scholars and students are able

to take to their respective places of learning for their 

lunches during the day.

Some leave as early as 6.00 a.m. and get home only after

8.30 p.m.these are our nursing students of course.

Scholars get home earlier, students around 6.00 p.m.

All of them are so happy about these sandwiches, since they

do not have money to buy lunches...

They also appreciate the fact that there is always a variety

in the pack!

Ms Lauren Petersen, one of these ladies, who in fact is

a working mother - a lawyer - and still finds time to help us.

The second photo shows Diana Gordon Grant, the organiser

of the scheme. We thank all our ladies,too many to name here,

and pray that God will reward your caring kindness.

GO WELL DIBABA

It is with pride and joy that we wish our Dibaba everything of the best: he has been honored with being selected for a year's study at a very select and excellent private school, called Stowe, in England, starting in September. It is a Richard Branson bursary received through his Dominican Convent school in Belgravia.

The photo shows Dibaba about 6 year's ago with his younger brother. Dibaba and his family have in fact been part of our Mercy House family for around 9 years... We know that Dibaba deserves this honour and wish him positively everything of the best for a wonderful year ahead... at the same time we thank his school for giving him this tremendous opportunity.

ILL HEALTH

We regret to report the ill health of one of the pillars of Mercy House, management team member, Ms
Tish Holding.

In the photo she is shown enjoying one of our picnics at the park. We pray for her speedy recovery and deeply appreciate her enormous commitment to our Mercy work.

THREE CHEERS FOR ALL OUR LOYAL ST RICHARDS SUPPORTERS

On 12 August, our loyal team of Mercy workers in the UK organised a luncheon to raise money for our Mercy work. It was a huge success and the weather held out for a beautiful day for their outdoor lunch.

We thank them very sincerely for their dedication and loyalty to us, in particular, Penny and Mick Finn,Judy McGregor, John Frost, Gerald Farrell and Father Kieron.

May you be rewarded for your tremendous help...

COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS - CAN'T STOP

2011-05-21T09:53:00.004+02:00

ANJA IS BACK

Could we ask for anything better?!
Readers may know that we have over the 17 years of our existence had young volunteers from different parts of the globe: USA, Poland, England, Ireland, Germany and Italy to be exact. Some of them loved us so much that they even returned, Elaine from Ireland did so as much as three times!!!

Kasia from Poland visits us whenever she can and now Anja is following suit. Her first stint with us was from August 2009 till April 2010.

After that she went to finish her engineering degree at home in Germany, which she has now done.

On 12 May this year she arrived back to stay with us and help us for another three month visit. A huge welcome awaited her, as she is an enormous joy and blessing to our Mercy community, and loved by all. In the photo she is seen with our young Moise, from Rwanda.

SHADADI IS VERY HAPPY

We stand in awe before the kindness of God, who did not only allow us to find Shadadi's mother after a search of 9 years, but he has now been accepted to study for a degree at Wits Medical School to qualify as a Clinical Medical Practitioner.

What is more, he has had the very great good fortune and blessing of being able to get a bursary for the duration of his studies. His story certainly is a wonderful testimony to the power of prayer. Good luck Shadadi, and don't forget to thank the ONE who has done marvels for you.

A Happy Easter

The picture is of Tim and Diana Gordon-Grant, who provided Mercy House with the most delicious lunch on Easter Sunday. Our thanks to them both for their tremendous support of Mercy work, not only of the Easter lunch... May you be rewarded in the ways that you need it most.

LADY
It is said that the lady of the house is the heart of the home. Well, Mercy House, does have a Lady. That is her name. She does indeed come close to qualifying as the heart of the home!.

LADY is extremely loving, always wanting love and attention too. She gives a huge amount of joy to everyone at Mercy House. As such she is a most valuable member of our community and deserves this tribute here.
Thank you, Lady, for being there for everyone and for all the love and joy you give to us.

THE BAPTISM OF WILSON'S BABY: Peter Jackson Jansuk

On 15 May 2011 Peter Jackson Jansuk was baptised.

His father, Wilson, came to Mercy House eleven years ago in a very distressed and hopeless state of mind. Having been forced into child soldiery as child in his home country, Wilson had much to work through, but today he is a happily married and successful young man. He had the good fortune of having Father Simon Donnelly baptize his child. as the pictures show.

We praise the Lord for his tremendous blessings on our Mercy work.

THE WEDDING REALLY DID HAPPEN....

2011-04-18T19:45:00.003+02:00

Our long awaited event, the wedding of Emmanuel and Natalie , took place on Saturday 9 April 2011 in the Bez Valley Catholic Church at midday.

There was a large crowd attending, some from as far away as Europe, others from KZN, Swaziland and so on

The service was followed by photos at the Botanic Gardens in Emmarentia,

Then a reception in Kensington.

The weather was very kind to us and a good time was had by all. The couple got messages and gifts from all round the world.

For Natalie and Emmanuel it certainly was a day of joy and something that they will never forget.

A TRIBUTE TO OUR BELOVED SISTER FIDELIS

2011-03-21T13:36:00.000+02:00

I was attending a First Communion celebration in Malvern in October 2000 when a very small, elderly nun came up to me and asked about Mercy House. She asked if and how she could help. Looking at her age and assuming she would have no transport, I wondered how she would be in a position to do so, since having no wheels would be an insurmountable obstacle... I did not realise what a whirlwind was hitting my life just then and that I was embarking on a relationship with a giant personality:

the feisty, fearless FLYING NUN!

Our beloved Sister Fidelis, faithful as the mountains, which her name indicates, has worked with tremendous dedication for Mercy House for 10 years. Her tireless and selfless dedication are truly something to marvel at. She procured a blue car, which one would see whizzing down the street, at a good speed, usually laden with goods for our refugees. Sister also proved to be such a faithful friend, and quite a good disciplinarian amongst our young residents...

At an art exhibition some years ago, I saw a beautiful modern-style stone carving of an angel. I immediately bought it and placed it on a prominent wall in the Mercy House Garden, with the following inscription:

The Faithful Angel

who keeps constant watch.

Erected as a tribute to Sister Fidelis for her tireless commitment to Mercy House.

We did not at the time anticipate that she would be leaving us on transfer one day, but the angel will remain there in memory of her great love. Thank you Sister, we will miss you...

Tribute written by Diana Beamish of Mercy House

SOME MERCY HOUSE ACHIEVEMENTS

2011-03-19T13:49:00.006+02:00

1. When Mercy House started in 1996, it accommodated 5 Ethiopian doctors who were totally stranded at the time, as they did not have registration with the SA medical council and it took us 2 years to persuade the SA Medical Council to set an exam for them.. They wrote it and all of them are happily working as doctors now, one even in the United States..

2. Through the support and mediation of Mercy House, we have enabled 2 young men, Angolan Martin, and Sudanese, Emmanuel, to get through the SA University Medical training: they are now qualified doctors doing extremely well. Both are now training to be specialists - Emmanuel is becoming a cardiologist and Martin is specialising in gynaecology. Burundian Shadadi, is currently studying to be a Clinical Medical Practitioner at Wits Medical school. Sudanese orphan Felix, is currently doing a 4 year degree at the University of Johannesburg in Medical Research.

3. We have assisted in getting bursaries for 8 refugees to do a Bachelor Degree in Education at KZN college in Kwazulu, 1 who is still studying, the rest qualified and working 5 back in Sudan..

4. We have managed to get bursaries for university degrees in engineering for 5 of our young men, four of whom are already qualified and working in companies. A large number of others have studied engineering at the local Technical College..

5. We have managed to put a large number of children into school: for example Shadadi (Burundi) and Dibaba and Peter (both DRC), Newton, Kenny got bursaries to study at an excellent school private school. John is head boy of his school this year, and Shadadi was a deputy head last year and is already at university.

6. We managed to get bursaries for Peter and Samuel (Sudanese) to do a 2 year course in Accounting. They have since returned to Sudan where they are using their expertise.

7. Four of our young people have done courses in home nursing which enabled them to get work and two others are currently third year nursing training..

8. Several of our young people enrolled to do a 3 year film making course. Emmanuel did it and is now employed as Post Production Assistant by a highly reputable film company Videovision Entertainment (The Biggest Film Company in Africa).

9. We have enabled a number of refugees to do Information Technology courses at the local Technical College. .

10. One of our young men has graduated with a law degree. He had come to us with only 1 small plastic bag at the time of the genocide, in 1996, we assisted him to fulfill his dream.

11. Over the 12 years of our existence, we have enabled countless people to get employment, quite an achievement when in a country where the unemployment is very high and where there is also a lot of Xenophobia.

12. We have been able to set up several individuals and families with businesses that enable them survive.

13. By far the greatest achievement of Mercy House has been the healing and transformation that we see. Young people come to us, desperate, their lives in tatters, and through creating a family atmosphere (which, mostly, they have sadly missed) and through the healing power of unconditional love, they really do become new human beings! The message is quite clear: no amount of counselling. psychotherapy etc is as powerful as the healing power of love. This is what has made Mercy House so successful and God is with us!.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!

2011-02-08T22:22:00.002+02:00

OUR FIRST HEAD BOY!

It is with great joy and pride that we announce that our John Kashindi, who has lived at Mercy House for around 10 years, has just been elected head boy of his school.

One of our co-workers, Ms Susan Turner, must be given credit for this wonderful achievement.

She took John under her wing as soon as she came to work with us in the year 2001, and has guided and formed him personally, into a responsible, reliable, well-mannered young gentleman.

John was placed with us by the JRS, the implementing organization of the UNHCR, as an orphan from DRC in 2001. He was around 7 or 8 years old at the time.

This picture shows John in 2001 with Sister Fidelis, shortly after he had been placed at Mercy House by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

He is currently specializing in catering and hopes to get work in that field when he finishes at the end of the year.

John we are so proud of you, but be proud of yourself too, as you deserve this honour, and Susan, take a bow!

TOO MANY GOODBYES

Someone said that life is a progression of goodbyes! That does describe our situation somewhat at present. We had to say goodbye to Richard, then our German volunteer, Anja, then Father John, last year and the pattern has continued into 2011. We recently had to say goodbye to Festus, who moved out to get married. That was also a great loss. We are soon to say a final farewell to our beloved Sister Fidelis, but even that is not all. Our much-loved Emmanuel, formatter of our website, is to leave us in a few days to take up work in Durban.

This is a great wrench for us, however , it is made much easier in the knowledge that he will becoming up every two weeks at weekends to be with his fiancée and us of course!Emmanuel has played a very big role in helping to set up the internet at Mercy House, in maintaining our computers, but also in being what he is: a warm, calm, level-headed and peaceful person. We are going to miss him very very much - fortunately his frequent return visits will soften the blow. Emmanuel Mercy House thanks you very sincerely for the invaluable part you have played in our work. Of course you will always remain part of our family and we will pray for your well-being and happiness and success in your new job. Congratulations.

DIARY OF UPCOMING EVENTS
Sunday 20 February : Fun Day at Schoenstatt where our boys will help in all ways needed.
Sunday 27 February : Farewell luncheon for Sister Fidelis at Mercy House
Sunday 9 April : Wedding of Emmanuel and Natalie

Happy and sad....

2011-01-26T10:16:00.002+02:00

On Sunday 23 Jan Tish and Peter Hoding gave a grand farewell lunch to thank our beloved Sister Fidelis for her 10 years of total dedication to our Mercy work.

They extended an open invitation to all our Mercy House residents who were well represented and were most eloquent in their praise of her role at Mercy House. Though sad at this parting, there was an atmosphere of great love, joy and appreciation for her support and work.

JOY IN SMALL THINGS

Mama Lucy's children are seen in the picture holding the school shoes donated by Natasha Uberbacher of Braamfontein parish.

May God reward all our benefactors in the ways that they need it most!

The pictures indicate just how much she is loved and also of course, she will remain part of our work and be remembered by all, always...

WEDDING BELLS

2011-01-21T17:02:00.003+02:00

Finally and atlast it really did happen. The wedding of Mari Bernard and Festus took place on 15 January at the Bez Valley Catholic Church. In the photo we see the bride and groom and Festus' brother.

ON A SADDER NOTE

It is with great regret that we have been informed that our beloved Sister Fidelis will be transferred in February from Johannesburg to a retirement convent at Port Alfred. Her contribution to the life of Mercy House over the past 10 years has been absolutely invaluable. She has been a rock of support to all and a good disciplinarian as well! We shall miss her terribly and wish her well. We shall also keep in touch and hope to visit her. We plan to have a farewell luncheon for her at Mercy House, however the date has not yet been decided. Go well Sister Faithful!!

Mercy House Web Development Course

2011-01-11T11:26:00.003+02:00

It is with immense gratitude that we acknowledge the contribution of those people who worked to set up our internet, in particular Mr Eales, Michael Holoding and Emmanuel Musa Mulamba. However, now that it is up and running another kind human being has stepped in and is giving a 3 month course on computer usage and website design in particular.

In the picture above we have David McCallum who has offered to teach Mercy House Residents Website Development.
This is what Dave had to say: Web development is something I really enjoy and I was delighted to find a bunch of people who are patient enough to sit down and listen to me for a couple of hours at a time. I am a Technical Architect/IT Consultant working for Accenture South Africa. My aim for the course is to introduce the guys to web development and, perhaps, introduce someone to a career that will give them much joy. We will look at both the technical side of web development and the business side, ie how to apply web development to business and how to make money as a web developer. You can follow our progress at our course website http://davemac.co.za/webdevcourse/.
We thank him very much.

Mercy House celebrations

2011-01-06T12:24:00.006+02:00

Birthday Boy

On Wednesday 5 January we celebrated the 11th birthday of our much-loved boy Moise. He has now been with us for 2 years. We consider it a great privilege to have him with us and truly value his contribution to the life and joy of our house.

May God bless our Moise.

Attending the birthday party

From left to right: Ms Rosemary Benjamin, Sister Fidelis, Ms Tish Holding and a visitor, Ruth, from New York.

Unexpected visitor

was TIGER, Jacinto's puppy and best friend, who also enjoyed the fun.

Father Christmas at Sandton Johannesburg

Some of our residents had an enjoyable pre-Christmas outing to see the Christmas decorations at Sandton.

On the right are Festus and Mari-Bernard who will be married on January 15th.

Christmas 2010

Our Christmas celebration was once again a great success.

Thanks to the Rosebank Union Church, each individual received a gift from the Christ-Child, handed out by Father Christmas.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO OUR MANY FRIENDS AND BENEFACTORS

2010-12-10T15:35:00.004+02:00

On this list we recall great people who have helped us in the past and others who still help us in so many ways: Father Henry now in Rome, Father John now in USA, (now Father) Simon Donnelly, Monica now in Cape Town, Ms Rose Penkler and Susan Turner of Johannesburg, Rosebank Union Church, St Vincent de Paul Societies in Bez Valley, Rosebank, Rivonia, Knights, Operation Snowball, Dave McCallum, Tish, Peter and Michael Holding, Sister Fidelis, Kevin Eales, Rosemary Benjamin, and past volunteers from overseas: Kasia now working for the UN in Guinea Bussau, Amy in America, Serena in Italy, Elaine in Ireland, Catherine in the UK, Alex and Anja in Germany, not to mention our wonderful overseas Mercy Team: Judy and Gerald McGregor, John Frost, Mick and Penny Finn, Stefan Bartkowiac of British Airways and Art and Marylou in USA, and so on. Then there are the refugees who have moved from South AFrica, and here we think very especially of Jimmy and our Richard who (to our great loss) left us this year and may well spend Christmas in hospital in Norway where he has just had a big hip operation... All this tells that we truly are an international Mercy Family, which is the realization of a dream...

To you all: Have a happy and grace-filled Christmas: we shall certainly remember you all we kneel in spirit beside the crib

FANTASTIC ACHIEVEMENT

THANKS TO THE ROSEBANK UNION CHURCH

It is with immense gratitude that we report the installation of the internet at Mercy House: after 16 years without it and producing many graduates down the line, we have finally got there and we are glad. We could never even have considered this expense if it had not been for the very generous donation of the Rosesbank Union Church for this specific purpose. It is going to be a great benefit to our students and then of course, great holiday fun, to chat with distant friends on email and facebook!

Monday 13 December was the big day of the installation of our Internet. The study was soon full of eager and excited viewers as the photo shows. In the other picture we see Safari who will help to monitor usage together with Emmanuel our expert, so also designs our website...

A big thank you to Jennifer Adams at RUC who facilitated this financing and also to a dedicated team consisting of Michael Holding and his dad, Peter, Kevin Eales and Emmanuel Musa who brought this about on the practical level. Truly you all deserve a medal! Many thanks for this invaluable contribution to our work.

PEOPLE WE ARE SO PROUD OF

2010-12-06T10:21:00.004+02:00

We are happy and proud to announce that on 7 December 2010, Marc Yorinda graduated from Wits University after 5 years of study as an electrical engineer. Marc is the third member of our Mercy House Family to get through this degree.

In the picture we see our graduate together with Mrs Marlen Ritky who has assisted and cared for Marc in so many ways, as if he were her own son, infact, she commented at the graduation that he should add "Ritky" to his surname! "No, " retorted Marc, "someone may just think that I am Irish!"

As a young boy, Marc was orphaned in the genocide in Rwanda. He came to Mercy House a long time back and we put him into school. He did exceptionally well there, getting quite a few distinctions in his matric. One day he came and asked: "Please can you give me 25 stamps and 25 envelopes." His plan was to apply to 25 companies for a bursary to do tertiary studies: he did just that and he succeeded. He managed to get a bursary with a large company that will employ him from January 2011. Well, it couldn't be better could it!

But Marc is the one who deserves all the honours: it was his own determination and amazingly positive attitude, his unflinching faith and plain hard work that have got him to where he is. Marc you are an example to us all: if only we could emulate your positive attitude to life. Thank you for showing us what can be achieved if one has the will to get there. In spite of the most sad and difficult circumstances of his early life, there is absolutely no trace of bitterness in our Marc, only humble gratitude and openness for the positive hand of God working in our lives. Well done Marc and wishing you EVERYTHING the best - as you truly deserve. God Himself will be rejoicing over you!

Generous Friends
On Friday 3 December the St Vincent de Paul of Bez Valley gave their annual Christmas treat to Mercy House: a braai. It was a simply delightful evening and we are most grateful to Gus Wilcox and Valentine (both in the picture with one of our residents), Tanya and Heidi who worked so hard to make the evening the great success that it was.

A good time was had by all!

Another resident whom we are very proud of is Bertraud who is the first refugee that we know of who has completed the 97.5km cycle marathon. This cycle ride was held on a Sunday in November 2010.

In the photo Bertraud happily shows off his medal of which he is justifibly proud. Again, it is Bertraud's admirable determination that has got him there and we are sure that he is also very grateful to BA pilot Stefan - who visits us whenever he flies to SA - who did him the kindness of getting him a racing bike. So we pay tribute to Stefan too.

MEET SNOOPY

Jacinto, a young Angolan orphan whom we have been helping since 2004, is very fond of dogs. He seems to attract the waifs.

Recently he took in 2 unwanted Rottweiler puppies, one being Snoopy. Unfortunately a visiting dog attacked him and mauled him badly. He seemed close to death. Mercy House stepped in and took the puppy to the vet and saw to his healing. He is seen here happily recovering after his attack.

Snoopy also has a voracious appetite. Any takers?

Stefan Bartkowiac - Braai

2010-10-12T23:08:00.000+02:00

On Monday 11 October 2010 we again had the joy of a visit from our BA Pilot, Stefan Bartkowiac.

Usually Stefan works like a Trojan whenever he comes (and gets us to do so with him as well!) , but this time he had a different inspiration. He decided to provide the house community and management with a braai totally at his own expense. Muh joy was had by all, as the pictures do indeed show.

And we were again so grateful to juh im not only for his generosity, but for the amazing example he set by doing all the work himself. Thank you Stefan, again.

Picnic and Marathon

2010-09-27T15:35:00.001+02:00

Friday 24 September, being a public holiday, was Big Race Day and also Big Bucks Day, because it was the day of our Spring picnic which included our Spring Marathon, a race for the ladies, one for the older kids and one for the little ones, being followed by a picnic lunch and ad hoc games

The prizes were handsome, being as much as R100 for the men's winner and R50 for the Mens Race 2nd place,

also all who finished within a few minutes of the winner got R10 for being "also rans".

The ladies too had prizes and the kids got their sweet and chips packets prizes.

Then there was the Booby Prize race, a short one for the young men after they had recovered from their long marathon.

The fun was not only for Mercy House residents, but also for the many we help who live outside the house.

Tish and Peter Holding, Sister Fidelis and Diana attended as well.
A good time was had by all, as the photos show.

Wonderful News
Our former house leader, Richard, who came to us with a broken hip 6 years ago, was recently resettled to Norway where he will be able to complete his engineering degree. The best news we could have had is that he has been given a hip replacement operation which will enable him to live a normal life again: whilst with us, he had a "fusion," which left him with a limp, unable to sit or walk properly and also unable to run. Once he has recovered from his operation, he will be able to run, walk and play soccer again, which will be an immense joy to him after so many years of suffering from having been beaten up by soldiers in the war in his country. We are thrilled for Richard and wish him a speedy recovery and much joy in his new life.

DIVINE PROVIDENCE DOES IT AGAIN!!!!

2010-08-28T13:39:00.003+02:00

On Friday 16 July our residents awoke to an unpleasant surprise: thieves had come during the night and stolen most of our bicycles and all the washing from the wash lines. It was unnerving and everyone was downcast, since bicycles are our main means of transport.

By amazing co-incidence (or was it?), our BA Pilot co-worker, Stefan Bartkowiac, had planned to spend the day at Mercy House. Stefan and Diana arrived mid-morning; to meet an atmosphere of disbelief and gloom, but it did not have to last for long. A few months prior to this, Stefan had entered a British Airways Competition. Each entrant had had to specify a particular charity that the prize money would go to and what it would be used for in particular. Totally unaware of what was to come; Stefan had nailed his prize money down to being used for bicycles at Mercy House! What could have been more appropriate! So abracadabra again - the very same morning after the theft of our bikes, Stefan went out with his huge prize money, to go and buy replacement bikes for our people. Some may say, sheer con-incidence, but we would rather admire the remarkably kind and tender care of our God.

The 2nd picture shows Stefan on that very day (16.7.2010) and the 3rd photo reminds us that nothing is as powerful as example: every time Stefan comes to Mercy House (from the UK of course) he spends most of his time helping our boys to fix their bikes.

Our youngest orphan, Moise, must certainly have been inspired and impressed, because here he is giving bike-fixing a try himself.

*******************

Another co-worker, Rosemary Benjamin,

who lives in Johannesburg, makes a most valuable contribution to our work, by taking as many of our residents as she can fit into her car, for outings at weekends. The pictures below show some of the joy experienced on some of these occasions.

News flash

Danny Swaka, Sudanese refugee who lived at Mercy House for a number of years, has just been resettled to Canada. We are very proud of Danny: we were able to get him through a 4 year teaching degree which he completed last year, and he was head student of his college for 2 whole years: another tribute to the greatness of his character. We wish our Danny everything of the very best for his future - SA is the poorer and Canada is the richer for this move! We know that he will keep in touch and that he will always remain part of our Mercy House family.

Immediate plans

We plan to have a picnic at the park and our usual marathon round the park on 24 September, a public holiday, which should be great fun. The picture shows last year's winner, Festus, who may or may not be able to do it again: watch this space!

We are absolutely thrilled once again to pass on great news

2010-06-24T16:18:00.000+02:00

It was the end of May when a young Angolan refugee came and asked if there was anyway we could help him and his girl friend, (both orphans), to set up a hair salon in the then dirty and disused garage on the property where he lives.

Both are very good at doing hair styles for their respective genders! It seemed like another mission impossible but we remembered a gentleman who had said that he was willing to help someone to set up a small business. Abracadabra and it was done! Amazing, he was so magnanimous about it too, sending through funding very specifically and only for this project. Getting it all done was quite nerve-wracking. The disused garage was such a mess when we first started out : paint peeling everywhere, dirt and etc! But we managed and they opened their little business on 22 June! Today that garage is totally transformed, as the photos show, and on day 1 there were even 2 small boys sitting waiting for haircuts!

Our two young people are so thrilled. but we are too, because once again, through the kindness of God and the generosity of others, a dream has really come true for these 2 young people who have had very tough lives. This is the rope which God has let down for them so that they can support themselves and find a means of survival. "Glory to Him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask for or imagine" St. Paul.

THE MOST AMAZING THINGS REALLY DO HAPPEN (at Mercy House!)

2010-06-18T16:38:00.000+02:00

The picture shows Richard who has been AT Mercy House since 2004. Not only has he been a real gem as regards human relationships and community building, he has also been a house leader for some time. A person of real integrity, warmth and kindness, it is a very great loss to us but, at the same time, fantastic news for him. Two weeks ago he heard that a request for re-settlement made several years back and which he had almost forgotten, has come through. He heard that he will be resettled to Norway and there the Norwegian government gives refugees as warm welcome, a home, study opportunities and a lot more. Richard's flight to a new world was scheduled for Saturday 19 June 2010, a very, very sudden departure. We were at least able to have a farewell party for him on Sunday 13 June and he is seen here with his parting gift in his hand. We wish Richard everything of the best in his new life and have no doubt at all that he will be a huge blessing to everyone, no matter where God chooses to place him in this world. We thank you for everything you have done for our community Richard and GO WELL.

Learning to help at an early age

It was a great effort for Mafuno to carry his little sister up the stairs but he managed all the same: great example for us all as to how to live....

Mercy House is proud to announce another kindness of God

2010-06-08T11:08:00.002+02:00

The photos show two very happy reunions.

A husband and wife, who were separated when fleeing from their home country and were reunited through and at Mercy House this year in April,

Likewise, a lady who had to leave her child behind when she fled is seen here at the airport welcoming her little boy from whom she had been separated for nearly a year, due to having to leave her home country in haste.

"We are very proud of our former house leader, Eddie, who this mid-year completed his four-year degree in Electrical Engineering and in fact has just started his first job with the company that sponsored him. He is seen in the picture with Moise, one of our youngest residents at Schoenstatt in Bedfordview."

Mercy house was graced with a visit, on Sunday 6 June 2010, from a team of the art of living, an international movement which provides humanitarian aid to charities. They overwhelmed us with an enormous donation of food which is very welcome and also inspired our residents in sharing with them what they do to help others.

Celebrating Easter

2010-04-07T10:59:00.003+02:00

GREAT OCCASION TINGED WITH A CERTAIN SADNESS

2010-02-22T09:39:00.000+02:00

Father John (Left) and Richard Right) holding the farewell gifts we had prepared for them at our farewell celebration on 21 February.

It is always hard to say goodbye to someone greatly loved, and this time it was goodbye to one of our "greats." Father John Converset of the Comboni Missionaries, has been with us since 2001, giving ever increasing support to our Mercy work. Apart from his guidance, practical help and general backup, he was instrumental in accessing funding for our Play Centre, which has become a great source of joy, relaxation, friendship and healing.
On Sunday 21 February we had a "braai" lunch and celebration to thank Father John for all he has done for us and to bid him farewell.

In the photo Mr Peter Holding, our accountant and member of our management team, is giving a farewell speech. In the background on the left is Anja, our young German volunteer who will also be leaving us soon - so quite a few goodbyes seem to be on our current agenda!

Ms Tish Holding, Sister Fidelis and Father John, all of our management team, about to enjoy the lovely lunch provided mainly by Tish and Peter HOlding, at our farewell for Father John.

Sister Fidelis' Diamond Jubilee

Well, her surname is Diamond, and she certainly is one of the jewels in our Mercy House crown. She made it to her diamond jubilee too: On 6 February Sister celebrated the 60th anniversary of her religious profession with a Mass and luncheon. Father John concelebrated at the Holy Mass and a Mercy House contingent attended. In the photo we see two young refugee priests

Father Robert on the left and Father Paulin on the right- who were assisted by Sister when they first arrived, together with Sister and Diana on the very happy occasion.

FAREWELL TO RICHARD -ATLEAST FOR THIS YEAR

Well, like Samson, he has cut his long locks by now and has temporarily left Mercy House for distant KZN, to do a year's practical which is necessary as a third year in his studies for a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

We bade farewell to him on Sunday 21 February on the same occasion as we said goodbye to our beloved Father John. We will miss Richard greatly but he will be back: no one likes to leave Mercy House that we know.....

As an aside, in this photo Richard was wearing one of the jackets sent out from St Richards by Ms Judy McGregor to Mercy House last year. Smart boy was feeling good in his classy attire!

Anja, our young volunteer from Germany, in the boot of Diana's car. We were on our way to Mass and could not fit in all the hopeful travellers, so Anja found the solution and seemed quite happy there - as she said: Far more room in there than being squashed up in the back of the car!

Donatien gave a farewell speech on behalf of the refugees at Father John's farewell. He is currently a 2nd year nursing student.

The Picture of all Pictures 2010

2010-01-11T12:13:00.006+02:00

Our beloved Shadadi meeting his mother after a separation of 11 years, during which time he could not even remember what she looked like! 1 December 2009, the greatest day in Shadadi's life, no doubt, and the surest proof that God is with us and working the most amazing miracles in our midst...

The Picture of All Pictures

Shadadi with his mother (Left) and grandmother (Right) just before they had to flee from the war

when he got lost in 1998

Shadadi when he came to us at Mercy House in 2001

Diana's Quick Interview

Stefan's Visit

The BA Pilot, Stefan arrived at Mercy house on Sunday 10^th January afternoon.

Stefan has been a huge blessing. When he arrived he immediately started working. Repairing our electricity, our pool table. He checked our bicycles and fixed those which needed to be fixed and all old bicycles were replaced by new ones.

Monday 11^th January School re-opened and Mercy House residents went back to school with the smile.

At Mercy House all residents use bicycles to go to School.

Diana taking a break from the hectic activity on the Sunday of B.A. pilot Stefan's visit - with two of our Mercy House VIPs: Princess and Lady, who add so much love, warmth, joy, and fun to our community.

Christmas 2009 video (Slide Show and Music)

2010-01-07T14:05:00.002+02:00

Christams 2009

2009-12-26T09:29:00.005+02:00

We are very greatful to all those who made our Christmas a great day.

Our day started with Lunch, followed by singing. We had a Christmas play and finally Father Christmas arrived with lot of Presents

May God bless all those who made our Christmas 2009, an unforgettable one

Enjoy your holidays

2009-12-11T17:11:00.002+02:00

THE GREATEST MIRACLE that Mercy House has ever witnessed...

2009-12-04T15:28:00.000+02:00

With God, nothing is impossible."

The Amazing Miracle of Finding Shadadi’s Mother!

Diana, Shadadi and Tish

Tuesday, 1 December 2009 was perhaps the greatest day in the life of our "orphan" Shadadi. He was 5 years old when his family was fleeing from war in Burundi, he being carried on the back of his his mother’s brother, Bina, who was only 12 years old at the time. Sadly, they got separated from the family, and got lost, and were not able to find the family again. Bina cared for his little nephew with great devotion, bringing him down, through many difficulties and many countries to South Africa in 2001, where they were placed in the care of Mercy House.
By God’s amazing co-incidence, they found out that a young Rwandese orphan girl, who was living at Mercy House at the time, actually knew Sifa, Shadadi’s mother’s sister, whom she had met in a refugee camp with her in the DRC. She even had the telephone number of Sifa, who had in the meantime been re-settled in the U.S.A. This was a key discovery, since they were able to contact her. This led to Sifa and ourselves to commence the mammoth task - of trying to find one woman somewhere in Africa, Shadadi’s mother. We did not even know whether she was alive or dead! Our chain of searching led to getting to know a distant relative, Uncle Theo, in Cape Town, who finally became instrumental in God’s plan that, in 2009, Sara, Shadadi’s mother, was found to still be alive and located. Through the assistance of the same Uncle Theo and Sifa, Sarah, Shadadi’s mother, arrived in Cape Town on Friday 20 November 2009. Uncle Theo immediately passed the amazing news on to us Shadadi, now 16, had not seen her since age 5 and could not even remember what his mom looked like. She, in turn, had always presumed her first born to have been killed in their flight from the war in 1998. Shadadi has never worn such a smile as the day we took him to the airport, Tuesday 1 December to meet the mother he had missed for so long, in fact for 11 years...
"NOTHING is impossible for God...."

Shadadi now a matric prefect age 16

Shadadi as he left for Cape Town at the airport

Our New office Blessing

2009-12-01T15:09:00.000+02:00

On Sun 29 November, Father Joseph Sandri, Provincial of the Combonis Missionaries, blessed our new extension. It was fitting indeed that he should do so, as he was the very first priest who assisted us at the time of the genocide, in 1994 in the very foundation phase of aour Mercy work and he has been extremely supportive ever since. Again our thanks to those in the UK who made this new office possible for us. It really looks beautiful inside and is being put to good use.

More pictures about this event in our next update

2 New Dog Kennels

2009-11-17T09:04:00.000+02:00

On Monday 16 Nov 2 new dog kennels were donated to us for our beloved dogs, Princess and Lady who are very much part of the Mercy House family's joy.

As they were too big for the gateway, these very heavy items had to be lifted OVER the gate with much anxiety, but all hands on deck we got there. The photos show our Mercy House boys doing the job as well as Peter and Tish Holding, both members of the Mercy House management committee, Peter being our accountant.

Mercy House for me

2009-11-16T15:40:00.013+02:00

"I rejopiced when I heard them say, let us go to God's house. and now our feet are standing with your gates."

Today, Residents of Mercy House decided to share what Mercy House has done for them and what they have done for mercy house.

1st Resident
I really rejoice when I heard that Teacher Diana was going to give a chance to see my orphaned nephew again. Thank you Mercy house for accommodating me and Moise my nephew, who arrived here at Mercy house on the 15 March 2009. We are happy to be here at mercy house
I am trying to building a happy family. As a committee member if leaders are not at home I usually help people to get what they want in garage (Mercy house storeroom) because I have got keys.
If you are looking at my behaviour, I never fight with anyone and I don’t hate anyone. I can say that I am happy to be here

2nd Resident
Mercy house is a family to me, where I find a new breath of life, where I can try to rebuild life and forget about my sad past. Mercy house has done so many things to me, for example the welcome that I have received, free accommodation, good care and protection and education.
I always do my duties with love and properly. Mercy house is my first subject of prayer. I fix toilet, lights and tapes. I do monthly cleaning of dog bed.
May God bless the management of Mercy house.

3rd Resident
Mercy house has done a lot for me, if I were to say in details, it will take days and nights. I am about to graduate as an engineer, all blessings from mercy house. Mercy house made me forget about the past and focus on the future. I will always be thankful. I try to make mercy house a beautiful place for God. A place, where everyone feels welcome.
Even sometime I fail to accomplish my mission unintentionally, but always ask God to give me strength and courage in order for me to fulfil what I have to do. To be an example among others a good one.

Latest Acheivements

2009-11-10T11:52:00.008+02:00

New office and guest room

The room will be used to house occassional visitors at Mercy house.

We, at Mercy House, are greatful to Judy McGregor Mick and Penny and to the St Richard's Parishioners for their overwhelming generosity.

The workers have been simply excellent and everything has happened so quickly. The photos show progress. It should be finished within a few days and then we shall get busy furnishing it. our first guest, currently volunteer German student, Anje (see photo below) was supposed to stay there, but as it was not ready when she arrived, she was quite happy to pitch tent in our storeroom on a couch, accompanied even by few mice! As soon as the extension is ready, she will be the first guest to stay there. We hope that our BA pilot Stefan, will make use of it too, when he comes again… apart from that, it will be our much-longed-for and much-needed new office. This project has been costly but it was very necessary, and that is why we went ahead, feeling we could not wait and trusting in Divine providence.

New volunteer, German student, Anje

Anje is studying engineering in Germany and wanted a working holiday in SA. We met purely by chance at Holy Mass one Saturday in September, and, on my telling her about Mercy House, she immediately caught fire with the idea of coming to help out.

What a great Gift she has been, much loved by all and doing so much work. Currently she is getting curtains ready for our new office.

To our great joy, Anje will be with us over Christmas, a very happy time at Mercy House.

Shadadi honours us again

In our last report about Shadadi we showed him at his confirmation. Now we have further great news of him: next year he will be in his final school year (having come to us when he was 7). During the month of September he was chosen as a school prefect and deputy head of the boarding school for his matric year.

We are proud of him and he deserves it too, being an exceptionally hard worker.

He wants to study medicine after school. If God opens doors, he may well fulfil his dreams, since many of our other dreams have really come true!

Eddie honours us as well

Simon Donnelly ordained Priest.

Simon used to be one of our co-workers when he lectured at Wits University, before he went to study for the priesthood in Rome. He is also is also Diana’s God son! On the 13^th September, having come out from Rome, he was ordained in the cathedral in Johannesburg. A large Mercy House contingent attended and he did us the great honour of having a meal in the evening with close family and friends at Mercy House. We are all vey proud of Him. He has now returned to Rome to specialise in Holy Scripture for the next tree years! Not to mention that he has doctorate in linguistics even before he joined the seminary!

At Mercy House, we believe that truly "love changes everything" and that by giving young people a home where they feel accepted and above all, loved, they can heal from the sorrows of the past, which they do not even like to recall. ON a practical level, we first assist our young people to get their papers in order so that they are completely legal, then we try to put them through schooling or college so that they are able to stand on their own feet and make it in life. In the case of families we assist them a few years after arrival to be able to find a means of survival.

From 1994 to 2009

2009-10-20T10:24:00.009+02:00

The Story of Mercy House
From 1994

To 2009

Historical Background
At the beginning of Lent 1992, Diana Beamish went to the Principal of the School (Sacred Heart Primary School) where she was teaching at the time and suggested that the whole school should be united in a common programme of striving during Lent.
The Principal agreed and the programme went very well. After Lent She realised that there was a need to sensitise the pupils on-going to the needs of the less fortunate in continuing outreach programmes.
Every teacher was obliged to have one extra-curricula activity after school hours, most options being sports. Diana decided that she would start an outreach programme in the school as her extra-mural. She went to the principal and asks for permission. She told the principal that she would like to call it MERCY. When her colleagues heard about the extramural activity that she had chosen they asked her what she planned to do. Her reply was that “I DON’T KNOW.”
This answer sounded ridiculous and really a mad idea, but was completely truthful, because she believed that she would be led into what she should do. This proved to be absolutely right: Within a few months the concept of MERCY had caught on like wildfire in the school. The children’s immense capacity for compassion was opened up and developed. Brother Joseph, the principal, constantly told Diana how grateful he was that this was happening.
In 1994, the genocide took place in Rwanda. Like millions of other viewers throughout the world, Diana watched the TV footage with absolute horror. What could she do, was her constant preoccupation.

On the 4 October there was a photograph of Samson Bigambura on the front page of the Sunday Times. He was 14 years old and had come to South Africa, partly by foot, with a small group, looking for help. Diana thought that at last she had found an opportunity to help: it was impossible for her to get to the war torn areas: but the refugees had come to us instead.
Diana called the newspapers and one week later she found out where these refugees were living. On Monday 10 October 1994, she made her way with an American couple, to find Angelo Camp. That day they met Samson and others with whom he had come down. From that day, Diana started going to the camp every week taking food, which she managed to get from Woolworths. She also began to teach them English, realising that without language skills, they would never be able to obtain work or survive in the country. Hence she earned the title, which has stuck ever since: Teacher Diana!
In 1995 Diana realised that the call of the refugees was too strong. She wanted to dedicate more time to assisting them, but at the same time had to find work in order to live. She decided therefore to leave school teaching and look for other work. Again people thought it was quite a mad idea, leaving all security behind. It really was a leap into the unknown. But that did work out. She was offered work in the field of Adult Education, writing text books, this enabling her to have more flexible hours, which would give her an income but also more time for the refugees. She continued to go to the refugees at the camp where they lived, but no longer with the assistance of the Mercy organisation she had started at the school - MERCY was continued there, but focussed other needs.
Meantime, things went from bad to worse at Angelo camp, but the number of refugees swelled. Angelo camp was the site where X-convicts (South Africans) used to go. It was full of criminals and violence and all sorts of crimes were rife there. Stabbings and drunkeness occurred at night; there were rooms up with “Sex for Sale” signs etc. The refugee group, on the other hand, included graduates, educated people and law abiding citizens, but they simply had no where else to go, there being no facilities for refugees in S.A. at that time… Two young orphaned refugee girls at Angelo were raped only two days after arriving at Angelo. There were rats in every room, crawling over them at night; rain poured, as there were no window panes - it was an abandoned mining village and everything was in gross disrepair. Rubbish was never removed, and it was piled shoulder all over. A charity organisation, which had supplied food there, discontinued; the electricity supply to the camp was cut (since no one there had the money to pay the bill.) and finally the water supply was cut.
It was at this stage that one of the refugees came to Diana and said that he simply could not continue to live at the camp. He had been threatened with his life several nights in a row and just could not put his foot there again. It was critical, but Diana did not know what to do. By God’s design, it was just at this time that Diana met the Comboni Missionaries. She told them about the refugees and they were interested in helping, always asking how things were going. One day they asked how things were going with the refugees. “ Terrible,” was her reply, because it was just then that the water supply to the camp had been cut. She had meantime looked for a room to try to accommodate the refugee who had turned up at her flat and a few others, hoping that she would find some organisation that would pay the rent! She told the Combonis about this room and took them to see it. The room was considered too small, so they started to look at houses.

Diana related further:
Finally we found a semi-detached house in 8th Avenue Mayfair. It could accommodate 6 people. The Combonis agreed to pay rent there for a year. My relief was overwhelming. On 10 February 1996 we moved 6 refugees (5 Muslim and one Christian) into the house: it did not take much moving since their possessions consisted of only one or two plastic packets each. We had to put them on the bare floor, having no furniture at all! They were Angolan Martin Kalenga (now a qualified doctor), Burundian Mawuwama and Abubakar, Tony Marie and Ibrahim and Ayesha from Somalia and Ethiopia respectively.
The refugees stayed in this house only a few months. Soon we realised that it was too small. I agonised so many times as to what to do and even went as far as even finding a very suitable house for sale –going for R130000.00. I went from organisation to organisation to find assistance as regards financing it – also the Red Cross and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees- but to no avail. Finally one day I said to myself “It’s time to stop saying, why doesn’t somebody do something” and rather do something myself. I decided that if I could, after heroic efforts, get positively no organisation to do something about accommodating refugees, I would see what I could do myself. I had been saving for a new car, but that sort of money would not buy a new house. That evening I spoke to a great human being - my aunt. I told her my thoughts and put a proposal to her. What if we were to sit down that very night and find every bit of money we had anywhere in this world and see if we have enough to buy a house for the refugees? Again another “mad idea”, but she herself was characteristically remarkably open. We did just that. I still remember very clearly sitting down on the lounge floor with files everywhere around us, pooling every bit of money we could find anywhere. My new car would have to go by the wayside Together we actually got to the total, unbelievably so, but we would not have even enough money to cover transfer fees, which came to a further R700.00. I contacted the Combonis and told him the position. They said that the balance of money, which had been set-aside for the year’s rent for the house in Mayfair, could be used for that. Done! It was just too exciting for words.
We bought the house at 82 North Avenue, Bezuidenhout Valley, and moved in on 7 July 1996. That day Mercy House was born.

I remember very clearly standing in the middle of this empty house thinking: well what are they going to sleep on, where will we get any furniture? My aunt and I certainly had not a cent left to fund that! I felt quite helpless and contacted a ladies’ organisation but got a negative answer. Suddenly I got the idea to advertise in various church newsletters for unwanted furniture. The first call I made was to Maryvale parish. I knew the secretary there, Neah du Chenne. When I called and told her what I wanted to do, she replied “I can’t believe my ears!” She said that just before my call a parishioner had phoned to ask if she knew of any charity wanting furniture. This lady worked in the Department of Education and they had a halls full of furniture, some of which was completely new, to give away to charities! This place had been a centre of distribution for government boarding schools(subsequently closed down) and contained all the furniture we could possibly have needed. We could have filled even four houses: There it was just all provided on a plate, totally free: God had provided and it really seemed like the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

Father Henry, of the Combonis, helped with the transport and soon Mercy House was fully equipped. We were able to move the refugees in. In 1997 we were even able to use a second house belonging to the Holy Family nuns which accommodated 6 families. Unfortunately this house was sold and the refugees had to move out in May 1997.
1997 was also the year in which we got connected to St Richards parish in England. Mrs Judy McGregor, who belongs to that community, had heard about Mercy House through my brother, then working in the UK. She, Penny Finn and their team, embraced the Mercy cause with unbelievable enthusiasm and have ever since spear-headed fund raising efforts in her parish with tremendous success. Soon afterwards, BA pilot, Stefan Bartkowiac, joined their ranks. This St Richards link has been one of our greatest blessings.
It was one day when I was packing food outside Woolworths Food Store that I met a man, a friend of an acquaintance who was chatting to me. His name was Alfie McKnight, and he was builder. The friend told him why I was there and what I was doing. He was very interested to help. He certainly did, because at the cost of materials only he subsequently built on for us 3 extra rooms which meant that we could accommodate more refugees. He also built a beautiful marian shrine in our garden and obtained the statue himself for it. This was blessed on 9 August 1998.
It was after this time that God sent us a wonderful helper, Sister Fidelis who took an enormous load of work onto her shoulders. He also provided us with a succession of the most amazing young volunteer workers from different parts of the world, who worked for us from 3 months to as long as 4 years each. There were first Amy, from USA, (Photo below left) and Kasia, from Poland, (Photo below right). Then there was Elaine Fox from Ireland, Serena from Italy, Catherine from the UK and Alex from Germany. Simon Donnelly (below middle), who subsequently joined the priesthood, was also one of the volunteer team.
It was around this time, too, that Rosebank Union Church found and adopted us as one of the programmes they would like to support. David McCallam, Claire de Lager, Kerry Sinclair, Jenny Kurten & Jenny Adams and her team. Have all been extensively caring and supportive, which we value so much.
Around the year 2004, I one day told Father John, of the Combonis,

that I had a dream of have a building being erected at the bottom of our garden, which was at the time, used for rubbish and washing lines. I had even drawn plans for it, but never in my wildest imaginings, thought that it would ever come true, as I knew that Mercy House could never ever have the sort of money required to build it. I even forgot that I had told Father John of this new “mad idea”! To my utter amazement in April 2008, Father John phoned me and asked me if I still had my dream! I told him that I have never ceased to dream… To my utter amazement he informed me that a family in the USA wanted to help with a project and that he could put my dream forward to them as possibility. Abracadabra and it was done. Within 2 months dream became reality: there it was a beautiful recreational centre, which has become the heart and soul of the community, for there everyone relaxes and has fun. This, thanks to the amazing generosity of our anonymous benefactors over the seas to whom we shall always be endlessly grateful, and of course Father John, who was the instrument to bring it all about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VmlZqCobzM

Mercy House usually accommodates around 22 refugees, most of whom are orphans from the genocide in Rwanda/ Burundi or the war in the Congo. Beyond the inner circle there is a far wider circle of many refugees whom we assist. We also have by now helped many to get onto their feet and they no longer live in Mercy House.
By far the greatest achievement of Mercy House has been the healing and transformation that we see. Young people come to us, desperate, their lives in tatters, and through creating a family atmosphere (which, mostly, they have sadly missed) and through the healing power of unconditional love; they really do become new human beings! One young man, for example, was abducted and forced to be a child soldier in Sudan at the age of 11 never to have been able to find his family (who fled) since. After managing to escape from the army, he arrived at Mercy House around the age of 19, totally lost and devastated and feeling the lack of a sense of belonging: stateless, homeless and family less. Today he is employed and is a changed person. Shadadi was brought to us at the age of 6 or 7, locked in a prison of silence: he would not talk to anyone, so traumatised was he. We took him in, got him into school. Today he relaxed and happy, he is 16 already, in grade 11 on a bursary, and he is doing exceptionally well. The message is quite clear: no amount of counselling, psychotherapy etc is a powerful as the healing power of love. This is what has made Mercy House so successful and God is with us!

SOME MERCY HOUSE ACHIEVEMENTS

1. When Mercy House started in 1996, it accommodated 5 Ethiopian doctors who were totally stranded at the time, as the did not have registration with the SA medical council and it took us 2 years to persuade the SA Medical Council to set an exam for them...They wrote it and all of them are happily working as doctors now.
2. Through the support and mediation of Mercy House, we have enabled 2 young men, Angolan Martin, and Sudanese, Emmanuel, to get through the SA University Medical training: they are now qualified doctors doing extremely well. Both are now training to be specialists Emmanuel is becoming a brain surgeon and Martin, gynaecology. Sudanese Pasuale did a degree in Medical Technology at Wits University and is now working in Australia.
3. We have assisted in getting bursaries for 8 refugees to do a Bachelor Degree in Education at KZN College in Kwazulu and Jean Chrysostom to complete a degree in law.
4. We have managed to get bursaries for 6 young men to do degrees in Engineering at various universities, one of whom is already qualified and working as an engineer. A further 6 are studying engineering at the local Technical College.
5. A considerable number of our residents have done computer courses at the Technical College, 3 of whom are still busy. We hope to start another refugee on an IT degree next year.
6. We have put a large number of children into school: for example, currently, Shadadi (Burundi) and Dibaba and Peter (both DRC), Newton, Kenny has got bursaries to study at an excellent private school.
7. We managed to get bursaries for Peter and Samuel (Sudanese) to do a 2-year course in accounting. They have since turned to Sudan where they have got jobs using their expertise.
8. Kaskil, Festus, Bebe, Kika, Donatien and Jean Paul have all done courses in Nursing.
9.Several of our young people enrolled to do a 3-year filmmaking course. Emmanuel Musa completed it and is now involved in the making of DVDs and films. Over the 12 years of our existence, we have enabled countless people to get employment, quite an achievement when in a country where the unemployment is very high and where there is also a lot of Xenophobia.