The United States Secretariat of the Alliance for

Letters—Worth Noting....Worth Quoting
Recently, twins Anna and Frank, 12 days old, came to us from a
neighboring district. Their mother had died four days after giving birth
—there were six other children at home.
The children seemed to be doing well but
Frank did have a fungus on his lips, thrush
in his mouth and a discharge from his eye.
Someone from the clinic visited
Frank and he seemed to be improving but
the following morning his condition
changed. We took Frank to the health
centre immediately but a few hours later
he breathed his last breath in my arms.
The father was on his way to see the
children, but before he arrived Frank died.
Sr. Dorothy Pilkington and Miriam.
I greeted him, told him of Frank’s death
and we went immediately to Anna’s crib.
The father held her with such a loving, caring presence.
Frank was buried in a cardboard box in the cemetery across from
the orphanage. The site is marked with a small, discarded cross that was
found nearby by those who dug Frank’s grave.
Sr. Dorothy Pilkington, SSJ
Coordinator of St. Anna’s Orphanage
Uwemba, Tanzania
Ed. Note Sr. Dorothy is a volunteer who is coordinating St. Anna’s Orphanage
for the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Uwemba.
We received with great pleasure the mass stipends from AIM USA. We
are a small community of 21 professed members and our life is a little
difficult in spite of our efforts to produce eggs, milk and jam.
We provide Mass for the sisters and other close neighbors. The
precariousness of the country makes mass stipends modest and rare. We
are grateful for the material aid you send us and for the prayers of the
monasteries and friends in the United States—this encourages us.
Abbot André Ouédraogo, OSB
Abbaye Saint Benoit de Koubri
Burkina Faso
I write to express our sincere gratitude for
your love and concern for our priory. Yes,
we received the money to buy a generator
for our retreat center. Many priests and
religious come for long or short periods of
time to our retreat center. Many Congregations
choose the retreat center as the
place for immediate preparation for simple
and final profession.
The Center has truly become a
place of prayer and meditation and many
Generator purchased with a grant from
AIM USA.
people come for counseling and personal prayer. We also sponsor interreligious
and ecumenical dialogues and seminars for various groups of
children and adults. As Benedictines we conduct classes in liturgy and the
Bible for various groups.
The generator was a wonderful gift and it is already installed.
Fr. Vincent Korandiarkunnel, OSB
St. Joseph’s Priory
Makkiyad, Kerala, India
Books Well Received
The box of books arrived containing various titles on scripture,
theology and spirituality. They are ALL very much appreciated
by our small community of Ugandan sisters and the missionaries
from the Philippines and Korea. Our library is small and has
many needs so what you have sent is very, very precious to us.
We pray for the benefactors who have made this possible.
Sr. Mary Vincent Feliciano, OSB
Missionary Benedictine Sisters
Jinja, Uganda
The precious box with the books arrived safely to our monastery.
What a happy surprise to find some books in Spanish and some
bilingual books. Our benefactors are always present in our
prayers.
M. Maria Teresa Ferrari, OSB
Abadia N.S. de la Esperanza
Rafaela, Argentina
We appreciate receiving the AIM USA newsletter. It gives us
the opportunity to read about other monastic communities all
over the world.
The box of books you sent arrived safely. We do appreciate
very much the books you send, especially since the English
section of our library has become quite outdated.
Br. M. Theophane Young, OCSO
Our Lady of Joy Trappist Monastery
Hong Kong, China
We want to thank you for sending the books for our library. We
are also grateful for all the services you do for the monasteries
in Latin America.
Hna. María Marcenaro, OCSO
Monasterio de la Madre de Cristo
Hinojo, Argentina
We are so pleased to have received the books sent by AIM USA.
They are vital for our spiritual feeding as we hardly get such
books in our country for various reasons—there are no spiritual
books in our language that meet our monastic need. The imported
books either do not meet our need or they are very expensive.
Therefore all the books you send us are really a blessing for us.
Abba Woldetensae Balewold, OCist
Cistercian Monastery of Holy Trinity
Hosanna, Ethiopia
Loving greetings from Israel! We acknowledge with sincere
gratitude and great joy the box of books you sent to our community.
They are a really great help in our spiritual journey.
Please extend our thanks to our donors, the Benedictine
and Cistercian communities and the lay friends.
Sr. Andrew Cullantes, OSB
Benedictine Sisters
Tiberias, Israel
6 Benedict saw the entire world in a single ray of light. (Dialogues)