2016 dec newsletter page 1-4

Annual meeting of members of the IBVM JPIC team with the JPIC
school contacts from the two Loreto schools in Pretoria in August
Siphokazi Sithole (Grade 6M) writes ‘On 1
September 2016, we visited Paul Jungnickel
Centre. When we arrived, we met many
wonderful people. We first played musical
chairs, which everyone participated in and
enjoyed the most. The second game we
played was the potato relay race where a
person had to hold the potato with a spoon
and go across the open area to give it to
another person. Next was the wheelchair
teddy bear run. The people in the
wheelchairs seemed to enjoy themselves and
were very happy. We then met the little
children and got to play different games with
them. They were very excited to see us.
After playing soccer with the teenagers who
live in the orphanage, we ate our lunch and
rested for a few minutes. The best part
about the whole trip was when we had to
serve lunch to the older people. We actually
got to feed them!
When we first arrived at the centre some
learners were very scared and some were
even crying. As the day went on we felt free
to communicate with the people that live
there. We were all ecstatic…..
Most recent group of women to participate in the Emerging Leaders
Process. See story on page 2
Mrs Jean Yon reported that ‘We took 48 Grade 6 Loreto Convent
Girls to the Paul Jungnickel Welfare Centre in Pretoria on 1
September 2016. They had a fantastic day of playing games,
interacting and feeding the residents. There was also the handover of
items that the school had collected for them to use. They make goods
from recycled material and sell them at their well-known Christmas
Market every year to raise funds. Those were all the items in the
black bags you can see in the photo.’
Sister Margaret Mary O’Brien IBVM, who
died last month, was a proud South African
as well as a strong advocate for the
upliftment of children through education. To
quote her from an earlier edition of this
newsletter, “As principal of Holy Trinity
High School in the black township of
Atteridgeville, I saw how politicians made
use of scholars to cause disruption and
further the anti-Apartheid struggle. While I
supported the movement to end Apartheid, I
could see that disrupting schools was not in
the best interests of scholars. I made this
point to the inspector who was sent to find
out how Holy Trinity alone remained
functional in the midst of the general chaos.
As a result of this disruptive action, many
people ended up without a proper education
and crime and joblessness became all too
common.”