Outreach
The work of Nazareth House first began during the Lenten Season of the year 2000. Fr. Seraphim came to me after a night of prayer and said he must go to Sierra Leone. I wasn’t too sure where the country was but soon realized the importance of his journey to this West African nation. To my surprise all arrangements were quickly and conveniently worked out with very little effort…as if they just “fell” into place. Fr. Seraphim arrived in the capital city of Freetown on Easter Tuesday, 2000. The city was vacant, people were in hiding, refuged in displacement/amputation camps or they had fled the country for safety. There were few humanitarian aid agencies or assistance, to speak of. The town was desolate. Our purpose of being in this country is to pray in the midst of turmoil, praying the Light of the Name into the darkness. From that prayer, the work of Nazareth House in Sierra Leone and throughout the world has developed.
From that initial visit, together, Fr. Seraphim and I have now made many trips back and forth to Sierra Leone. In the beginning there were many trial and errors and we learned a great deal. The prayer continued and the humanitarian work grew from it. Early on in the journey, we assisted a man with a vision in building a small school and began a soap factory for widows (war victims) to make soap to sell to provide for their families up on the mountain of Freetown. We did this with no strings attached and both the school and soap factory are functioning productively as their own entities. Realizing the hidden work of Nazareth House, we began to move to the outer provinces and to search for those who had fallen in the cracks; those who have been marginalized, forgotten and left out of the regular Humanitarian Aid cycle. Remaining small and on a personal level we find the most desperate and minister to them effectively.
Our work takes us out into the hidden villages of Sierra Leone. These are the people who are with no means of support other than what they receive from the land. We hike miles through the bush to reach them. Most have never been visited by foreign humanitarian workers. We have distributed vitamins and medications in these remote areas. During one visit to Kamasorrie Village in 2006, the Chief and his village wanted to express their gratitude for our visit and for bringing the medications to them. Even though the villagers needed the food more than us, they honored us with a Rooster, a hen, a goat and two bags of rice. We had drove 45 minutes to this village and then hiked 3.5 miles through jungle vegetation and streams to reach the area. It would be highly disrespectful to turn down their most generous gift. As we began to leave, Fr. Seraphim seeing the great need, decided to hang back and pray while the rest of us hiked back to the vehicle. This left me with a goat, two chickens, and a couple of bags of rice to haul with me. As I tried to drag the reluctant goat through the streams, the Africans with me began to giggle at this white girl’s dilemma. They decided to carry the rice on their heads and the chickens in their hands. (Chickens settle down and become quiet when you hang them upside down). This left me to deal with the despicable goat. I pulled and coaxed the beast through the hot jungle, over logs and fallen trees, through the streams to our four wheel drive. It kicked and screamed and hollered the whole way — as the Africans laughed. Yet, by the time we got it into the vehicle I had bonded with goat. It was a pet. Unprepared, I proudly brought it into the next village where we would stay the night. Suddenly people rushed up with long knives and slaughtered this befriended creature right before my eyes. Everyone enjoyed the rare event of having meat at dinner that night; I opted for a strict vegetarian dinner of rice and cassava.
In late Autumn of 2006, Fr. Seraphim and I returned from West Africa with the realization that we must construct a building for the Nazareth House School in Kabala, Sierra Leone. Having secured reputable and qualified teachers, we could no longer allow the daily class work to be conducted in the open air with no structure. It is a rarity in Sierra Leone to find teachers (or doctors or nurses for that matter) that have college degrees and haven’t fled the country for decent wages. This is known as the “brain drain” and is what most African college graduates do…go where the money is. I can’t blame them for taking the opportunity to better their life. Yet, in this case, we were fortunate enough to have four teachers with college degrees teaching everyday for no pay at all—totally volunteer– and without a building—come rain or come shine (and the rain is heavy and the shine is hot in Kabala). After meeting with the teachers, it was believed that the possibility of raising the funds to complete this task was achievable. The minute we returned to the States we began to work to raise money for the school. By year end, 2006, we had raised over $14,000 (one memorial donation of $12,000 set us well on our way) towards this mission. However, after purchasing the land, breaking ground and beginning development; we realized we would have to double our goal. By Summer 2007, a little over 6 months later, we had raised $12,000 more and the construction began. Unfortunately the heavy monsoon rains came before we reached our funding goal. Despite all the set backs and higher costs than we originally planned, the school building was completed, grander than expected. On Opening Day, September 16, 2008, not only was the school opened but all the students paraded in the adorable tie-dyed uniforms that were provided by the compassionate and generous individuals and organizations through Nazareth House Apostolate.
Nazareth House financially supports the school, its educational supplies and teachers through donations raised. We provide monthly salaries to five teachers and the Principal of the Nazareth House Apostolate School. Students are provided one meal a day at school. The food is supplied from the farm we support in Kabala. On the farm staples such as potatoes, cassava and sweet corn is grown as well as rice.
Again thanks to your generosity, we continue to rent a small house in Freetown. However, the need to secure a permanent residence is imperative and necessary for our continued existence and ability to provide for the poor. From this house we distribute daily medicines, food (rice, etc.) and other basic items (batteries, flashlights) which enable the people to survive through the day. We must deliver medication, a dose at a time. It is not prudent to give a mother a week’s supply of medication for her child. In their desperation, a parent with a sick child will weigh the cost of her hungry children and that of her sick child and choose to sell the medication on the black market to buy food for the family. Our staff in Freetown is valuable to the monitoring of proper doses and the assurance that the sick get the medication they require.
Our current focus is to generate the support to purchase a Nazareth House Compound in Freetown (the capital city) as our center of operations and distribution. Within this property, we will house the supplies (medical, food, basic provisions) to distribute to those in need. Our chapel, where Daily Offices and Services are said will be within this Compound. As well as a distribution center , this multi-use building will serve to house our staff and also accommodate those who we bring over to experience life on the mission field. From the compound our plans are to develop a house for the dying, Lazarus House and neighborhood medical clinics.
Along with the school in Kabala, we furnish the Kabala Government Hospital with medical supplies. During our visit there in September 2007, I met with the doctor and gave him surgical bandages. At that moment, he began to cry. He immediately took me into the surgical ward to show me a man who had just endured prostate surgery. There were no bandages available so he was wrapped in an ace bandage. Nazareth House also supplied the doctor with sutures and IV supplies and continues to do so. In 2008 we provided surgical supplies and medical assistance to Kroo Bay Clinic in Freetown. In early 2009 we provided Dr. James Conteh with a camera to document his surgeries along with further medical supplies.
As of September 2008, Nazareth House has also committed support to St. Mary’s Orphanage on the outskirts of Freetown. This project is a joint effort with One Love Foundation of Summit Hill, Pennsylvania. Maria Stianchie of One Love has been very instrumental in providing for many of the needs Nazareth House has in Sierra Leone.
Nazareth House makes monthly shipments of medication from Louisville to Freetown. We encounter tremendous needs in Sierra Leone, yet we ask that people resist the urge to donate items to this cause unless specifically requested. It’s actually prohibitively expensive to export goods from the United States to Sierra Leone. Rather cash donations are preferred and greatly appreciated. This approach benefits the local economy (local skills, labor & materials) and assures your tax deductible donation goes directly to support needs and projects and reduces administration costs such as shipping.
We cannot stress enough that Nazareth House Apostolate relies totally on God as he expresses Himself through our supporters’ prayers, compassion and generosity. Through this assistance we are able to reach hundreds (families and individuals, doctors and hospitals, teachers and students). In particular we are able to provide the opportunity for many children to reach their full potential.
We invite you to explore this website to get to know us. To see us in action on Youtube click here: www.youtube.com/SaloneNHA
To provide for the poor in Sierra Leone, continue our monthly support to those in need as well as supplying the educational needs of the school, plus raise the funds to purchase our own Compound property we are proposing a Monthly Donation Campaign. We are setting the goal to acquire 1000 donors giving at least $25 per month. This really isn’t an unobtainable task when you consider the amount of people in the United States. 1000 people isn’t that many. Many of us easily blow $25 per month on items we have nothing to show for—such as— lattes, burgers from McDonalds, etc. It would be rewarding to know where and who your money helped. Please consider pledging a monthly donation to enable Nazareth House to have a working budget. It would also allow us to plan for emergencies; preventing us from the desperate begging with each financial crisis we come up against. 1000 donations of $25 per month would make it possible to buy the compound within a few months.
Add the Nazareth House Apostolate toolbar to IE or Firefox.
Once you add the Nazareth House Apostolate toolbar for IE or Firefox, each time you shop at one of the more than 1,300 participating stores, a percentage of what you spend will be donated to us at no extra cost to you! (you could even save money as the toolbar provides great coupons and deals). The toolbar also has a search box and each time you search the Internet, about a penny is donated to us. No registration is required! http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/grace-church-missions-nazareth-house-apostolate