Sr Marie Francoise's special little man, although serious had been bright & bubbly moments before.
Notre Dame Orphanage - a happier story.
Last week I wrote about Sister Marie Francoise leaving Mongolia after seven years and the combined threat of the government actually closing down the orphanage.
I went to the Orphanage the following Tuesday after having spoken to many people over the weekend, with wonderful offers of help, as have some of you who read this in faraway places have also been wonderfully generous .... a huge thank you.
Ole, Mike and Iva (all from OT - Oyu Tolgoi – Rio Tinto mine ) had, after much questioning of Sister Marie Francoise before she let the country, discovered that a Mongolian nanny, employed for a 12 month contract but then not re contracted although she continued to work for the orphanage for another 9 months before Sister finally dismissed her for not turning up to work and various other issues they had had with her the whole time she had been employed. She left using the same terminology that the government employer used when he turned up a few days later, indicating that the nanny had gone straight round to the government office complaining about her treatment.
The girl turned up drunk a few days ago demanding more money and I gather she had been drunk turning up for work as well but hopefully now things are sorted and she will not be bothering them again.
I need a volunteer to show these little girls how to knit - I am hopeless as I can never remember where to put my fingers let alone show someone else. Noel is in the background.
The gang from OT have been working hard with a Mongolian lawyer to make sure all the paper work is up to date and they have all the necessary forms stamped, dated and cross referenced so that they can’t be closed down without a very big fight
The little ones from the orphanage and ger district about to go down for their nap.
Sister Isabel and Sister Mary the two new nuns are delightful women and care very much for the children and it was delightful for me to see the children coming up to give them both big hugs, especially the little one who is only three and had been very much Sister Marie Francoise’s baby boy.
Sister Isabel and Sister Mary with three of the boys who were helping clean up the yard.
Sister Isabel was covered in dirt where she had been helping the boys clean up some of the yard and the boys were very happy little men to be doing something helpful. There is an awful lot that needs to be done to help get the place shipshape such as....
- · Water pipes buried more than a few centimetres so they don’t freeze immediately it gets cold.
- · Pipes fixed to bring hot water into the kitchen from the roof.
- · Cars repaired so they are able to take the bigger children to school and shop etc..
- · Wardrobes built for coats and clothes – which a very generous benefactor has already given us the money to do – thank you so much. We have 'Dave’s Cave' making them as we write.
- · Repainting of all the buildings inside and out.
- · New curtains for the bedrooms
- · Repairing bathrooms which have a huge amount of wear and tear especially from young rambunctious young boys who like to test materials!!
- · Just general repairs all over the place actually as Sister Marie was on her own it was so hard keeping up with basic repairs when you are looking after 23 children and the associated problems.
The list goes on.
One of the little boys with one of the dogs that lives on the compound.
I just wanted to share with you though that the orphanage should not be closed down and the children seem happy, which was the best news.
Another little one that Sister Marie had been Ma'ma to, happy with his thumb.
I returned to the orphanage again last Friday with another friend Noel (an angel who cares) who has worked so hard to help the orphanage with fund raising and donating food whenever she visits plus many other things and had been distraught to hear about Sister Marie leaving. She had dosed herself on Rescue remedy before arriving at the orphanage as she really wasn’t sure what to expect. She was greatly relieved that all the children seemed happy and cheerful.
Good night.
Thank you all so much for your support, it is appreciated.
Take care and enjoy every moment of life.
Robyn
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