Living Waters International, Inc. - Aid for African Catholic Missions - P.O. Box 614 • Antigo, WI 54409 Phone: 715.627.4782 • Toll Free: 866.220.8981 Web: www.livingwatersinternational.org • email: [email protected]Spring Newsletter May 2014 In This Issue: • Financial Report - By Brian J. Prunty, Treasurer • Daughters of St. Francis de Sales Sisters - Mission at Katani, Kenya • Spotlight - I Quenched My Thirst at the Well of Living Waters - Restituta • 2014 Summer Fund-Raisers • Students in Need • Student Sponsorship • Project LIST Financial Report By Brian J. Prunty, Treasurer 2013 - Living Waters International’s (LWI) eighteenth year of operation, was another very successful financial year. LWI has three broad sources of revenue. The largest of the three is income it receives from ‘grants’. Stephen Zimmer- man, LWI’s executive director, is our grant writer and in 2013 his efforts yielded $250,000. 100% of the grant dol- lars LWI was awarded were sent oversees to further the work of Catholic missionaries working in Tanzania, Kenya, Ugan- da, Mozambique and India. The grants were designated to support Catho- lic schools, religious formation, student housing, and other missionary needs. The second broad source of revenue is ‘designated gifts’, which are provided direct- ly to LWI from benefactors. Last year designated giving yielded $99,000 in income and it came from nearly 300 contributors. Like grants, 100% of what LWI receives in designated gifts is sent directly to missionaries overseas. The largest category of designated giving is in support of our student sponsorship program. This pro- gram, administered by my wife Karen, connects families here with needy children, often orphans, in East Africa. Presently 190 students rely on LWI not only for their educational needs, but also for their nourishment, and often their housing too. The directors of LWI are incredibly thankful to everyone who makes the long- term commitment to provide $25 or more per month to sustain these students. The final broad source of revenue is ‘undesignated gifts’ provided to LWI from hundreds of benefactors. Last year these gifts were $81,000 and they were al- located to various needs and projects by the directors of LWI. Some of the ways LWI disbursed undesignated gifts were: a clean water project, school con- struction, student and priest housing, and furnishings for a convent. Anoth- er significant way the directors use undesignated gifts is to support students without sponsors. This is because we have more students than sponsors and LWI often tries to help them until a sponsor is found. We also use these gifts to augment support of sponsored students when their tuition increases as they enter secondary school. Finally, we use undesignated gifts to help cover the overhead of LWI. Regarding overhead, the directors are very proud to re- port that less than 4% of what LWI receives is used for operating expenses. It has been such a gift for me to see the work of LWI expand and grow over the past 18 years. With the continued support of benefactors and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the directors of LWI are excited for the good works that will be accomplished in the future. Thank you so much for your support!
Transcript
Living Waters International, Inc.- Aid for African Catholic Missions -
• Financial Report - By Brian J. Prunty, Treasurer
• Daughters of St. Francis de Sales Sisters - Mission at Katani, Kenya
• Spotlight - I Quenched My Thirst at the Well of Living Waters - Restituta
• 2014 Summer Fund-Raisers
• Students in Need
• Student Sponsorship
• Project LIST
Living Waters' mission is the support of Roman Catholic missionary and international development projects in East Africa.
Financial Report By Brian J. Prunty, Treasurer
2013 - Living Waters International’s (LWI) eighteenth year of operation, was another very successful financial year.
LWI has three broad sources of revenue. The largest of the three is income it receives from ‘grants’. Stephen Zimmer-man, LWI’s executive director, is our grant writer and in 2013 his efforts yielded $250,000. 100% of the grant dol-lars LWI was awarded were sent oversees to further the work of Catholic missionaries working in Tanzania, Kenya, Ugan-
da, Mozambique and India. The grants were designated to support Catho-lic schools, religious formation, student housing, and other missionary needs.
The second broad source of revenue is ‘designated gifts’, which are provided direct-ly to LWI from benefactors. Last year designated giving yielded $99,000 in income and it came from nearly 300 contributors. Like grants, 100% of what LWI receives in designated gifts is sent directly to missionaries overseas. The largest category of designated giving is in support of our student sponsorship program. This pro-gram, administered by my wife Karen, connects families here with needy children, often orphans, in East Africa. Presently 190 students rely on LWI not only for their educational needs, but also for their nourishment, and often their housing too. The directors of LWI are incredibly thankful to everyone who makes the long-term commitment to provide $25 or more per month to sustain these students.
The final broad source of revenue is ‘undesignated gifts’ provided to LWI from hundreds of benefactors. Last year these gifts were $81,000 and they were al-located to various needs and projects by the directors of LWI. Some of the ways LWI disbursed undesignated gifts were: a clean water project, school con-struction, student and priest housing, and furnishings for a convent. Anoth-er significant way the directors use undesignated gifts is to support students without sponsors. This is because we have more students than sponsors and LWI often tries to help them until a sponsor is found. We also use these gifts to augment support of sponsored students when their tuition increases as they enter secondary school. Finally, we use undesignated gifts to help cover the overhead of LWI. Regarding overhead, the directors are very proud to re-port that less than 4% of what LWI receives is used for operating expenses.
It has been such a gift for me to see the work of LWI expand and grow over the past 18 years. With the continued support of benefactors and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the directors of LWI are excited for the good works that will beaccomplished in the future. Thank you so much for your support!
are continually seeking enrollment for their children. Instruction at our school includes letter formation, character development, discipline, and neatness. Outdoor and indoor play time is incorporated into the curriculum. Providing basic health care and instruction in faith formation are instrumental components of the school. Four teachers currently instruct the children.
During our school holidays, we offer an Early Childhood Development (ECD) Teacher’s Training Certificate Course for youth who are unable to attend university studies due to financial constraints. With the help of fiscal sponsors, we assist these youth to complete their ECD certification.
Overall, Mother Theresa Fantoni Nursery School is highly acclaimed. The people of the village are so very grateful for a modern, clean school with activities for the growth and development of their
children. They know it is laying the foundation for their children to have a chance to prosper in their lives. We acknowledge and are very grateful to Living Waters International for its support in assisting us to secure grants for the advancement of our school. Living Waters has assisted us in procuring grant dollars to drill a borehole and construct a dining hall at the school. In most recent years,
tuition assistance for many of our underprivileged students, stipends for teachers and the purchase of bible storybooks for Mother Theresa Fantoni Nursery School have been procured through grants. The vision and mission of the DSFS Sisters is reflected well in our work at Katani. We believe that education is the key to the development of the poor. It is our wish to continue to find ways of enhancing the lives of the poor and downtrodden in East Africa.
Sr. Silvy Sebastian Njayarkulam
Daughters of St. Francis de Sales SistersMission at Katani, Kenya
We, the Daughters of St. Francis de Sales (DSFS) Sisters arrived from India at St. Joseph Parish in Mlolongo, Kenya in 2005. We have integrated ourselves in a multitude of pastoral aspects of the parish, especially catering to the poor in Katani village, an outstation of the parish. We actively participate in the
parish’s Small Christian Communities and teach at St. Francis de Sales Integrated Primary School at Katani. In January 2009, we opened Mother Theresa Fantoni Nursery School.
Katani itself is a village 9 kilometers away from the main highway and 30 kilometers outside of Nairobi. The population of this area is increasing very rapidly with an influx of people from the city. When we arrived, there was no proper school here to provide education for the poor. Soon after our arrival, the people of Katani requested us to open a nursery school for children. Guardians of these children are often single mothers or relatives of children orphaned by AIDS. Other children come from families who seek out an existence through subsistence level farming. The mother or father often seeks supplemental income by employment as a day laborer when possible. Most often these parents are uneducated, quite poor and in need of assistance in the care of their children. In most cases, they are obligated to work long hours in the field or factories to provide food for their families. It was into these circumstances that we opened the nursery school.
Mother Theresa Fantoni Nursery School opened its doors to the first group of students in January 2009. The total number of students for its first year was eighteen. One hundred and fifty-four students are now enrolled and more parents
Check out the new look at our website at www.livingwatersinternational.org!
I was taken to a nearby secondary school and I found it difficult to adjust to a life of discipline. The next year I was taken to Anwarite Girls School near Moshi, which is run by the Holy Cross Sisters. There I learned the im-portance of a good education in a girl’s life. In this school, one has to work hard, respect others, accept changes and live a life of discipline and prayer. I gave up many of my old ways and took a new turn in my life. The reward has been my good results in school and what I am today.
I love Biology, English, Chemistry and Math. I also like writing and decorat-ing. School has shaped me to face the future with courage and faith in God and his people. It is women who will be able to take care of the family and so-ciety. When family life is in order, ev-erything goes well. My dream for the future is to become a nurse and care for sick people. I decided this after see-ing the sufferings of people in the hos-pitals due to lack of proper care. I love to care for the sick.
Let me thank Living Waters Interna-tional for supporting me these many years through my sponsor parents, Mr. and Mrs. Francis and Donna Gil-son of Antigo, WI. God bless them for their love and concern for me. I cherish all their loving letters and gifts to me. I pray that Steve, Karen and all those who dedicate their life for the service of the needy may find their strength in God. I love every one of you for all that you are to every child in the world.
GOD BLESS YOU! RESTITUTA KImARYO
I Quenched My Thirst at theWell of Living Waters
My name is Restituta. I come from the village of Kilema, Tanzania, born into a poor family with six children. My parents are ordinary farmers surviving day to day with the little
they can grow for us children. We do not own land to cultivate, so we rent land from others to cultivate maize and beans. As we depend only on rain for our crops, sometimes we get noth-ing. None of my brothers or sisters are educated enough to hold a job. My elder sister, who completed second-ary school and advanced to nursing school, was our only hope, but she be-came pregnant before completing her studies. I am the 4th in my family and I thank God for the good education I have received and for what I am today.
It was Sr. Anne of the Holy Cross Sis-ters that took the initiative for my education. She brought me to Moshi from my home village. I was a small child, weak and ignorant of every-thing. Sr. Anne took me to her convent and I stayed there with her. I was a very self-willed person. As the days went by, I learned many good things. Sister instilled in me the values of a good Christian life. I was taught to speak the truth always, which was not my practice, and I worked hard to change many of my old ways. I was not an easy child to handle. But the patience, love and compassion of the Sisters touched me and changed me for the better. I learned to speak the truth, live in love, and help others. I also learned the values of hard work, sacrifice, cleanliness, punctuality, but above all to pray and trust God.
2014 Summer Fund-Raisers
Brat FrySponsored by: Wrights-town Area Friends of Living Waters Where: Dick’s Family Foods, 400 High Street, Wrightstown, WI When: Friday, May 30, 10:00-6:00
music in the ParkPie & Ice Cream Social (Pie dona-tions needed – Call 715.623.5082)Sponsored by: Living WatersWhere: City Park, 200 Aurora St.,Antigo, WIWhen: Thursday, June 19, 6:30-8:30
mother’s Day Bake Sale Fund-RaiserSponsored by: The 10th Grade Religious Ed Students of St. James Cooperstown, WILocation: St. James Catholic Church, Cooperstown, WIWhen: May 10 & 11 -after Mass
Brat Fry at Butch’s Shop-Rite (Workers needed for 2-3 hour shifts – Call 715.623.5082)Sponsored by: Living WatersWhere: 115 South Superior St, Antigo, WIWhen: Friday, July 11, 10:30 AM - ?
Project LIST looks at the little ways and the small things that can make a BIG difference in the life of a child in East Africa. In the battle against poverty, one of Living Waters International’s goals is to help turn every contribution into big benefits. No contribution is too small!
Your support of Project LIST can supplement the donations we receive through student sponsorships. Many times students lose sponsorship or fees increase when they move on to secondary schools. Project LIST can ensure continued assistance in these cases.
Something New! Now when you make an online donation with your credit card, you will be given the option to ask your employer to make a
matching gift. Look for participating employers in the new section on the donation form to see if you can double your donation today!
To learn more about these children and other children waiting to be sponsored, visit our website at: www.livingwatersinternational.org
Student Sponsorship
$25 a month provides help for:• Tuition• Books• School Supplies• School Uniforms• Shelter• Food• Health Care
Payments can be made:• Monthly......... $25• Quarterly ...... $75• Semi-annually $150• Annually ......$300
100% of your tax-de-ductible donation goes directly to your child’s sponsorship.
Project List
ü Loveü Inü Smallü Things
NAmE: Flavian NyambatiGENDER: maleBIRThDAY: July 31, 2004COUNTRY: KenyaFAvORITE PASTImES: FootballFAvORITE SUBJECTS: Social Studies & Science
NAmE: minoca machangoGENDER: FemaleBIRThDAY: march 28, 1998COUNTRY: mozambiqueFAvORITE PASTImES: music & DanceFAvORITE SUBJECT: Science
NAmE: happy Glory JacksonGENDER: FemaleBIRThDAY: may 16, 2005COUNTRY: TanzaniaFAvORITE PASTImES: Sports & musicFAvORITE SUBJECTS: math & Sports
NAmE: Charles KakemboGENDER: maleBIRThDAY: 2000COUNTRY: UgandaFAvORITE PASTImES: Football & SingingFAvORITE SUBJECT: English & Science
