Salesian Sisters – City of Hope

Construction for part of the new school has been delayed as we are still in the process of arbitration, but we have now cleared the land to start the rest of the school building. Our new hope is Mr. Luciano Perissinotto, an engineer from Italy who has come to our aid. He has offered to undertake the construction of the second block of classrooms, the library block, and administration block, if we receive the funding.

Misean Cara (Ireland), who helped us with the first classroom block, has also contributed towards the second block. The Salesian College in Farnborough (UK) is also doing fundraising, for which we are extremely appreciative, and we have sent other funding applications and are awaiting responses.

There are other organizations who have offered to help so we’re hopeful that the second part of the school building will be completed by the end of this year, especially with the expertise of Kazimir and Luciano. If the funds come through, we anticipate the whole school to be finished for the start of 2012!

We are most grateful to our donors, to our quantity surveyors from Peter Richards & Partners, the six engineers who have graciously given us advice, Ernst & Young who are auditing our accounts, and to all who have supported us during this time.  We assure you of our prayers.

Agness Banda, one of City of Hope’s past girls, came with her husband and their eight-month old daughter to greet the Sisters and to meet up with the family of CoH. Agness had her wedding at the City of Hope two years ago and is now living in Mazabuka.

As mentioned in an earlier post, the City of Hope’s tractor was ruined in a vehicle accident last November. Thankfully, Mr. Samuel Steli and Ba John are recovering nicely, but the tractor wasn’t as fortunate.   Since the incident, the project has been trying to manage without the machine, but it’s been nearly impossible to keep up with the farm and yard work that the grounds require. Simple chores like cutting the grass and transporting animals is now laborious and time-consuming without it.

The City of Hope is appealing for any support that could help it acquire a new tractor as soon as possible. If any readers know of someone who could assist us or would be willing to make a donation, please let us know at afmproj@gmail.com. The CoH is able to help thousands of people every day because of the continual support of its benefactors. We are forever grateful for any help!