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Welcome Aaron Richardson, our Summer Intern
 This summer we've been blessed to have Aaron Richardson, a 7th grader from Our Lady of Grace School in Castro Valley join us as a summer intern. Aaron has been learning more about mission and helping organzie the Mission Library.
This month, Aaron shares with us his review of one of our mission education resources, the video, Africa Close-Up. See below.
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Africa Close-Up: Egypt and Tanzania
 Review by Aaron B. Richardson
Africa Close-Up is a movie about two children from different parts of Africa. The first part of the movie is about a fifteen year old girl named Samah Ibrahim Hussein. Samah lives in Cairo, Egypt. She talks about the neighborhood she lives in and about her culture. Her culture is different from ours and I found that very interesting. For example, men and women do not eat their meals together. Also, when boys and girls are of age, they wear traditional Egyptian clothing. Boys wear a long gown and girls wear a headscarf and a tunic. Samah's life is not entirely different than mine. She likes to watch television and listen to music with her friends and so do I.
The second part of Africa Close-Up is about a fifteen year old boy named Bernard Bulemela who lives in Tanzania. Bernard says that there are three basic needs in his village. The three basic needs are food, water, and firewood. One problem in Bernard's village is that the water source is far away and the water is polluted. The water is muddy because the cattle and goats walk into the water to drink it. When the people drink the water, they get sick because of the potential diseases in the water. With the help of the Church and money from Holland's government, Bernard's village was able to build a well that produces fresh, clean water. The people in the village celebrate the installation of their new well.
I enjoyed watching Africa Close-Up because I learned about kids in another part of the world. Even though Samah lives in Cairo, Bernard lives in Tanzania, and I live in California, we share many things in common like having family, going to school, and hanging out with friends. I would recommend Africa Close-Up to anybody who would like to learn about kids in other parts of the world.
You can borrow a copy of Africa Close-Up from our Resource Library or buy a copy online.
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Mission Forum: Pilgrimage to El Salvador
Join us at our September Mission Forum on Sept. 8th for a presentation on the pilgrimage to El Salvador. In June, Mission Promotion Coordinator Kris East and Mission Promoters Deacon Herb and Peggy Casey journeyed to El Salvador to walk in the footsteps of the martyrs and experience first hand the faith and struggles of the Salvadoran people.
Kris reports: "I accompanied 6 others on a pilgrimage to the sites of the martyrs in El Salvador. Our guides were Matt Rousso from the Maryknoll New Orleans Mission Office and Fr. Bill Donnelly, MM. This was my first visit to Latin America. I've watched the movie "Romero" many times and it was very compelling to visit the places and see the names of those depicted in the film. Even more compelling was to hear the stories of so many Salvadoreņos who either lost family during the civil war or who survived by hiding in caves in the mountains. We also visited a soybean project operated by a lay missioner and an AIDS clinic operated by a Maryknoll Sister/Physician."
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