Help Friends in Need in Rural Indonesia
Donation protected
Dear friends and family,
Welcome! Thank you so much for clicking through to this GoFundMe page. It means more than I can say to be surrounded by such a loving community. On this site, I am raising money to help the people who took me in and cared for me during my two years in eastern Indonesia—the nuns of Our Lady of the Rosary, along with their friends and neighbors. Like many of the most vulnerable in our own communities, they find themselves adversely affected by COVID-19 and in desperate need of financial support to continue their service to the poor.
Background
In East Nusa Tenggara, the second poorest region in Indonesia, many people struggle for basic needs: food and shelter, healthcare and education, and spiritual and emotional peace. In this environment, one of the greatest providers is a local order of Catholic nuns. Their mission is simple: to live among the people, providing whatever services the people need to the best of their ability.
During the two years I lived in their convents, I experienced first-hand the good they provide to the community: arranging for donations of food, clothing, and building materials; sponsoring the education of impoverished children; visiting the troubled and bereaved; and providing jobs and a home for many young people who find themselves in desperate circumstances. They call it bagi rejeki or 'sharing their blessings' because they believe—despite all their seriously hard work—that nothing they have is of their own doing.
The Problem: Effects of COVID-19
The funds to support the community come from the nuns' management of a retreat and meeting house. In normal times, large groups hire the facilities year-round. The busiest time is Holy Week: the week before Easter when pilgrims come from all over the world to partake in the famous Larantuka processions. Unfortunately, the advent of COVID-19 prompted the cancellation of all Holy Week activities, as well as meetings for the foreseeable future, a wise but debilitating move for women in the hospitality and charity sector. Suddenly, and without warning, the nuns were cut off from their principal means of serving the people: of providing emotional support through the simple gesture of physical presence and of providing financial support through the sharing of their wealth. Now, grasping at straws, they are quaking at the prospect of sending the young people in their care 'home' when many of them have no other permanent home to go to.
I know that this pandemic has hit so many of us hard and that there are stories of struggle everywhere we turn, not least in our own communities. If there is any chance you could spare anything to help the nuns help the poor around them, I would be so grateful. Even a little will help—$1 buys a round trip to the health clinic. $5 buys fish for a family meal. $15 purchases basic medicine for common problems like typhoid and malaria. $25 pays a laborer's weekly salary. $50 buys a sack of rice. $100 can replace a water pipe, repair a leaky roof, or build an outdoor kitchen. $150 covers a semester of high school. All money goes right to the convent where the nuns will decide how to distribute it among the people. Anything you can give will be greatly appreciated: by me, by the nuns, and by the people they serve.
Thank you so much again for taking the time to read this story and to think about people a world away who mean so much to me. You all are the best.
Peace, Joy, and Love,
Meghan Rose
Welcome! Thank you so much for clicking through to this GoFundMe page. It means more than I can say to be surrounded by such a loving community. On this site, I am raising money to help the people who took me in and cared for me during my two years in eastern Indonesia—the nuns of Our Lady of the Rosary, along with their friends and neighbors. Like many of the most vulnerable in our own communities, they find themselves adversely affected by COVID-19 and in desperate need of financial support to continue their service to the poor.
Background
In East Nusa Tenggara, the second poorest region in Indonesia, many people struggle for basic needs: food and shelter, healthcare and education, and spiritual and emotional peace. In this environment, one of the greatest providers is a local order of Catholic nuns. Their mission is simple: to live among the people, providing whatever services the people need to the best of their ability.
During the two years I lived in their convents, I experienced first-hand the good they provide to the community: arranging for donations of food, clothing, and building materials; sponsoring the education of impoverished children; visiting the troubled and bereaved; and providing jobs and a home for many young people who find themselves in desperate circumstances. They call it bagi rejeki or 'sharing their blessings' because they believe—despite all their seriously hard work—that nothing they have is of their own doing.
The Problem: Effects of COVID-19
The funds to support the community come from the nuns' management of a retreat and meeting house. In normal times, large groups hire the facilities year-round. The busiest time is Holy Week: the week before Easter when pilgrims come from all over the world to partake in the famous Larantuka processions. Unfortunately, the advent of COVID-19 prompted the cancellation of all Holy Week activities, as well as meetings for the foreseeable future, a wise but debilitating move for women in the hospitality and charity sector. Suddenly, and without warning, the nuns were cut off from their principal means of serving the people: of providing emotional support through the simple gesture of physical presence and of providing financial support through the sharing of their wealth. Now, grasping at straws, they are quaking at the prospect of sending the young people in their care 'home' when many of them have no other permanent home to go to.
I know that this pandemic has hit so many of us hard and that there are stories of struggle everywhere we turn, not least in our own communities. If there is any chance you could spare anything to help the nuns help the poor around them, I would be so grateful. Even a little will help—$1 buys a round trip to the health clinic. $5 buys fish for a family meal. $15 purchases basic medicine for common problems like typhoid and malaria. $25 pays a laborer's weekly salary. $50 buys a sack of rice. $100 can replace a water pipe, repair a leaky roof, or build an outdoor kitchen. $150 covers a semester of high school. All money goes right to the convent where the nuns will decide how to distribute it among the people. Anything you can give will be greatly appreciated: by me, by the nuns, and by the people they serve.
Thank you so much again for taking the time to read this story and to think about people a world away who mean so much to me. You all are the best.
Peace, Joy, and Love,
Meghan Rose
Organizer
Meghan Rose Donnelly
Organizer
Peacedale, RI