St. Vincent News

Wellcome to our new blog adress

2009-09-24T18:01:00.000+03:00

http://stvincenteinkerem.wordpress.com

Bye to Aliza

2009-09-23T14:15:00.002+03:00

Dear Aliza - it was great to see you again! Thanks for all your good care!

Rosh Hashana Party and Farewell to Miryam...

2009-09-16T18:19:00.008+03:00

Bye to Miryam and thanks so much for all the good work you did with the children.

Our young stars!!

Thanks to Thomas and his Sister...

2009-09-13T15:44:00.002+03:00

Thanks go to Thomas and his Sister for bringing us the pictures and toys for the children. Also a special warm thanks for the lovely letter that came with it!

Pictures will come soon...

'Sunshine' - the new name for our first class in St Vincent

2009-09-13T11:17:00.006+03:00

Susu, the class teacher, and Andi [a volunteer nurse from room 1b], snoezeling with the class in the snoezelen!

Yes! We finally have a name for our first class in St Vincent - Sunshine!

'Sunshine' was opened for the children who have graduated from our school HaMaayan.

It really is a 'sunshine' for the children, who take part in jakuzzi, snoezelen, dog therapy,story-time, and art therapy every week.

An unusual farewell to our Franciscans and to Johanna

2009-09-08T17:51:00.005+03:00

We had an unusual farewell ...
and thank Alberto and David and Brother Anthony for all the good work they did with the children!
Johanna my dear - we will miss you terribly - thanks for all your good, patient,understanding work with the children

A warm wellcome to:

2009-09-06T13:38:00.004+03:00

Tamara, Monique and Angi!

Bye to Egle! Bye to Nadera! Bye also to Yousef!

2009-09-04T11:18:00.005+03:00

Thanks Egle for all your good work - hope to see you again soon!

Nice meeting you Nadera and hope to see you one day soon! Imad sends special greetings!

Yousef - thanks for all your special work you did with the children - hope to see you again!

Wellcome to Lukas!

2009-09-03T23:11:00.000+03:00

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!

More congratulations!

2009-09-03T23:09:00.002+03:00

Congratulations to Anna-Lena on the birth of your son, Malik. May you have lots of joy from him!

Also congratulations to Benedicte on his marriage!

Packing time is fun!

2009-09-03T17:24:00.003+03:00

As we packed away the 'Summer Fun' corner, the children helped us take the air out of the blowen up plastic dolphins. The dolphins joined in the fun by making a real dolphin squeak! The kids loved it!

Congratulations!

2009-09-02T18:03:00.003+03:00

Congratulations to Soraya on the opening of our new St Vincent workshop! Keep up the good work..............the kids are having a great time.........dog therapy, story time, snoezelen, jakuzzi etc etc

Congratulations to Johnny and his wife on the birth of their little son - may you have lots of joy from him!

The end of the Summer programme

2009-09-02T17:01:00.004+03:00

A reminder of the good old days......................

Dining on the volunteer's rooftop!!!!

Well, as they say - all good things come to an end...
Our great summer programme has ended, and on the 1st of September our children went back to school and to the regular afternoon activities.

Most of our group of volunteers have left, and only a few still remain here [thanks to Andi, Celia, Johannes, Marie Teresia, Johanna, Claudia, Katherina, Hanneka, Elisa, Nina, Yussef, Agnese and of course all the regular workers! and anyone else we left out of the list!]

But, good news!
Mara, Pegah, Kristine, Johannes.M, Mirjam, Josef, Mascha, Elke and a few more coming make up our new Volunteer team - wellcome to you all and hope you have a great time with us!!!!!!!

Bye to Vincenz and Julius...

2009-08-27T15:39:00.009+03:00

After a whole year of being with us and the children, we have to say a sad good-bye to Vincenz and Julius.

We have no words as usual to thank you both for the special care you gave to the children. We went through more serious times and also some real fun times during this year, and we are going to miss you both very much.

To Vincenz - thanks also from Sr Susan for all your help with her office work. She will miss you a lot!

And Julius - without your help this year in the office with me, there would be no blogspot! Thank you for all you taught me about the blogspot, for your unbelievable patience with me, and for editing it! I will definately take your advice and call you whenever I need to!!!!!!!!!!!!! The editing staff of the blogspot will miss you terribly! [guess who that is?] Sr Susan thanks you for taking part in the dog therapy.

We hope you will both come back next summer???????

Please let us know how you are doing back home in Germany.

Bye to Patrick and Nowenn

Thanks to you both for being part of our summer programme and for taking such good care of the children. Hope to see you next summer.

Great news!

2009-08-27T15:36:00.002+03:00

Congratulations to Oli and Maren on the birth of their baby boy - Jakob Robert!
Please give the little one a big hug from us all!

Ice Hut and Summer Fun

2009-08-27T15:34:00.005+03:00

This one is for Eva!

'Surprise surprise" is what we called todays party!

2009-08-25T17:07:00.005+03:00

Our own local clowns were part of the event, great music was played, the children painted the volunteers' faces, everyone danced together and Sr Katherine gave everyone icecream to sweeten the event!

Bim bam bom!!!!

2009-08-23T17:22:00.007+03:00

Thanks to Bim bam bom for sending us a specialist with the handicapped...the pictures speak ...

Bubble Fun!

2009-08-20T17:54:00.004+03:00

Thanks to Ziona for bringing bubble shooters just in time!

Making bubbles in time to the music...

Thanks to Noah from "Hopa hopa"

2009-08-19T12:01:00.004+03:00

With her special understanding of our special children, Noah gave us a great show, where everyone could take part and enjoy! The pictures talk for themselves.

See also 'Summer programme' pictures.

Sad news

2009-08-18T12:52:00.004+03:00

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing away of Sister Josephine yesterday [August 17, 2009].

She was the one who started the care for disabled children here at St Vincent's, Ain Karem from 1964 until 1987.

We pray that our Lord will take her to His Kingdom.

Here come the clowns................

2009-08-17T12:55:00.011+03:00

Thanks to Alon and Barak for the great show today!!!!!!!!
HUMORICA finally made it to St Vincent!

The fun we all had we will never forget!

Did you know that it snowed in Jerusalem today in the height of the summer?????

see more about "Humorica" http://www.humorica.co.il/index.php?

Another type of enjoyment!

2009-08-16T15:15:00.003+03:00

Thanks to Hakol Berama!

Bye Fabian...

2009-08-13T17:54:00.014+03:00

remember the fun days........

We will miss your smile and young spirit and just you - all the best!

See below "Farewell to Fabian".

Hope you remember the sweet times in St Vincent!

Congratulations!!!

2009-08-12T17:47:00.004+03:00

Congratulations to Ali and his wife on the birth of their baby daughter! Grandfather Samir and his wife must be very proud!

and also........

Congratulations to Eid and his wife on the birth of their baby daughter!

and also.......

Congratulations to Hanedi and her husband on the birth of her baby boy!

Ice Hut and Fabian's last working day...

2009-08-12T17:18:00.006+03:00

1 shekel for an ice!!!!!!!

Birthday Party ........

2009-08-10T14:23:00.007+03:00

I's friends helped to make the party much more fun - thank you all! You're wellcome back for another visit!!!!

We celebrated the birthdays of the month - I invited friends to join in the celebrations!

' I enjoy being with friends... '

I at his party, with Volunteers and friends! Yes, I am growing up.......

I and friends working on his computor

Friends of I came to celebrate and helped to prepare for his party!

Farewell to Fabian!

2009-08-10T13:36:00.006+03:00

After taking care of room 6 for a whole year, we have to say good-bye to Fabian. We greatly appreciate all that you did for the children, and thanks also for bringing young spirit into the House!!!!!!!!! It was really hard for A to give Fabian his farewell present! and say goodbye!!!!!!!We will all miss you!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to Robert, the head of the paramedic department in St Vincent!

2009-08-06T18:14:00.002+03:00

Mazaltov Robert and to all your family, on the birth of your Granddaughter! May you all have lots of nachas!

Dancing Day...with Ella...

2009-08-06T17:26:00.005+03:00

Did we have funnnnnnn.....

Migel Hour again...

2009-08-04T17:30:00.008+03:00

Michael Chefetz - pantomime and clown!!!!!!!!!!

2009-08-03T13:09:00.002+03:00

Clown, Michael and Bunji!!

Today Michael Chefetz came back to us for another show... bringing with him Bunji, his famous dog...watch pictures below...

WE LOVE CLOWNS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rooms 1 - for those who miss the children!!!!!!!

2009-08-02T15:35:00.005+03:00

Farewell to Laura and Damian

2009-08-02T08:34:00.007+03:00

Ice Hut once again!

2009-07-28T18:09:00.006+03:00

Look at our coool waitor!

St Vincent in the heat of the summer...

2009-07-28T10:41:00.006+03:00

Bubble Fun...and a relaxing afternoon...

2009-07-23T18:43:00.011+03:00

Farewell to Christine, Lenard and Margaux

2009-07-22T17:59:00.009+03:00

Our farewell for Christine, Lenard and Margaux was in the lower garden with the children. First we had a water fight [ the children joined in the fun] and then the children painted our faces!!!!!!!!!

Summer Outings

2009-07-19T22:53:00.005+03:00

Room 7 went on an outing in 2 cars with the Franciscans and volunteers. Guess who was one of the drivers? Remember Giancarlo? Yes, this summer he is back again [for the 15th year] and its great to have him arround!

Bye bye Eva and Tamzi and Claudine

2009-07-19T07:45:00.006+03:00

See the write-ups...

Garden Opening

2009-07-16T12:51:00.013+03:00

Supper in the auditorium area

Rennovations for the new auditorium are almost completed..
. Our new auditorium space...
Our music therapy corner in front of the auditorium.

Having fun with the water on a hot summer afternoon...

Sports, under cover, also in the lower garden

There's nothing like a good swing...

Sports and music!
Volunteers serious discussion!

Today we openned our rennovated lower garden area.After activities, some of the caregivers decided to give the children their supper in the garden.For most, it was a lovely afternoon-evening experience.

Many of us remember the lower garden from a few years ago.

Within a few years we have added extra physiotherapy swings and other equipment, we have made a Snoezelen garden with our dog's garden, Pam, we have added a water corner and a music therapy corner.

New - Ice Hut

2009-07-15T17:27:00.013+03:00

The Ice Hut is to replace the Coffee House in the summer. It is situated under the trees in the Upper Garden.

Even Sr Katherina, the head of the house, comes to buy an ice.

the babies joined in the fun and sunshine too ...

'One shekel for an ice please" says our waitor!

Mmmmmmmmm its good!

A time for connection - summer volontaires connect up quickly with our children, in the different summer activities.

Active corner...upper garden...

A sad good-bye to Eva

2009-07-14T10:41:00.005+03:00

After two years of volunteering in room 7, Eva is going back to Germany. We wish her all the best in her further studies. You will make a great therapist - our loss is the German childrens' gain...

Just a reminder...

Summer outings, Swimming pool and Migel hour...

2009-07-13T17:33:00.007+03:00

We have 'Migel hour' at least twice a week...

The kids enjoy a coooool summer in the pool...

Today a group went out to Keif Tzuba and ate supper out - what fun - thanks to Stefan who came back to us and helped out today and of course thanks to our summer volunteers Leonard, Joana and Agnese.

Sports Day

2009-07-12T10:22:00.011+03:00

Sports Day was great - the children did well, and also the trainers and caregivers!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of our winners and his trainer - Tamzi the physiotherapist who brought his chair all the way from Germany........

Sports in time to the music!

More farewells

2009-07-09T18:19:00.006+03:00

Bye Magdelena and thank you for your special loving care in room 4. Hope you come again.........

Bye Margaux once again - we hope to see you next year! Thanks for all you did for the children once again!

Bye to Simon! Thanks for all your work with the children and your nice smile!

Icecream Day

2009-07-09T13:37:00.012+03:00

Yesterday we had icecream day. The pictures will tell you what fun it was........

Clowns are such fun...

2009-07-07T21:13:00.006+03:00

Thank you to the two organisations "Simchat Halev" and 'Give" who sent us so many clowns in one day! We enjoyed the professional clowns and also the students who all added to the same goal - to help us make the lives of our special children a little bit happier...or maybe a lot happier...
You all helped give from simchat halev and we greatly appreciate it.

Summer Programme begins...............

2009-07-05T11:39:00.011+03:00

We opened our Summer Programme with Avi who brought music, story, and lots of excitement and fun to [and with] the children

One of our children [post-surgery] enjoys the concert...

Singing together...

Playing together...

Thanks Avi for a great afternoon!!!!!!!

Thanks to Tamzi who brought Imad a new chair!

Parents' Day

2009-06-29T17:07:00.004+03:00

Today we had an unbelievable Parents Day. Both St Vincents together with the Maayan school, the Parents and families, and our dear children, all got together in front of the House to meet, eat, drink, and enjoy an afternoon of fun and entertainment.

"Sounding in Jerusalem" came to St Vincent

2009-06-25T12:28:00.005+03:00

Some of our children [also staff and volunteers] attended the concert and enjoyed it so much.

St Vincent openned its doors to the public!

'Sounding in Jerusalem", a peace orchestra, gave a performance in our grounds last night. Those who attended said it was beautiful. We hope they come again next year.

Bye to our Jakuzzi volunteers and Alex and thanks for everything

2009-06-24T17:37:00.006+03:00

Vanessa our Spanish Speech therapist is leaving...

2009-06-24T14:18:00.007+03:00

Vanessa volunteered for a year in our home, assisting us in one of the most difficult fields in the world of the handicapped - feeding. Her work was especially with the children who have difficulty in feeding , with whom she devoted hours of building individual programmes and also teaching them and their caregivers the best way to prepare them for feeding and the best way to feed. We are very grateful to Vanessa for her professional work and her kindness, understanding and patience that she showed to each and every child she worked with.

Here are some pictures below:

Well done to our St Vincent House Ein Kerem!!!!!!

2009-06-23T20:31:00.004+03:00

Yes, we presented a poster, talk and powerpoint show at the 6th National Conference on the 22nd and 23rd June. The poster was about our Dog Therapy with Pam with an explanation in the conference brochure. The powerpoint and talk were under the heading " Is this Life really mine?" There we presented the history of 2 of our children and of course a nice explanation of St Vincent home as it is today.

Summer Fun

2009-06-11T17:40:00.003+03:00

Thanks to Maria,Vincenz and Micha for helping me walk....

Fun on the trampoline before Micha leaves!

Putting Migel's Course into practice

2009-06-08T16:48:00.006+03:00

We now have a Migel hour once a week - see the pictures...

The first out of 3 practicals we used the ball therapy that Migel taught us. The children enjoyed it and we became more practical!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Migel for all the good tips.

Next - we have now a "Migel Hour" once a week, combining the ball therapy and rhythm.

Migel's course continued....

2009-04-30T15:34:00.011+03:00

Migel's 5th lesson.......... and the last with us ...........we will miss you Migel................

We had the 4th course with Migel this week.

It was as usual a lot of fun..............

Thanks to our Italian Dottor Clowns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-28T21:19:00.042+03:00

One of our natural clowns...............

individual attention.................even for the volunteers and the workers............!!!!!!!!!!!

Slowly, slowly, we will get to know each other..............

We thank those great professional Italian clowns for volunteering to give our children special clown care, and for taking real good care of our volunteers and workers ..................thanks for bringing love, warmth , patience and thanks for being funny you..........life became a little easier with you arround!

Bye Janina, Mirjam and Hanna - we are going to miss you...

2009-04-26T08:25:00.006+03:00

And during break-time...

2009-04-21T13:04:00.004+03:00

Special fun with the children

2009-04-19T14:09:00.005+03:00

As a goodbye present for the children, the volunteers of room 3A treated their children to an outing to the ice cream shop in Ein Kerem. The question is: Who had more fun - the volunteers or the children... ?

But also back in the room you can have fun...

Opening of room 3B

2009-04-19T13:30:00.002+03:00

A few weeks ago, the room 3B became a living room for three of our children. In the last few months three new children came to St. Vincent. The Coffee House, which was in room 3B, will be moving outside in the upper garden under the trees.

Thanks again to Akim

2009-03-31T16:44:00.008+03:00

Thanks to Rami and Ofra for the great music show . The staff , volunteers and children had a great time.

Everyone joined in the fun...

A warm welcome to summer volunteers!

2009-03-29T12:02:00.010+03:00

This summer [July-August 2009], we will have our usual summer programme and some interesting additions..........

We still have some open places for volunteers for the summer - of course the volunteers who have been here before have first preference. Your application form can be found in the following link: click here

To bring back good memories of summer 08, here are four pictures. Also you can find the post from summer 2008 in this blog.

We and the children are looking forward to sharing with you a great summer in 2009!

Guitar + mouth organs + good moods

2009-03-29T09:33:00.008+03:00

Last Thursday a great music group was supposed to come. All the children were ready for the big concert waiting for the start. But unfortunately they had an accident on the way coming here, so that we had to fill in the gap in our programme. Why not give our own concert! Just with mouth organs, a guitar and our voices we saved the afternoon.

during the concert our special assistant D. offers individual treatment...

By the way, these kind of volunteer-concerts are given weekly, spontaneously and even the the workers and some children join in the now familiar tunes and songs.

The latest donations

2009-03-08T14:17:00.013+02:00

One of our Sisters' family from the U. States sent us some "big macs" for the children. This is an alternative way for the children to communicate, used by those children who are unable to talk. Our school has used them for years and thanks to this special family, the children are able to make use of them at home in St Vincent.

Thanks also for all the other equipment needed that you and your congregation so generously donated to us e.g. special swim wear, snoezelen music etc

[Pictures will soon be placed here on the blog, to demonstrate what a great form of communication the "big macs" are for our children, and also pictures of the other equipment...]

Thanks to a group of benefactors who came to visit recently, we now have some beautiful new physiotherapy balls, which the children use on a daily basis.

Purim celebrations in the Maayan School in our home

2009-03-08T14:00:00.001+02:00

Concerts and lessons from Akim are fun - thanks to Migel and Avi

2009-03-03T17:41:00.009+02:00

Volunteers and workers join together for the rhythm/drum lesson with Migel

Akim Yisrael sends us these great artists to give us very special concerts. Today, Avi gave a great concert and as you can see by the pictures, even the children performed with him!

beside the work - "das Vololeben"

2009-03-01T12:23:00.006+02:00

Beside the work, life does go on. Most of our volunteers use the opportunity to travel and love it. Recently four of us traveled in the Sinai and had six great days. Snorkeling, camel riding and climbing on the Mount Sinai were the highlights of this trip. Here are some pictures:

a very relaxing restaurant near the Red Sea

the overhelming view from the Mount Sinai, short time after the sun raise

This picture is from a trip, we did in our six-hour break. The destination was John in the Desert. Because it is close to Ain Kerem, we could reach it by foot.

little master bakers

2009-03-01T10:57:00.007+02:00

Our kids enjoyed the job of a baker in their activity time last Wednesday. It was fun to mix all the different ingredients together. The result was a nice brown dough at the end.

in the beginning was just flour...

the master baker A. with his assistants

Parties

2009-02-18T18:10:00.007+02:00

Guess who is the soloist?

We also have fun in St Vincent. The birthday parties for our children and also the staff and volunteers are celebrated every month with music accompaniment and a large cake.

We say good-bye to volunteers who are leaving and this time we said a sad good-bye to Monnika from Poland.

Johnny, one of our nurses, celebrates his birthday today...........

Our Medical Department.

2009-02-15T12:24:00.010+02:00

We are fortunate to have two doctors attending to our children.

Our head nurse, one of the Sisters of the House, makes sure that the children get tender loving care. With her are a staff of nurses, including volunteer nurses normally from Europe.

Reflexology

2009-02-08T16:36:00.006+02:00

Reflexology has a history of at least 5,000 years. Many clinical studies have been conducted into the effectiveness of reflexology. Many countries have begun to recognize the worth of reflexology, as the demand for integrated therapies grows. To understand this therapy well, one needs a good knowledge of many other subjects e.g. the nervous system, pain and its perception, circulation, pressure points, energy pathways etc

Reflexology is the practice of applying pressure to specific points on the feet and hands to influence the health of corresponding parts of the body.'Pressure sensors" on the hands and feet connect with different parts of the body, and as reflexology techniques stimulate these sensors, waves of relaxation are sent throughout the body.

About our reflexology lessons - soon we
will be updated with pictures and

explanations.....................

Physiotherapy Department.

2009-02-08T13:22:00.010+02:00

The head of the physiotherapy department is Robert. With Robert, are two employed physiotherapists and volunteer physiotherapists who come from all over the world for a few months, for a year or sometimes even more. Thanks to the assistance to all of these special people, our children are improving motor-wise and for the very handicapped we are at least holding on to the motor functioning that each child has. Right now we have a physiotherapist who is a lung specialist in this field, and also a medical student who are assisting us to give the children quality of life.

Sports Day 2008

learning to walk........

Seating a handicapped child correctly is very important. Some of our children wear corsettes to assist them in sitting correctly.

By sitting in the correct position, the child/adult is free to work with his hands. In this picture, one of our young men is communicating via the communication book of signs, made especially for him in the school.

Playing ball is another physiotherapy activity.

Feeding and drinking

2009-02-01T12:24:00.014+02:00

A special diet is given to each child by our professional dietician, who works together with our medical team, the house mother, the other professionals of the different departments, the kitchen staff and the caregivers of the children. Our dietician makes sure that each child has a healthy diet.

Feeding is a very important part of our childrens lives. To know how to feed a child in the correct manner is one of the most important part of our work in St Vincent. For this reason we have trained speech therapists and occupational therapists both in the school and in the afternoon activities, who assist both the caregivers and the child in this very complex and professional job. Below are pictures taken of our Spanish volunteer who is a professional in this field.

We also have an Occupational Therapist from Germany who is training the children to become independent in eating and drinking.

Eating and drinking can be fun..............

our Winter favourites - Coffee House, Jakuzzi and Snoezelen

2009-02-01T11:25:00.013+02:00

Probably you already found the webside of the St Vincent Coffee House. Otherwise here it is: http://www.our-coffeehouse.blogspot.com/ Enjoy...!

Music whereever we go...........

...

The jakuzzi is one of our most popular afternoon activities. Each child is scheduled to go to the jakuzzi at least once in two weeks. Each caregiver who takes a child into the jakuzzi is trained by our professional staff. By giving the child the correct environment - not stressful and very relaxing - creates a learning environment in which the child can learn. One caregiver enters the jakuzzi with one child and another caregiver has to be in the room to watch over and help prepare the child. Here are some recent pictures taken of two volunteers with their children – one from

Germany

and the other from

France

The Snoezelen is also a popular afternoon activity.The children enjoy this non stressful environment and of course have the opportunity to have quality time with their room friends and with their caregiver. The following picture was taken recently with room 5b and their volunteer from

Portugal

Pam's Job

2009-01-25T11:49:00.006+02:00

Since Sr. Susan is back, Pam has a new job every friday afternoon. What is hiding behind "dog therapy" is a relaxed afternoon for the children of room 3A and L. from room 8 with their pet, the dog Pam. We put the children on matresses and Pam says "hello" and gives her "kisses".
The easiest way, to win Pam's attention is with food, what else... So it's nice for her and interesting for the children, when we put some tasty dog food in the hands of the children and let them feed the dog.

As long as it was warm enough, the "dog therapy" took place in the Snoezelen Garden - the home of Pam. For the colder months it is in one of the classrooms.

Snoezelen in the rooms

2009-01-25T10:08:00.007+02:00

In the winter we are often confined to closed in areas. So many of the care givers choose at least one afternoon a week to convert their room into a Snoezelen.

our indoor Coffee House gives us warmth in winter

The Childrens' Christmas Party

2008-12-30T16:00:00.015+02:00

Our Head of the House - Sr Katherina giving warmth and love to the baby of the House.

Our Spokesmen

Our three Kings

Sandra, Benni and Nickole were our spokesmen and the teachers also took an active part.
At the childrens' Christmas Party, our '3 Kings' gave out a gift to each child.
The Franciscans' played and sang for us, while the children accompanied them by playing the bells in harmony and according to the correct rhythm.

The St Vincent choir, with Vinzenz as conductor and trainer, also sang. One of our children accompanied them.
Yaela, our music therapist, sang with one of the children accompanying her.

Adult Christmas Party

2008-12-24T14:06:00.014+02:00

The Sisters of St Vincent always give a party to all the staff and volunteers in the House.
This year was a particularly nice party which everyone enjoyed so much. It took place on the 22nd December. Our Head of the House, Sr Katherina always opens this special event with warm words for everyone: '...As you know, Christmas is a special Feast for all Christians, but it's spirit is a great message for all the people with the good will to build a better world....'

Sister Katherina and the Party Spokesmen

Russian Dance

Our men volunteers putting on a ballet

Dancing and singing from different countries:

Christmas greetings for you from the St. Vincent family Ein Kerem

2008-12-21T12:06:00.018+02:00

It's Christmas each time that we wipe the tears of a child.

It's Christmas each time when we stop a war and open our hands.

It's Christmas each time that we lighten someone’s suffering.

It's Christmas on earth each day, because Christmas my friend is Love.

As the Christmas season approaches we would like to send you our greetings, wishing you and your family great peace and many blessings.

Here at St. Vincent's we are thanking the Lord for a good year one in which we have seen our children grow and advance. Most are teenagers, causing us to try to adjust to their needs as an older population.

Know that again when we go to celebrate the Eucharist at Shepherd's Field on Christmas Eve, that each of you and your families will be raised to the Lord in prayer.

As 2009 follows, may your year be one of health and nice happenings. Again know that you are not far away from our thought and prayers.

Sincerely,

Children, staff, volunteers and Sisters

Outings from December

2008-12-21T12:00:00.004+02:00

We are happy to announce, that we now have two groups of volunteers who take the children twice a week for outings:
The one group is headed by Anne - a very special volunteer from Tel Aviv, and the other one is a group of four Franciscans.

Christmas 08

2008-12-21T11:21:00.010+02:00

Preperations

Last week, the Christmas trees arrived in St. Vincent and are allready decorated. Also the children did their best to help with the decorations with Christmas music in the backround. Now everyone can enjoy the Chrismas spirit with the lighted tree in the corridor.

The traditional cooky baking before the Chrismas Party, took place on Friday. Here are are some pictures to bring back good tasty memories!

The new Coffee House opened its door

2008-12-10T10:34:00.008+02:00

On Monday, the 8th of December 08, the first children were guests of the new Coffee House of St. Vincent in the ancient room 3B. They enjoyed different kinds of tea, coffee and hot chocolate. Twice a week the Coffee House is opened for particular children.

The motivated staff of our Coffee House do a brilliant job.

The guests are enjoying the relaxing atmosphere and waiting for their drinks.

Special Events Autumn and Winter '08

2008-12-07T09:48:00.019+02:00

We celebrated the Jewish Feasts Rosh Hashanah and Suckot,...

... the Moslem feast Eid El Fiter...

...and Eid El Adcha.

And the sisters celebrated Halloween together with the volunteers - in special dress:

We also made and sold cookies in the Old City of Jerusalem

We lost one of our dear children

2008-11-23T14:11:00.008+02:00

Sadly we annaunce the death of our dear Hassan. After a long time of suffering and hospitalization he left us on the 22th of november 08.
We are all missing him a lot and hope that he rests in peace.

A picture of better times

Summer 2008

2008-11-19T11:59:00.048+02:00

In Summer 2008 we sent one child to a summer camp in the North. This child is part of a group called Beit Hagalgalim, [the House of Wheels], and during the year he attends their weekend programmes and in the summer he their summer camp. He had a great time.

The rest of our children took part in our Summer Programme in St Vincents.

Fun for young and old: An air castle in St. Vincent

The summer programme consisted of: Outings to the beach and to other fun places e.g. Mini Israel [from whom we received free tickets for all], Keif Tsuba [also gave us free entrance] etc

Mini Israel

We added additions to our summer programme calling them 'activity days' such as:

"sports day" with our own therapists and volunteer therapists from Germany

'icecream day' , with Sr. Susan, our afternoon teachers and therapists

He was more than a professional dancer: Koen taught us wheelchair dancing AND painting.

The 'Sound of Music' corner is a quiet spot under the trees where the children can independently play musical instruments,' thanks to an Irish family who donated the instruments to us:

We also built a water fountain in our lower garden, which the children enjoyed very much, paddling in the water to cool off in the summer heat:

We made a special 'summer fun' corner for the more handicapped children, in a sheltered spot in the upper garden, thanks to a very special volunteer from the Netherlands - Esther!

Farewells

Farewells are the most difficult parties we have in St Vincent. Its always hard to say good-bye.

At the end of the summer, we had to say good-bye to many of our dedicated volunteers. As always we express our gratitude to all the volunteers who helped man our house and not only took good care of the children, but also helped to create a homely warm atmosphere for them.

Thanks and appreciation go out to all our volunteers who helped us over the years to make St Vincent Ein Kerem a Home for our handicapped children.

Parties

2008-11-19T11:11:00.015+02:00

We celebrated the Moslem Parties, ElFitre and ElAdha. Some of the children dressed up as pilgrims visiting Mekka and walked around a home made "Kaaba".

And also Christmas:

The children decorated the Christmas tree for the Feast.

Just befort Chrismas we bake cookies, ech one brings a recipe from his/her country.

Our Superior's Visit – one of the highlights of the Christmas season.

Four of our volunteers dressed up as kings who presented the children with Christmas gifts.

Some Children took part in a Childrens' Orchestra and others participated in a play, by acting or touching, listening and seeing a very Colourful Childrens' Play.

A group of Franciscans sang with Father Firgus.

The Adult Chrismas Party is always a lot of fun:

The Workers and Volunteers dance, sing and sometimes act.

There are some serious parts, one of them being Sr Katherine's 'thank you' to all those working with our Children.

Sr Katherine said that 'Indeed, through all our work, our acts, our attention, our love,our kindness, the donation of our gifts and the effort to reduce the suffering of our children, we increase the capacity of humanity in our society.'

Summer at Home - Activity Day

2008-11-19T11:07:00.004+02:00

All the Therapists, Teachers, Workers and Caregivers work together in different groups, to make up Activity Day. We normally have about 8 groups, each one with a different Activity.

e.g. a Bicycle Group, a Music Group, a Play Group, an Art Group etc.

Summer at Home - Pools

2008-11-19T10:55:00.007+02:00

We continued to use the small pools and also received a donation of a big pool which was great fun. The indoor Jakuzzi was used every day, particularly for the weaker children, where they had the opportunity to enjoy and have communication with their caregiver on a 1-1 basis.

Summer 2007

2008-11-19T10:26:00.010+02:00

Our summer programmes went off nicely: 6 of our children went to Nes Amin with 7 Volunteers and they had a great time. Others went to the Ashdod Beach for the morning and as usual had a nice relaxing time.