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Name: Teresa Fitzgibbon-Conroy
From: Portland, Or
Year: 2005
From: Portland, Or
Year: 2005
Degree: BA in Business Marketing
Service: Teaching computer courses
Service: Teaching computer courses
| Teresa and the children she worked with. |
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
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| Girls with a cat.. |
The Surprise of a Lifetime
Not knowing that there was a reason for John’s
surprise visit… Teresa soon found out!
…“That evening, I learned that John had an ulterior
motive for coming to Africa. It wasn’t just to say
“hi”. We were chatting in my room before heading
to bed and John pulled a small gray box out of his
pocket. He set it on the floor in front of me. I looked
at him in astonishment and asked, “Should I open
that?” He told me to let it sit there for a minute.
John! So, he took my hand, knelt down and asked
in the most amazing way if I would marry him. I
jumped up, pulling him up with me and said “Yes!
Yes! Yes! I will marry you today. I will marry you
tomorrow. I will marry you forever.” He sat me back
down again and said, “No proposal would be
complete without a ring.” He opened the box and
there held down with a pin was the most beautiful
white ribbon I have ever seen. He said he spent all
his money on the ticket (to Tanzania) so this would
be my ring for now. It was perfect. He wrapped it
around my finger three times and tied a knot.
(Later I made him sow it together so my ring was for
sure not to come off). It’s beautiful. I could never
want anything more (especially here in Africa). I
keep telling him that he doesn’t have to get me
another – I LOVE this one. Perhaps I will have to
buy a bottle of bleach to keep it looking white but it
is honestly the most gorgeous ring I could ever
imagine. He, he. I love it.”…
Not knowing that there was a reason for John’s
surprise visit… Teresa soon found out!
…“That evening, I learned that John had an ulterior
motive for coming to Africa. It wasn’t just to say
“hi”. We were chatting in my room before heading
to bed and John pulled a small gray box out of his
pocket. He set it on the floor in front of me. I looked
at him in astonishment and asked, “Should I open
that?” He told me to let it sit there for a minute.
John! So, he took my hand, knelt down and asked
in the most amazing way if I would marry him. I
jumped up, pulling him up with me and said “Yes!
Yes! Yes! I will marry you today. I will marry you
tomorrow. I will marry you forever.” He sat me back
down again and said, “No proposal would be
complete without a ring.” He opened the box and
there held down with a pin was the most beautiful
white ribbon I have ever seen. He said he spent all
his money on the ticket (to Tanzania) so this would
be my ring for now. It was perfect. He wrapped it
around my finger three times and tied a knot.
(Later I made him sow it together so my ring was for
sure not to come off). It’s beautiful. I could never
want anything more (especially here in Africa). I
keep telling him that he doesn’t have to get me
another – I LOVE this one. Perhaps I will have to
buy a bottle of bleach to keep it looking white but it
is honestly the most gorgeous ring I could ever
imagine. He, he. I love it.”…
The following is a reflection from Teresa taken
from VIDES heartbeats.
"The first picture is a business. Most businesses
are like this. If you need a toothbrush, fruit, etc.
you go to a place like this to buy it. The second
picture is of me and my friends. One of my favorite
friends is named Happy and she is the one sitting
next to me on my right. She’s wonderful. She
comes (all by herself) to Mass every morning and
we invented a special handshake that we do and
she has taught all of the other children. She’s
great. Other pictures (not shown) are of women
carrying water – a daily occurrence in most of their
lives. As I told you all before, we have been without
water for 3 weeks and did the whole bucket thing
but Sister Dionisia surely didn’t carry them on our
heads. The children start from small containers
and work up to these buckets. There are 3 year
old twins at the place we go to fetch water and they
already carry these giant buckets like this full of
water. Amazing! The next two are the few that I
have let people take of me – one with a baby during
mass (all of their Masses are outside)
Well, I had better go. It is getting late and we, as
always, have a wonderful mass early in the
morning. God bless you all and I would love to see
pictures of wherever you all are. My thoughts and
prayers are with you all.
Love, Teresa"
from VIDES heartbeats.
"The first picture is a business. Most businesses
are like this. If you need a toothbrush, fruit, etc.
you go to a place like this to buy it. The second
picture is of me and my friends. One of my favorite
friends is named Happy and she is the one sitting
next to me on my right. She’s wonderful. She
comes (all by herself) to Mass every morning and
we invented a special handshake that we do and
she has taught all of the other children. She’s
great. Other pictures (not shown) are of women
carrying water – a daily occurrence in most of their
lives. As I told you all before, we have been without
water for 3 weeks and did the whole bucket thing
but Sister Dionisia surely didn’t carry them on our
heads. The children start from small containers
and work up to these buckets. There are 3 year
old twins at the place we go to fetch water and they
already carry these giant buckets like this full of
water. Amazing! The next two are the few that I
have let people take of me – one with a baby during
mass (all of their Masses are outside)
Well, I had better go. It is getting late and we, as
always, have a wonderful mass early in the
morning. God bless you all and I would love to see
pictures of wherever you all are. My thoughts and
prayers are with you all.
Love, Teresa"
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"Experiencing, Sharing Life in Christ"
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