Children at the Vicariate

It all began with three children of a single migrant worker mother. She was unable to keep a job and look after her three children, each one in a different school. The Vicariate staff told her to keep her job and promised that her children would be picked up from school and looked after in the afternoon until she finished work. Soon, other children arrived, brought by their mothers who were in a similar situation – Filipinos, Eritreans, Ethiopians and some children from the Jerusalem kehilla too.

Nowadays, on any given day, tens of children gather in the courtyard, outhouse and tent of Saints Simeon and Anne. The tent was erected especially for the children as winter approached. The children arrive after school and spend the hours of the afternoon playing and preparing homework. Their parents need not worry as they are in a safe environment and the children have a lot of fun being together.

Overseeing the after school program is Sister Claudia Graziano of the Vicariate. She is assisted by various volunteers who include other residents of the Vicariate community, novices from the Sisters of Our Lady of Zion, Germany theology students from Dormition Abbey and Israeli Jewish friends who help the kids with their homework.