By Dorothy K. LaMantia | Correspondent

In St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Hightstown, Valentine’s Day is a serious tradition.  In the church foyer,  on a table set with African wood carvings lay valentines – cut from red construction paper, spangled with  glittery hearts and faux gemstones, and laced with ribbon, the kind children often bring home from school.

What set these valentines apart was that each heart bore the name, photograph and brief biography of a child from Nyanza Province in southeastern Kenya, where the School Sisters of Notre Dame run a school and rescue home for children orphaned by Africa’s HIV-AIDS epidemic.

These valentines awaited parishioners, to take them home then to pray for the child on the photograph for at least a month.

With the encouragement of Father Patrick J. McDonnell, pastor, the parish’s social justice committee supports Notre Dame’s Outreach to Children missions in Kenya, located in the Diocese of Homa Bay, and dedicates the weekend closest to Valentine’s Day as Project Love for Africa. The second collection of all Masses benefits the Sisters’ work in Kenya. 

SSND has 78 Sisters – 58 of them  African-born -- working in Outreach programs in Nigeria, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Kenya.

Since 2009, a representative of the SSND  has visited on that weekend to speak at all Masses, not just to update parishioners on progress but also to thank them for what the parish’s support has made possible.

This year, Sister Roseanne Rustemeyer, director of development for SSND, introduced Sister Comfort Anum, who worked in the Outreach in Kenya for two years, to give firsthand accounts of the Sisters’ work.

“I thank you for the children.  You have given them hope once again,” said Sister Comfort. “You gave them food, but now we have taught people to produce their own food through irrigation farming. Some children learned trades and now have dignity. They are able to work for themselves, and you provided that.”

Sister Comfort spoke of the casualties brought about by disease and poverty.

“Many of our children had to sell their bodies for food.  Some have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS, and live with relatives.  We have also rescued children who live alone or who have been harmed while living with a caretaker.  Some grandparents brew grain alcohol to make a living, but children have been sexually abused by those who buy the grain alcohol.”

The Sisters, most of them social workers, operate a rescue home where 17 orphans reside fulltime. Much of their mission includes visiting the homes of children living with single parents or grandparent guardians. Some of the sisters travel more than 30 miles on unpaved roads to monitor the physical and emotional well-being of the children who commute to their primary and secondary schools.

Eighty-two children are enrolled in primary school at a cost of $250 per year per student, which includes uniform, books and supplies. The secondary school enrollment is 84 students, costing $600 per student.

In spite of the challenges of the children’s lives, Sister Comfort said, “They are lovely children who smile so joyously. They are so happy to know people are praying for them,” which is where the hearts of St. Anthony of Padua  parishioners come in.

After seven years, the tradition has taken hold among the Hightstown parishioners as an expression of the call to love our neighbors — no matter how far away they may be.

“It’s become a personal tradition for me,” said Cathy Jackson. “These children need so much care, attention, and prayer.  How can you look at that face and not pray for them? You can pray for all of them, but there’s something about seeing a face to bring it home. I cannot do it for just one month.  I stay attached, and it becomes routine.”

“Every year my wife and I take a heart and pray for the children,” said Joseph Borek.  “Our only support can be monetary and prayer. We put [the heart] in our home, usually on the kitchen table where it is visible to us. It is important because they don’t have food and the luxuries we have.”

For Anthony Corrente, who took a valentine for the first time this year, the photograph will take him through the season of Lent.  “I wanted to make a spiritual difference this Lent.  I want to pray for others this Lent, so I will keep it on my nightstand where I pray every night before bed.”

What buoyed the hearts of social justice committee members and Sister Roseanne and  Sister Comfort was a little boy who approached the table and asked the Sisters about seven children — by name -- whose pictures he had taken home from Project Love for Africa in the past. Sister Comfort knew everyone and assured the boy they were well.

Judy Camisa, who coordinates the Project Love for Africa for the parish, reported the project enjoyed another successful year.

“Of 169 hearts, only 10 remain,” she said.