Kenyan orphanage to be focus of luncheon presentation

Friday, Mar. 22, 2019

BOUNTIFUL — This year the Council of Catholic Women of the Salt Lake Deanery Spring Luncheon will be presenting Kate Fletcher, founder of Hekima Place in Kenya, as the guest speaker.

The annual Spring Luncheon will take place on March 30 at St. Olaf Catholic Church. 

Fletcher is a Sister of the Divine Redeemer. She grew up in Philadelphia, then moved to Pittsburg, Penn. In 2005 she founded Hekima Place after volunteering with AIDS orphans in Kenya.

She spent some of her own childhood in an orphanage in Philadelphia, “so she knew firsthand the devastating impact of poverty and illness on children – and the challenges of providing orphaned children with a safe, loving, and family-like home,” according to the Hekima Place website.

The invitation for Fletcher to be the speaker for the luncheon came from Jeanne Audiss, a CCW board member.

“When I attended the National Council of Catholic Women Convention in Pittsburg last September, the development office for Hekima Place had a display. After speaking with them, I became very interested in the orphanage and decided to visit when I went to Kenya later in September,” Audiss said.

“At the following Salt Lake Deanery meeting in November, I reported on my visit to two nonprofits while I was in Kenya, one of them being Hekima Place,” she continued. “The women found it very interesting as well and asked if I could get someone to do a presentation at our luncheon.  We are always looking for new and interesting speakers to spiritually enhance the lives and educate the women in our diocese.”

Hekima Place started with 10 girls on a rented property; now the organization has its own campus and has helped more than 90 girls in Kenya. According to UNICEF statistics, more than 7.8 percent of the Kenyan population is HIV positive.

One of the goals of having Fletcher as the speaker at the CCW luncheon is to provide the opportunity to those attending to open their eyes to all the blessings that they have in their lives, Audiss said. 

“We do not live only for ourselves but for all of God’s children,” she said. “I don’t think any of us realize how blessed we are here in America unless we go somewhere else. Most importantly, to understand the depth of the poverty of the people in Kenya, especially for the girls that are abandoned as children, not only because of loss of parents, but also because of cultural practices.”

The luncheon is a tradition for the Salt Lake Deanery and is the organization’s primary fundraiser.

WHAT:  Salt Lake Deanery Spring Luncheon

WHEN: Saturday, March 30, social starts at 11 a.m.; lunch at noon 

WHERE: St. Olaf Catholic Church, 276 East 1700 South, Bountiful

COST:  $15 p/p in advance; $20 the day of the event.

For information, contact Cynthia Acosta, acosc400@yahoo.com or Jeanne Audiss, 801-955-6054.