This past week and a half I found myself in a new position
that I hoped to avoid in my life. I had
to be a part of “not renewing” a contract at our hotel. This invariably took a lot of attention and
caused a lot of stress around the hotel which is why my posting has been
delayed. My role was temporarily shifted
to crisis management as I had to oversee the change in management. I apologize for the lack of
communication. Luckily for me I had the
guidance of two of the Mailisita Board members Stan and Nathan helping me
through this process and coaching me up throughout the past two weeks. One little message stuck with me more than
any of the business advice however. My friend
and new business mentor Nathan said to me “remember everything you are doing is
for the kids and the community” even the tasks asked of me that are not joyous. My role here as the “Ambassador” usually means
I do the “extra” things to help the children. This previously meant helping children outside
of class, buying clothes or food, visiting a home, extra time tutoring which frankly I love. I was never asked to step into the business or make take part in those tough meetings. This week however I realized that sometimes I
am going to have to do things that frankly no one wants to do. Something I realized when the actual “termination”
day arrived and I was the only one present to take care of it and see it through. 
I always said there is nothing I wouldn’t
do for the children, so this week I had to prove it. The week was spent overseeing the
transferring of finances, documents, and duties to our interim manager which
meant a lot of time outside of the classroom and lots of uncomfortable
situations. Of course in the end, it was
all done to help our children and the community so we know it is all for the
best. These past couple days there has
been an immediate boost in spirits with Teddy, our interim manager stepping
into the role. She is truly a breath of
fresh air. She is a very strong and
capable young woman who endears herself immediately to people with her warm
personality. People do not leave Stella
Maris without meeting her and sharing a laugh together. Also a fun fact for everyone about Teddy is
that she was actually taught by our headmistress Mama Shayo when she was
in primary school! Needless to say that
is why she is such an intelligent and strong young woman! 
So again I find myself apologizing for a lack of
communication back home, but this time it was for important business work. At least I can add a new line to my resume as well! With our new
interim manager in place and our staff re-energized and looking forward to the
possibilities, we could not be happier with the future of our hotel.
On to more happy news we owe a big thank you
to Ann Harmon (Adam Archer’s Mom) our first Pilau Day sponsor! With the end of the month examinations last
week, we wanted to start a trend of feeding pilau to our children every testing
period (once a month). Ann generously donated
money to feed our children and to sponsor our first Pilau Day!
We would like to give more donors and families the
opportunity to help our children eat well during our examination weeks. If you would like to sponsor a Pilau Day
contact me terry.mulligan24@gmail.com
or Stanton.j.taylor@gmail.com
to donate. Or you can simply click on
the “Donate” button on the side of the page to get started. Just include the note “Pilau Day”. With this year’s Pilau Days already
sponsored, we are looking ahead to next year.
Our estimated cost for next year will be $130 to sponsor a “Pilau Day”. I can promise plenty of pictures from these
special days, and we are all grateful for the incredible generosity of Ann
Harmon. As you can see from the
children’s smiles, they couldn’t be happier or more thankful as well.
Thank you all and God Bless.
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