Social Scene

20th Anniversary Nyumbani Gala

By Mary Bird • August 15, 2013 0 1515

Patience Singleton, Ronald Roach | Mary Bird

The Nyumbani Home, Kenya’s first and largest facility for HIV+ children, was founded by the late Father Angelo D’Agostino, S.J., M.D., and by current Executive Director Sister Mary Owens, IBVM. Sister Mary recalled the early days as “divine anxiety.” The Children of God Relief Fund hosted the annual fundraising gala at the Ritz-Carlton on Sept. 28. Staunch Nyumbani supporter and renowned director of the Disney Chanel’s High School Musicals Kenny Ortega urged everyone to “muscle up tonight and bid” at the live auction. Nyumbani means “home” in Swahili and generous loyalists Kathleen and Chris Mathews were delighted to learn that a new guesthouse will be named “Mathews House.”