Grave of Wass Albert Senior

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On the border of the three countries of South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland, lies Count Wass Albert Senior, the writer’s uncle Wass Albert, II. hero of the Anglo-Boer War.

Count Wass Albert Sr. was born in 1881 at Vasasszentgotthárd, as the third child of Béla Wass – the grandfather of the writer – and Baroness Ráchel Bánffy Losonci. In the year of his birth, the first Boer War of Independence, which was fought against the English, came out successful. He studied law at the University of Cluj, then in 1902, he travelled first to Graz, then to Munich and finally to Paris on the grounds to study abroad, but in fact he had the aim of joining the Heroic War of Independence. Finally, he went to South Africa on behalf of the King of the Netherlands, where he fought on the side of the Boats against the English.

Térkép

During the fights, the leader of the hostile English team called for his surrender, but Wass, who had been saddled with the cause of a nation and did not want to be captured, had not surrendered. The English were shot dead without thinking, and even his enemies praised his bravery.

The grave of the young man, who died at the age of twenty in 1902, was first found in 1909 by two cousins, Carola Szilvássy and Ráchel Wass. In 2012, the “Székelyek a magasban” group rediscovered his resting place as part of their expedition series. In 2018 the crew of Hungaricums Around the World placed a headboard on the tomb, paying tribute to the hero.

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Taita Alapítvány

The Taita Foundation – Kenya

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There is an orphanage deep in the Kenyan mountains, which is maintained by a Hungarian organization. The Taita Foundation has been operating for more than 10 years, and Hungarian volunteers come here regularly. The predecessor of today’s Saint Joseph Orphanage in Bura was founded in 1882 by the French Holy Ghost missionaries exclusively for boys. Not only did the educators take care of the boys, but they also taught them different crafts: they became carpenters and masons.

In 1909, the Precious Blood Sisters also settled in Bura, creating a foster home and school only for girls. The nuns, recognizing the importance of their own generation, taught the Kenyan girls who came to them from the year of 1928 how to care of children. They became the first Sisters of Saint Joseph and have now established boys ‘and girls’ homes and have established the Saint Joseph Children’s Home, which the Taita Foundation has been supporting since 2006.

Next to the orphanage, Taita Foundation set up a kindergarten, where the children of the orphanage and the villagers can attend. For that, a building used for storage was transformed and upgraded with a sink, dining room and a kitchen. Then, in 2009, with the help of the Hungarian Embassy in Kenya, the Taita Foundation was able to create another room for the children.

In 2011, the nurses opened a school in the immediate vicinity of the orphanage, which is not organically affiliated with the Saint Joseph Children’s Home. Nevertheless, the Foundation has helped with its equipment and they also take care of the salary of some teachers, as high-quality operation is essential for the children’s future. In addition to the buildings, there is also a mini farm, which houses farm animals and a vegetable garden. Every toddler is involved in gardening and caring for animals, and the larger ones get their own little parcel to learn the basics of farming.