AOTEA HOME, EGYPT

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2702, 23 February 1916, Page 3

AOTEA HOME, EGYPT

WHAT IT IS DOING FOR OUR BOYS in tho course of a letter written by Miss Early, matron of the Aotea Convalescent Homo in Egypt, the writer goes on to say:— "Owing to the numbers always waiting to come into our Homo we aro only able to keep the boys in for about ten days, it is very difficult, selecting the ones to go out, because we would like to keep thoni so much longer; they need the extra feeding up that we aio ablo to give them. I cannot tell you what a boon this Homo is to our boys. The good .vork we are able to do is almost limitless. After the first meal each newcomer has 111 our home, wo always hear the remark that it is tha best meal they have had since .caving home. _We try to make each i-oy feel that it is his special home, and I.think we are successful. Ever since our first lot of patients arrived wo have had increasing demands from tho hospital as to how many more we can take. 111 addition to feeding the boys in tho Homo, we make all the visitors and stray hoys wolcome to afternoon tea and supper. How I v.ish tho generous (•onators of this Home could have tho satisfaction we havo of giving these lonely boys of ours a welcome to a New Zealand home, and to seo the way they all appreciate a home-made scone and a. cup of tea is reward enough for any extra trouble. We feel it is a privilege to be ablo to do so much for our boys. lam fortunate hi having such excellent helpers. , Sisters Booth and Hughes are all that could bo desired, and do all they possibly can for the boys comfort'. Miss Maciaren and tho other girls, too, always cheerful, pieparo extra 'cups of co.oiforis' for the strangers.

since we have been settled in tie Home we have found the military people most helpful. Colonel Charters is doing all lie can for our comfort in the Home, and the pay office staff havo been along to advise us re expenditure of the money. We are going 1.0 send our big bills in to them to settle out of the money they have in trust for 'Aotea,' and I will just draw from them for petty accounts. We pay cash for a great many of our purchases, as we get tliem cheaper at some of tha native shops, 60 pay cash there. A big firm in Cairo from wliom wo havo obtained most of our furniture liaa kindly loaned us a piano while we aro here. They have been very good to uh in many littte ways. If anyono wants to send extra comforts to tho Aotea Homo, fruits, tinned and. dried, yellow Three Castles cigarettes, biscuits,..etc., are very welcome. Yellow 'l'hrco_ Castles cigarettes are not obtainable in Cairo, and they are favourites with the boys.

"So far we have had all extra good patients. We have a R.M.0., but 110 guard at our gate. Tliey. havo promised at headquarters that so long as we do not' havo any trouble with our men we need not have a 'guard,' and so far every man and boy has respected the Homo as his own homo, and wo are hoping to continue without a guard. All tho staff aro well and happy. VOLUNTEER SISTERS AND THE Y.M.C.A. In the course of a letter to tlie Mayor of Raugiora, Miss Clara Rogers, 0110 of tho volunteer nurses who at Christmas .timo and after has been working iu the Eskebia tearooms in Cairo, says: "Christmas and Boxing Day we will never forget, for from morning till 9 p.m. wo served at highest speed cups of tea, cocoa, coll'eo, and solt drinks, or cut sandwiches and cake till our hands wero blistered. Roughly estimated we added to the comfort of between t-.ro and tlireo thousand men. and 1 considor myself highly privileged to have had this opportunity of doing something for the brave fellows who have sacrificed so much for then- King and country, it was most pathetic to listen to 0110 after another telling of thoir jrightful experiences 011 the peninsula. They were so grateful for the touch of home again. I can tell you wo will feel we are doing even more for them here than if we wore in .the hospital. Why, hundreds of them had not spoken to a. white woman since leaving home, so you can imagine what a treat it was for them to converse with and bo waited 011 by their own coiuitrywomon again, for mostly it is Now Zealanders and Australians who visit us, although occasionally there is a good sprinkling of English Tommies.

"We are now entering upon Now Year, and arc making great preparations for another huge rush. The canteen and recreation club are open from 9 a.m. till 9.30 p.m., so any timo during the day the can come in- for a rest and obtain refreshment or indulge in skating, etc., as the main object is to provide a place to keep the men off the streets. ■ Until one has seen Cairo it is impossible to conceive an idea of what vices exist or what temptations the boys are exposed to. Apart from the Y.M.C.A. and British Soldiers' Club,'and a few private enterprises, there is no place for the boys to spend their leave, so my object in writing to you personally on tho subject is to get a few facts laid before the public, and possibly add financially to the Y.SI.C.A.'s purse, which is constantly being drained. If mothers only realise what a lriend this institution 1 13 to their boys I am certain they will do ail m their power to extend the work, which of course oannot be done without money. Our services are given free, and we do not work the cafe for profit, so I ciln assure you any help that can be given by you good people at home will be greatly appreciated and used to the best advantage by Mr. Hay afcd Mr. Smith (both young New Zcalanders), who are working so enthusiastically to provide home comforts for our boys.

A very old Taranaki settler in tho person of Mrs. F. A. Leatham (widow of the late Mr. Henry Leatham and mother •of Dr. Leatham) died at New Plymouth on Monday. The deceased lady arrived in New Zealand with hra father (the late . Mr. John Newlanu) and his family, from England, in the ship Amelia Thompson in 1842. With the exception of a short term spent in Nelson, as a refugee from the Natives in Taranaki, sho had lived practically the whole of her life in New Plymouth, To within a few hours of her death the late Mrs. Leatham retained her full faculties, despite her 88 years. Like all the old settlers of Taranaki she boro all tho hardships and privations of tho early pioneering days. Miss Rutter, of the Friends Hostel, Webb Street, and her sister, Mrs, Yates, leave on their return to England on Thursday by ,the Itotorua. Nurse Everett, who some time ago designed new bandages, has now patented these. She supplies a largo number to the Expediti mary Forces.