On the 18th October 2022 Dr and Mrs Franco De Paoli held a dinner at the Embassy Residence in honour our Councillor, Dame Ann Gloag. The evening started with drinks pool side at their wonderful home, so beautifully decorated by Marinella.
Dame Ann has been a Councillor at the Embassy in Kenya for the last 3 years and was celebrating with her friends and family 20 years since set up the Jonathan Gloag Academy, a not for profit school in the heart of Nairobi. The dinner started with a wonderful prayer given by David McCleary and after the superb Italian cuisine, speeches were made, led by Dr Franco De Paoli, the Embassy’s First Councillor and Charge d’Affaires. The speech started with words from The Ambassador, HE Wilhelm von Trott zu Solz, who was unable to be at the event:
Please convey to Ann and her family and friends: “my congratulations for 20 years of caring for Kenyan children in need! It is a privilege and honour for the Embassy of the Order of Malta to have Dame Ann as our Councillorera and to offer the Embassy of the Order to celebrate such important date. I regret very much not to be able to attend, due to a prior commitment in Berlin. Thank you very much and have a great evening!”
Dr. De Paoli then proceeded to condense the Orders 1000 years of glorious history into 15 minutes, which he did expertly.
Sam Mattock, the Secretary to the Embassy then brought the guests up to date with the current Works of the Order in Kenya, such as the Kakuma Mission hospital for refugees, the maternity theatre construction funded by the Companions of Kenya in Tangulbei, water projects in Wamba, 16,000 British Airways airline blankets distributed in Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania and the multiple feeding projects in Nairobi. Sam went on to say that these efforts pail into insignificance when compared to the Work Dame Ann has done over the past 35 years in Kenya.
Dame Ann then stood to share her unscripted and heart felt words:
I would like to thank Franco and Marinella for welcoming us into their home and the Ambassador of the Embassy of the Order of Malta. Your warmth and hospitality is second to none and it is great being back here again. This is a very special night for me as I introduce my friends and family to the Order of Malta and have them learn more about your mission and our shared values. Whilst the Order is active globally on a much larger scale than us, your values and ours are totally aligned and there is a great synergy between our two institutions. As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Jonathan Gloag Academy, the school named after my late son and the Faith and charitable ethos at its core – I reflect on how much the world has changed in those 20 years and see now how faith organisations are under attack.
It is now more important than ever that we come together to continue to demonstrate our Faith in action to those in need. I look forward to us all working together for many years to come.
