March – That the ministry of the Comboni Family may strengthen “gender justice”, and especially the protection of women and girls. Lord hear us.
Alberto de la Portilla
My year of mission as a laywoman in Colombia (III)
(Third part of the testimony that we send you in three different moments)
The realization of a home a little more dignified
Among the children who started the school support were two little brothers Dibisay and Javier, they lived with their mother in a house that was on the other side of a sewage pipe and was in precarious conditions; a house made of reused zinc, a leaking roof, a dirt floor, a toilet and a zinc tile that served as a bathroom, a baby bathtub that served as a sink and dishwasher, a kitchen in a ravine and a wooden bridge that was about to fall down.
The first time I went to this house I was very sentimental for the conditions in which the children lived, their mother, a housewife, and their father, a master builder who works in Ibagué. One day I talked to Vane and told her about the situation, then we decided to make a video of the house and upload it on social networks so that our family, friends or friends of friends would join the cause of giving these children a more dignified home.
At first we did not imagine the impact the video was going to have and we thought we were going to collect money to make the bathroom, or maybe to change the roof, or to buy a laundry room… But I have always said that my God manifests his love when you do things that do not hurt anyone. In this way we gathered almost 7 million and together with some people who knew about construction in the neighborhood during the whole month of July we were working on the project that we called “Dibi’s house”, we were able to raise foundations, build the entire front facade of the house, change a roof, make a kitchen, make a bathroom, make two rooms (one in material and the other in Zinc), change the bridge to enter the house and the installation of pipes.
This house allowed us to learn the names of the construction materials, to learn how to make cement mixes, to cut wood, to lay the boards of the bridge, to check the quality of the material, to deal with the construction masters. Another work was finished with all the love, with a lot of learning and with a house in better conditions for the children.
Our Neighborhood Enterprise
In the month of September, Father Franco was informed that the Comboni Missionaries were going to send financial aid to families in the neighborhood that were affected by the COVID-19. In a meeting with the mission team, we wanted to convert this money into something sustainable and not something for charity. So we made a call for some people we knew who had no work and we started meeting groups where we shared cooking skills, initially there were 15 people, in each Saturday meeting there were less and less people left. When there was a group of 6 people left (Darilys, Lucero, Mrs. María, Don Cicerón, Don José María and Mrs. Claudia), after analyzing the products made and the demand in the neighborhood, it was decided that from the first Saturday of October we would start selling chicken empanadas, that day 45 empanadas were made and every Saturday we increased the production reaching on November 14 to sell 90 empanadas, in addition to the opening of a point of sale that was entrusted to God. This microenterprise has allowed us to intertwine friendships, trust, laughter and teamwork, in the pursuit of an enterprise with people who want to get ahead.
Gratitude for the Mission
I end this report of my year’s mission by thanking God for all the little people who have supported me in the distance; from Luz Dary for her economic contribution for the Christmas sharing of the children of Bajito de Vaqueria, for the chocolate with bread from the neighbors of the prayer of the block and the Dibi Project, to Diego Montilla and my cousin Edwin Vargas in the first edition of the video that was of great help in the collection of funds for the children’s house and in the edition of the second video of the finished house of the children, to my family for their support, love, understanding and for giving me money for my expenses, to my spiritual family and to my team of Comboni Lay Missionaries of Colombia for giving me money for my rent, food or my cell phone plan. Thank you from the bottom of my heart because without you it would not have been possible to support me emotionally and economically during this year. Thanks to my Marisol and my Vane for being partners in every idea, every walk, every school reinforcement, God rewarded me with their presence. A mission loaded with 90% of laughter, projects, dreams, love and blessings, 5% of tears before those people who are not so good and treated me badly and 5% of fear before the gunshots that were heard blocks away from the house.
Alexandra Garcia, CLM Group Colombia
My year of mission as a laywoman in Colombia (II)
(Second part of the testimony that we send you in three different moments)
Choir and first communion catechesis:
We started together with Bro. Pontien a choir, and in turn I also committed myself to be a catechist for a group of 17 children who wanted to receive their first communion sacrament, but the momentum lasted two weekends because our country was quarantined by the COVID-19, a little insecure and assuming a reality that we thought was going to be temporary became 7 months where group meetings were allowed with a limited number of people and where holding something virtual was not a possibility because of the conditions in which a significant group of families live in the sector.
Prayer in the Cuadra
In the first weeks of the quarantine, the mission team came up with the idea of organizing some activity that would allow us to be united with the neighbors and strengthen the spiritual area, and we called this new idea the “Prayer on the block”, we called the neighbors and Mr. Robinson, who belonged to a different religion along with his family.
One Thursday in March we began to call neighbors to come out of their homes and we, with Vane, animated the songs with the cununo and the Bombo (a learning process). Each week two neighbors were in charge of the Bible reading and its reflection. In addition, a basket was placed in the center of the block where each neighbor contributed with something from the market to help one of the families that participated in the prayer. This activity generated excitement and gave us peace because we trusted that God was going to protect us from COVID-19.
We spent three months meeting from the doors of our homes so that once a week in the afternoon we would share the gospel and some of the food that arrived in our neighborhood. In this way we got to know our neighbors Karen, Luna, Laura, Yolanda, Don Jose and his family, Don Esau (who lent the extensions and the microphone), Alexandra and her little Juan (who lent the sound), Mrs. Sandra (who allowed us to connect the sound in her house), Mrs. Maria, etc.
Markets Full of Solidarity
In mid-April we received a financial donation to give markets to 35 families affected by COVID-19, AFRO families were selected from the neighborhood, who were nominated by the Afro group led by Father Franco for more than 4 years. This market contained a prayer inside for the families to thank God for the people who had contributed money inside and outside the country for the purchase of these markets. This activity allowed us to meet more families living inside and outside our neighborhood.
Termination of my Contract
My contract was for three months, and when the contract ended there was no possibility that it would be renewed, the situation scares me but thank God those months were paid and with that money I could support myself for two more months. Then came my birthday and I received money from my blood family and my spiritual family (community Señor de los Milagros de Tauramena/ Casanare). In this way I was able to sustain myself until July.
Donation of a printer and school accompaniment.
At the end of April, a relative of Vanesa donated us the money to buy a printer and in this way help some families in the neighborhood with the online education of their children, we contacted teachers of second and third grade of the Buenos Aires Educational Institution, and with a group of five children (Dibisay, Juan Sebastian, Jhovanni, Laura and Javier) started in the apartment a school accompaniment, these children were two of second grade and three of third grade. They came to the apartment in the mornings and afternoons we proposed to work in order to be leveled, by the end of June the goal was achieved and we had a picnic as a prize.
The requirements that these five children met were as follows:
- That their family did not have access to internet data.
- Not to have the help of a person to explain the topics.
- They should always come bathed, with clean clothes and eaten breakfast and/or lunch.
- Comply with the schedule 10 am to 12 pm and 1:30 to 5:00 pm.
- To leave their suitcase with all the supplies at my house so they did not carry their suitcase every day (I made sure we always had all the materials to work with).
- Leaving the space in the apartment where we did our homework clean.
- Not disrespecting each other.
- Behave like smart kids to learn and get good grades.
In addition to this, thanks to the printer, 10 families would pick up printed guides after five in the afternoon, so that the children could work from home. One child came once a week for me to take the evidence of the solved activities and send it to the grade director.
In July, two new girls (Jondarlys and Sharick) joined the school reinforcement program, they were also behind and were in third grade, so I set up a schedule in the morning from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm and in the afternoon I received only three children, because when Laura and Juan Sebastian were leveled, they began to work from home on the two daily guides sent by the teachers. In that month of July, we started a construction of a house and Marisol (Laywoman) supported the school reinforcement from her house. In August I resumed the school support with three new children in the morning schedule (Paula, Shari and Adrian) two of second grade and one of third grade, and in the afternoon we attended all the children of third grade who were up to date with homework, by then there were 5 children, from this month some parents according to their needs made me a contribution of 15 or 20 thousand pesos per week and thus helped me with my expenses.
At the beginning of September, the group expanded, now I had 6 children in the morning (Shari, Jordanys, Gabriela, Nicol, Paula), who belonged to different grades; first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth. Then I had to look for someone to support me and God sent Natalia, a girl from the neighborhood who was 20 years old and had already worked with children. The afternoon group expanded and now there were 6 children (Jhovanni, Adrian, Jondarlys, Luis Ferney, Javier and Victoria). The processes here became more challenging because Jordanys and Shari did not know how to read and we proposed to start the process of teaching reading and writing.
By the end of October, Elvin, a third grader from another institution, joined the program and the challenge was to help him save the year, so by the second week of November this process was completed with two children in the morning and four in the afternoon. Only Jhovanni, 9 years old, was there from the beginning to the end of this experience.
The school support became a process where some children learned to read, write, do reading comprehension, color and work judiciously to meet the daily goals. They were months of laughter, tension, frustration tolerance, field trips (every month we did an integration excursion with the children who were there), a process where you help children not to lose a school year, to do good quality work, they were months of love and details. These children gave meaning to my mission because their witticisms, their personalities, gave meaning to my weeks. God bless each one of them and their families, and keep them safe from harm.
Alexandra Garcia, CLM Group of Colombia
Hope School
Our school time, especially infant and primary school, usually marks our lives in one way or another. Great memories pile up: friends who are a big part of who we were, teachers who touched our hearts and opened paths we had not even imagined until then… In general, a shared life that filled us with passion and joy and that we will almost always consider as the best stage.
However, in Ethiopia, school can have a more complete meaning.
In the region where I live, Gumuz, the Comboni family has 5 kindergartens (3 run by the Comboni Fathers, 2 by the Comboni Sisters) and an elementary school (run by the Comboni Sisters). All these centers were requested by the local government itself, more than 20 years ago, which understood that this underdeveloped region needed educational spaces that would fulfill two objectives: on the one hand, to promote education in order to be able to guarantee an autonomous and dignified future; on the other hand, to create spaces where boys and girls of all the ethnic groups present in the area could coexist, in equality and friendship, so that the division (so present and so deep in the region) would disappear from the pillars of life (childhood and adolescence) and the idea of complete fraternity would be fostered.
This has been the objective of the Comboni Family all these years, from the general educational plans to the daily work: to create a place where living together is as important as the acquisition of knowledge and skills.
However, the social reality has changed a lot in the last two years. When I arrived in Ethiopia, this region was in the midst of an ethnic conflict between ethnic groups (with killings, displaced people, burning of houses, etc.). When the situation was normalizing, Covid-19 appeared to break the normality, close everything and spread panic (which had already become a regular “visitor” in this area). And, without having managed to stop this problem, a new ethnic conflict, even more serious than the previous one, struck the life of the inhabitants of the region. The problems that we found in the first conflict multiplied, expanded and knew no religion, age or sex to have a little mercy. The day to day life was dominated by a panic already known, but that reached unsuspected limits. EVERYTHING was locked again with the key of fear, violence and discouragement.
The situation demanded a response, and the school of the Comboni Sisters, which is the one I am writing about, became more than a center for living together, it became the ” Hope School”.
Facing the reality of violence, many people, mainly women, children and the elderly, chose to leave their homes. Many went to hide in the forest, but the vast majority of those who lived around the school, almost instinctively, and out of enormous trust in the sisters, chose to take refuge in masse in the school. It was amazing to see how they entered by dozens, or hundreds, with the few things they could grab before escaping, in an improvised diaspora, carrying belongings, children, babies, grain, animals, etc. The school opened its doors, and became, more than their home, their refuge, since, more than comfort, they sought security. The classrooms were emptied and transformed into places to sleep, cook, eat and receive care; as well as other spaces and common areas, even the courtyards and fountains.
As the weeks passed, the situation gave some respite; people returned to their homes, but not to normality. Fearing that their belongings might be looted, they feared mainly for the grain they had collected throughout the year. They again placed their hope in the school, which once again opened its doors so that they could take the grain, in hundred-kilo sacks, to be stored in the only place they trusted at the time.
This situation was especially serious for the boys and girls, who were living in fear and feeling unprotected. The sisters, aware of this, put the school back at the service of the children, creating a space of trust. Despite the fact that officially all the schools in the area were closed, the doors of our center were opened almost daily to give tutoring and review classes, to welcome anyone who came and allow them to paint, draw, read or write; and, what was most successful, to organize (or rather, to improvise) games and sports activities. At that time, the most important thing was not that the children and young people learned or were evaluated, but that they could arrive to a place where they felt safe, excited, with the joy that should reign at this stage of life. That they could play, interact in peace and tranquility and feel embraced and comforted was the priority; in short, that they could be what they are, boys and girls, forced to grow up by a harsher reality than they should have known.
Throughout this process, my missionary mate (Pedro) and I wanted to be involved to the maximum (even though sometimes it was impossible for us to move because of the danger of the ten kilometers of road that separated our house from the school, due to attacks, raids, shootings, etc.). Our daily work, our illusion and our strength were mainly focused on accompanying and helping to carry out the daily activities for boys and girls; as improvised teachers, sports coaches, monitors, chaperones, and everything else we could imagine, we tried to offer a space of welcome and hope to everyone who crossed the doors of the street.
Tomorrow, February 23rd, and after having stabilized the situation, the school officially opens its doors for the new school year (having lost almost half a year). The students, from 3 years old to the end of primary school, will return to their classes. In this return, the nightmare will be behind them; and I doubt that any of them will cry at the doors of the school. On the contrary, they will be eager to return to the place from which they never felt apart; the place that was for them the only space of tranquility and carefree. Parents, for their part, will feel more relieved than ever, since, if in the moments of greatest torment they trusted blindly to protect their sons and daughters (the most precious gift they have), the return to teaching will fill them with renewed enthusiasm.
That is why, although it has another name, I have preferred to baptize it as “Hope School”.
David Aguilera Perez, Comboni Lay Missionary in Ethiopia
Missionary experience at St. Paul Catholic Church of Akonoma, Cape Coast (Republic of Ghana) from 21st December 2020 to 4th January, 2021.
Our chaplain, Rev. Fr. Leopold Adanle, in his zeal to further our formation, suggested to our group to do some days experience in Manigri, Benin. Later on, after the Provincial Council, it was agreed to go for the experience in Cape Coast, Ghana.
We had to leave our families to celebrate Christmas festivities far from our residences. Early the 21st December, 2020, Frank Amenyo and Justin Nougnui started the journey from their various areas to meet Christian Wotormenyo at Accra. From Accra, the three of us took a car for Cape Coast. Cape Coast is about 300 km from our towns. The Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Bonaventure Gnaha came to pick us from the lorry station to our station, St. Paul Catholic Church of Akonoma. The experience was in two aspects, with the Church Community and our CLM Community.
1. Experience with the Church Community
Our service was to revive the Church of Akonoma. We moved from house to house at the quest of the church members who have stopped coming to church. None of the three of us knew Fante, the local language of the area. Two of us could say very few words in Fante. We moved with an interpreter. We had the grace to visit some aged and sick members of the church and also from Akonoma’s community. After the house visitation, we planned meetings with the various societies of the church to form and consolidate them. We enjoyed the festivities of Christmas. On the 24th, 25th, 27th, 31st December, 1st January and 3rd January which were the Christmas vigil, The Christmas day, the feast of the Holy Family, the New year vigil, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the population at church was encouraging. The Rev. Fathers, Bonaventure, Joseph and Anthony came one after the other for the various celebrations. The 31st night, new year vigil, School of Jesus, a society of children exhibited a night performance.
2. CLM community
Monthly, we had a meeting. But for this experience, the three of us had the time to live together.
a. Prayer life
We had our daily schedule. We prayed the Laudes in the morning, read the daily Gospel with a commentary, a Life History of St. Daniel Comboni written by Bernard Ward. After the breakfast, we had our indoor or outdoor activities. At 12:30, we had lunch followed by siesta. In the afternoon we had activities, at 6:30 we prayed the Vespers, ate. Every day before the Night Prayer we reflected upon the day activities and planned for the following day.
b. Division of labour
We cooked ourselves, served the meals and washed the bowls. We fetched water ourselves sometimes, other times, the youth helped us. Each one has a responsibility, Mr. Wotormenyo the team leader, Mr. Amenyo the bursar and Mr. Nougnui the secretary.
c. Vocation promotion
We spoke about the Comboni Family in general when we met some active members of Akonoma. We laid emphasis on CLM, who they are, the requirements to be CLM, the activities of CLM. We did the same thing when we attended the parish Liturgical Committee meeting. We also took the opportunity to visit a group of Friends of Comboni at St. Paul Catholic Church of Nkanfoa. As it is now in our province, being a member of the group of Friends of Comboni is one of the requirements to aspire to CLM. We chatted with the members and encouraged them to move further to CLM. We promised to be in touch with them for the way forward.
d. The neglected
The visit from house to house showed us the reality of the neglected and the abandoned. Some aged and sick persons were a little bit forgotten. In order to continue the Caritative aspect of the Church, we created from the Church Committee the Welfare Committee. Its role is essentially to look for the sick, to find “the lost sheep” and also to assist members who are bereaved.
We are so grateful for the opportunity given to us. We thanked the Provincial Council, our Chaplain, the parish priest of St. Paul Catholic Church of Nkanfoa, the church community of Akonoma for helping us respond to our vocation. This missionary experience strengthened our faith and motivated us to continue our journey on the footsteps of St. Daniel Comboni.
Justin Nougnui, CLM coordinator.
