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A happy time in Carapira – Mozambique

7 October, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

The going of Jesus, as told in the Gospel of Sunday XXIII Ordinary Time, to a territory outside the Jewish tradition tells us that God’s concern is with everyone, not leaving anyone out. A deaf is brought before Jesus, he knows nothing about Him because he did not hear and, of course, could not seek Him by his own initiative. Who does not know Jesus we do not have to censor, but rather lead to Him.

On the way we did for the trip to Mozambique we went to meet those forgotten by society, I talk about the homeless and the poor, because, however much people are supportive, we forget the real suffering of these our friends, loneliness. How many times have told us that we were different, we brought a smile, a hug, a kind word…? The feeling that I wanted to take with me to Carapira. I did not know what I was going to find, but I took an open heart, cheerful, full of love to give. We must learn from Jesus to feel the problems of others and get involved in their solution. It was that feeling and purpose that we try to achieve, and the Fe and Mission group conducted. We open ourselves, we listen, look, get involved and engaged with students of the Industrial School of Carapira, with the missionary family (fathers, brothers, sisters, laity) and with the community of Carapira. Where I loved the beautiful work of everyone, especially Lay Missionaries, who are close to people, communities and their everyday problems, as well as students of the Industrial School of Carapira.

Every day we went to meet the community of Carapira, after praying Lauds (06:00), after the “mata bicho” funny expression means having breakfast, from 1:30 to 2:00 I stay with the kids, playing with them, wearing a smile, I helped the moms to draw water… to be with people, give them a hug and a kind word for everyone we met. I learned that those who have nothing of material goods, are the happiest, they do not care for physical appearance of the other, about the dress or the way we are, but they appreciate the joy of life and the ability to share the little things We have to each other.

Highlighting some important moments of my stay. I visited on a Friday with Father Firmino the community of Caserna, it was the day of baptism. I loved to participate in this beautiful celebration and a special culture, while Fr. Firmino confessed youth they were to be baptized, I went for a walk around the community, and in one of the houses, was a young man of 12 years, David, lying at the entrance, moaning in pain. After having asked what was going on and not getting response appeared young David’s mother, who informed me that he was bitten by an animal. David’s hand was very swollen, so I got scared and tried to warn the mother to go to the doctor, but she said they could not, they live far from the health center, and had no money to go by public transport, the only transportation that could take. I could not escape this situation, however, I took from the backpack drinking water to clean the hand of the young and offered him a piece of cake, which I have to eat if I was hungry, David loved to eat something sweet and so good.

When I got to the school of Carapira, I went to the house of the Lay Comboni Missionaries, and asked for help to Marcia, a laity working in this mission, Portuguese and from the District of Aveiro, who immediately offered to help David.

The next week I was with a group of five young of Carapira talking on the street, when suddenly I see a man carrying on his back a woman who was ill with malaria, and could not walk far. I asked the young people for help, to assist the man, but the response was negative, as was normal, the lady was with malaria… but I could not bear to see this situation without doing anything, so I helped him, the man took the woman in the back and it was leaning on my shoulders… that will not be very helpful, but I think it was useful. These are small gestures that can change the world.

What I liked least to live and see in Mozambique was the lack of conditions in relation to health, education and equal rights for women, which are considered inferior to men. But the joy, friendship, simplicity of these people are able to overcome any existing negativity, I want to emphasize “people’s education”, they are highly educated (they like greeting people), even without the right to education that many other peoples have.

We all had various responsibilities, some more heavies, other lighters, but all very important and meaningful for the mission. We live and work as a community. I thank all the people who greeted us, welcomed us, who trusted us… but above all the youth of the Industrial School of Carapira, the 3rd B, of which I felt closer and every day I remember them, I pray that they study, strive for a better future and do not forget that they can be what they want, they are not inferior to anyone.

I have lived a dream I will never forget. I can say “I smelled the Mission,” which helped me grow as a man and as a Christian. I want to come back!!

For this and for that, I ask the Lord to heal us of deafness and blindness, and put us in sincere communion with His love and with the world around us.

See you son Carapira – Mozambique!

Germano Ferreira

Last day of the XVIII General Chapter in Rome

5 October, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

“Now it’s time to bring the Chapter in the life of the Institute”, with these words the outgoing superior general Fr. Enrique Sánchez González, who presided at the concluding Mass of the XVIII General Chapter, called on the delegates to send to all the confreres the spirit and message of these weeks they had together. On this last day of the Chapter, in the morning session Fr. Enrique Sanchez read in the Assembly hall the formal decree of the Chapter’s closer that had been approved by the Chapter delegates.

At 11.30, the concluding Mass began. During the homily, Fr. Enrique focused on three words: courage, joy and hope. He invited everyone to renew the experience of the love of God, the source of our missionary commitment, to bring even with greater joy the proclamation of the Gospel to the poor and the outskirts of suffering. On the novelty of the Chapter is that “the Lord – said Fr. Enrique – has not tired of us, he is still with us … and the best is still to come”.

At the end of the Mass, the newly elected superior general, Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse, thanked Fr. Enrique and the outgoing Council for their commitment and enthusiasm in guiding the Institute in these past six years. Also the Superior General of the Comboni Sisters, Luzia Premoli, who participated in the Eucharist with some of her sisters, expressed gratitude for the cooperation experienced in the past five years, for her, with the General Direction of the Comboni Missionaries.

The celebration took place in the main Chapel of the house and wad then continued with the convivial and lunch.

www.comboni.org

The Ethiopian “Gursha”

2 October, 2015 by Maggie and Mark Banga

During lunch time, at the clinic where I serve, I (Maggie) eat routinely with four of my coworkers. They each bring their lunch from home – injera (Ethiopian spongy bread) wrapped around wot (stew) which fits the square little Tupperware perfectly, and even stays in the shape of a square when dumped out. Surprising to me, instead of each eating their own lunch from home, they grab one dinner size plate and in sequence dump their cubes of injera/wot on top of each other forming the “Leaning Tower of Wot”. Then they eat collectively, sampling and sharing everything. It is a letting go of what is theirs, and a welcoming in of friendship and fellowship.

In Ethiopia, food is always shared, and typically eaten like this from one large platter without the use of cutlery. Even strangers will be invited with a simple “Enebela!” (let’s eat!). To me it is fun and new and means simple clean-up and virtually no dishes but to Ethiopians the tradition is much more deeply rooted, and follows their saying: “those who eat from the same plate will not betray each other.”

During lunch hour I am typically the recipient of the gursha. The “gursha” is a traditional custom that Mark and I initially found quite peculiar. En route to Ethiopia we read about it in a culture book, and were curious yet nervous about the moment when we would experience our first gursha and how we would respond. Gursha is when another person who is dining with you, unrolls a strip of injera, wraps it around a tasty bit of wot and then feeds you directly by hand. It is the final breakdown of the notion of personal space! The trick is to take it without letting your mouth come into contact with the person’s fingers and without letting the food fall. One gursha is considered unlucky so it always repeats. I think Mark and I each received our first gursha from our homestay sisters. Since then I have been a regular gursha receiver and while it is still slightly peculiar I quite enjoy it. I haven’t yet mastered the fine art of wrapping and dipping my injera properly to soak up the spicy wot so when my work colleagues feed me a bite of wot which they have personally selected it is much more delicious that what I have been feeding to myself! Some days I receive so many gurshas that I don’t even need to eat on my own. Not only is it tasty but it is also a sign of acceptance, like a hug between friends. It’s a simple way to say I appreciate you.

A friend once said: “If you bring me to an Ethiopian meal, you are friend enough that I will gladly feed to you my first mouthful of food. If I am lucky you will feed to me your last — and if I am not, I have still profited the messy wonder of an Ethiopian meal.”

– Mark & Maggie Banga

Comboni Lay Missionaries serving in Awassa, Ethiopia

Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse elected as Superior General

1 October, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie was elected as Superior General of the Comboni Missionaries by almost all of the Chapter delegates. He is 46 years of age, Assistant General in charge of Basic Formation and the provinces/delegations of English-speaking Africa (except Eritrea) and Mozambique. Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse G. was born on September 22, 1969, in Harar (Ethiopia). He is the first African to hold the post of Superior General.

Immediately after the vote, the outgoing Superior General, Fr. Enrique Sánchez González, asked Fr. Tesfaye if he accepted the election.

Fr. Tesfaye replied: “My dear confreres, I would like to say a few words.

Thanks. Thank you for the trust and mercy that you have shown me. Both in the vote as well as in personal dialogues with some, you have shown confidence, solidarity and support. Thanks for it. I would like to say thanks to the confreres who have expressed their reservations, their hesitation. I agree with you and thank you, because I myself am afraid, I too have my reservations and my hesitations. So thanks for your realism.
Smallness. Our Institute, beginning with St. Daniel Comboni, is a great one, it is a beautiful family of disciples and martyrs for the mission, for Africa and for being at the side of the poor. Our Institute, too, has its problems. Faced by all this, I feel small, a little confrere who has had the experience of the great forgiveness of God and confreres. I feel small before the greatness of our Institute.
Respect. The General Chapter among its activities must also give the Institute a General Council, as it has just elected the coordinator of this General Council. I respect your dialogue, your discernment and your vote. Out of respect for those who voted for me and for what these votes represent, after having prayed about it, I contacted my spiritual director and others, and especially after the encouragement of Fr. Enrique and the General councillors to accept, I, for the glory of God and trusting in God’s help, in the General Council, the General Direction here in Rome and in you, circumscription superiors, and humbly asking for mercy, I accept to serve as Superior General.”

After the acceptance by Fr. Tesfaye, Fr. Enrique Sánchez G., following the procedure of the elections as stated by the Statute approved on September 8, 2015, said: “Having the Rev. Father Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie received enough votes on behalf of the Chapter, I, Enrique Sánchez González, declare the Rev. Father Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie the elected Superior General of the Institute of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Love as mission

30 September, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

If a year ago you would told me that today I would be writing about the Mission in Carapira, I would have said you were dreaming and that those fertile lands were too remote for me. However, God, as Father Jorge says, knows better what He does than what we want. And it is so true!
Before entering into the risky adventure of trying to put into words what I experienced in Carapira during the month of August, I want you to know that we will lose some sense: hands that touch and are touched; strange odors, but then they are missed, such as land, market, burning garbage, the air hot and heavy; the eyes that see faces that seem to ask us to discover and smiles that remind us that life is the greatest gift of God; greeting mouths at all times, even when you are not known.
Thanks, first, the missionaries that were already in Carapira and, besides of being disciples of Christ, they were heralds of our arrival and faithful companions of our steps, while leaving us free to be. Thank you for the confidence you have placed in us, without which no work could be developed.
The first problem I encountered was the time. In Carapira, time seems frozen in time and, indeed, the days passed slowly. The mornings were far greater than the afternoon and a date marked at three, could be at any time after the scheduled time. I thought the time was slow because there was completely entangled in the agitated pace that the Western world imposes on us. It was then that I realized that being compassionate was walking at the step of the other. If the other slows down, we slow down to walk with them. Then we get carried away by this so different time from our time and our days were filled: with night study in the Industrial School; support for girls at boarding school of the sisters “Mother Africa”, with the presentation of the encyclical “Laudato Si” to the EIC students, teachers, community, priests and sisters; we filled the day with times when we prayed the rosary in communities and try to learn Macua, visiting the sick, or replacing a missing professor.
In Carapira I discovered a charm. After trying to help girls with English, where the theme was “famous people”, I tried to illustrate with Cristiano Ronaldo and that’s when I realized that I had fallen into the terrible mistake of looking at reality only with my eyes. I do not say this no dislodging me, but quickly got the right example, which has always been there and knew very well: Jesus. Who else could be as global as Him? We were going with a huge desire to make Jesus known to others, going step by step, discovering that he was already there and is revealed in the smallest things: in the embrace that shipped with Sister Mary Joseph when I took girls home for holidays; Jesus appeared in the warm way in which these people welcomed us on arrival and took these foreigners as a part of their daily lives without closing the door.
These children show me the face of God, because they unknowingly have been and are an example for me. They get to be so alike and so different in its smallness. And how many childhoods exist worldwide. These children are heroes of palm and a half, before being able to speak carry buckets of water over his hands and head. As if, at the time, they had to endure a burden that is not theirs. Children carrying bricks. Children who care for other children like them. The children who walk kilometers and kilometers from home to go to school. I was also surprised with the ability they had to run for our arms, with sincere and contagious smiles. And I tell you, I will never, ever, be able to forget how they ran up and down the street with those cars made with plastic bottles and caps, or made careers pushing tires with a stick.
I was moved when I discovered that some people left the house, three to four hours before Mass, to drink from the Word of the Lord. I cannot forget the youth group of vocational discernment, traveling kilometer walk and/or bike in order to attend a Sunday training. And they do it every month. Here sometimes when it rains or is cold, the children no longer want to go to Sunday school. And even we, I wonder, how many reasons we out to excuse our faults to Mass? Given this, it is clear that those who wants look for ways and those who does not want find an apology. They are living proof of that!
There are people, people like us, who surprisingly are happy with so little. It is not so little … they are happy just to live. And how big is this give: life! And how big are these people, imagine, deeply grateful that comply with the Father’s. After this month, I know that my contribution was just a drop in an ocean of tasks that remain to be fulfilled. However, as I read in the market the first day I went, “Stop force produces nothing”. I am sure that being young and Christian, today, it is to be this force that never stops. It is not to fall into indifference to be touch by life and be able to do what God expects of us. However slightly, let’s do it, because if there’s one thing I’ve learned here is that the little become a lot. My heart is so full and grateful for this experience.
A “Koshukuru” (thank you) the size of the distance between Portugal and Mozambique is little for all that I have lived this month. Until I return, there is a vast ocean of longing and desire for further meetings. And you know what? I sincerely believe in that old maxim of “Little Prince”, which says that “those who pass by us, do not go alone neither leave us alone”. Today, I am a lucky for all the meetings I had on this land that is a lost paradise in the middle of nowhere. Today, I am richer for being a bit of all those with whom I shared this month.
Mariana Gonçalves