Mozambique – Page 8 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

Give thanks in everything!

2 May, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

I arrived to Carapira in full celebration of Easter! It was a great gift! A festive Mass on the night of Saturday and one on Sunday morning, both with the dances and songs that deserve every great Easter. Afterwards a nice lunch with the missionary team, the Comboni Family.

It is the first time I leave my country, my beloved Brazil. And already it has spent the first month! The work that I am calling to do is to accompany the youth of the school (Industrial Technical Institute) run by the Combonis in Carapira. 130 are the young people who study and live here. Learn professional techniques offered in courses, learning to be a family, be smart and able people to build a better world are the main principles to follow with these young people. I took up nursing of the school, a room with beds for the rest of the sick children and medicines and basic utensils for care. I remain a big part of my time in this room (the pharmacy) and make my ministry here, my service, my daily renewal of my Yes to the mission. I also accompany students to the hospital when needed, help them to take medication, wound care and various injuries.

As a child in catechesis, I dreamed to be a doctor to go to Africa… I finally studied psychology and not medicine, but was a great choice! Now I look what I have been called and see me in a nursing care hurts and pains. There is a peace that invades the soul! There’s a smile that shows when looking to improve the way to cures, or even when I call attention to a boy for skipping his medication. And the soul rejoices when our pharmacy is not only the physical space to administer medication but becomes space to share, to discuss a variety of possible topics. We talk about family, we talk about the heavy situation faced by Mozambique and Brazil in politics, we talk about school difficulties, dreams and love; We smile together and play, and in addition we also have some time to correct ourselves and find the best path for each day. I have two students working with me, Cacossane and Mendes. They help me in everything and always try to improve our communication to better understand and optimize the service to all other students. I am pleased to see small achievements, curtains, pot for tea, cup holders, dogfish soup, etc. Small things that make the difference, cheering!

For now, we are two at home, Beatriz (from Mexico) and me. She tries to teach and guide me on things here, show me the realities and correct, if necessary, my quick way of speaking that generates misunderstanding. The Portuguese is actually much! The mission begins at home! Community life is an invitation to forgiving love and forgiveness that loves is a joint growth, it is a constant learning. In this way, we build and prepare to welcome Kasia from Poland and Barbara from Italy who will be with us soon and my heart is already on holiday with their arrival.

We are a large and very rich missionary team: priests, brother and laity! We come from different places, cultures and ways of being different and this is a beautiful treasure for the mission. My Brazilian roots are with these Italian, Mexican, Portuguese, Mozambican roots… Longing Brazil dwells in the heart, longing for people, places, even more for food! Nostalgia also supports the mission because it reminds me that the mission is not done alone, the mission is collective. I came to Mozambique, but there are many people who are elsewhere and pray for me and the mission without prayer support fades. Maybe that is why my heart is full of gratitude, because I have many people who supported me from many corners of this great world. Therefore, also on behalf of all these people every day I renew my Yes to the mission, my yes to God, my yes to this school in which I live and work and my yes to each of these guys.

Here they say “Vacani, Vacani”, little by little. And so it is! One-step at a time, slowly but without wasting time when it comes to improve, to move forward, to evolve. One-step at a time to improve communication, specific things needed to make a good missionary way, practical things for the work, in everything step by step. Remembering that take care of me is the first step to be complete for the people I am called to serve. Therefore, my path moves through step by step and I can sleep peacefully at night, with a heart full of joy for all that has allowed me to live in this holy land. I thanks everyone who accompany me with the prayer and wish you well. We are together!

The good and loving God, Father and Mother, care for us and strengthen us!

Mother Africa, you welcome me, teach me to live you!

Priscilla Garcia – CLM

First training meeting of the CLM in Mozambique in 2016

28 March, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

I had the opportunity to participate in the first meeting of permanent formation of CLM in Mozambique. I was invited as a candidate in training to dialogue with the coordinator and share my personal reality. During this meeting I had the grace to study about the Mercy of God as our Father; this topic helped me to reflect on my situation and shone in my mind the points that we will treat later on.

After this day of personal reflection, prayer and sharing, experiencing God’s mercy and a good rest, we continue the meeting with the evaluation of 2015. First we talk about projects, our community orchard, the school canteen, selling handicrafts and the next project in Cabaceira. Then we talked about the initial and ongoing preparation. Also on Missionary Animation, pastoral activities, Economy, departures and arrivals.

After listening to our assessment and new suggestions, brother Luis (MCCJ advisory for the CLM group in Mozambique) made us see the importance of our vocation as lay people, because our work is important in the mission without having to replace the task of the priest , brother or sister, as many people think. San Daniel Comboni also led laity to the mission.

We completed our meeting with lunch, where we experience green tomatoes (which is eaten in Mexico as chutney) which led to a nice conversation about traditional dishes from different parts of the world.

Arnaldo Inasio Sualehe

Missionary retreat in Mozambique

23 December, 2015 by Alberto de la Portilla

The Missionary laity of the diocese of Nacala met on December 7 to celebrate Advent retreat.

Attended 16 lay people from the various missions of the diocese. Fr. Damasceno, Spiritan present in the mission of Itoculo, led the retreat.

In the morning after our arrival, we made an initial prayer reflecting on the transforming power of love and Fr Damasceno invited us to use it to change what closes us on ourselves, remembering that Advent is a favorable time for this.

Then p. Damascus helped us to reflect on the Gospel of the second Sunday of Advent, and to see that, after describing the “powers” of the world, political and religious, he concludes with the assertion that the Word came to John in the desert. God reveals His word to the little, in the forgotten places. So we are invited to retreat to the desert to hear God! The desert is the privileged place of God’s relationship with his people. It also proposes some questions to reflect on our missionary experience, challenging us to review some attitudes and commitments.

After lunch, to continue the reflection, we chose the beach, a quiet and peaceful place, which gave us the contact with nature, a magnificent work of God. This environment well-lit reflection in the afternoon, bringing the second reading of the 3rd Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of joy. “Rejoice in the Lord always!” A relationship with some of the paragraphs of the encyclical “Laudato Si” and also some excerpts from the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

In the afternoon, returning from the beach, as we celebrate the closing Mass of the day, where also, at the time of Thanksgiving, there was the farewell of 5 laity who returned to their home-lands: 3 Spanish Vincentian lay, Cristina, Nina and Virginia, a Comboni lay Portuguese Márcia and a Brazilian Comboni lay Flávio.

The meeting ended with a dinner and fellowship, in the joy of waiting for the Lord’s coming!

Good experience of Advent to all!

Flavio Schmidt, CLM

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

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