552 - February 2015
January 7th, 2015 - February 1st, 2015

AFRICA-MADAGASCAR

At Christmastime, Brother Hervé GIVELET wrote to his friends and family about his ministry in Pala.

It did not take me long (after my return) to meet my AIDS patients with their problems, but my concern was not about solving their problems for them, but about supporting them so that they can become independent, for I know that one day I will leave Pala and no longer return.

So far, my efforts have been in vain: illness and thefts. Denise had her lock broken with a hammer and they took everything: mattresses, kitchen utensils, clothes, money, the table that she used to sell her products, all the products, etc...., nothing left in the hut but the bed. Later, it was the turn of Josephine; this time, unable to break the lock, they broke down the door. For her and her children, there remained to them only what they had on their backs. Yet Josephine’s business was off to a good start. Furthermore, thefts are increasing in neighborhoods. The cause: lack of work for young people, poverty.

But there are also accidents. Nestor and his wife, a couple with AIDS, have lost not only all their goods (food, clothes and money), but their home, along with the radios, typewriters, etc. of their customers, for Nestor is a repairman of all sorts of things. While Nestor was working in the field, there was the wedding of the daughter of the neighboring Muslim. They made a fire right next to the house of Nestor with its straw roof: it’s easy to guess the rest. Will they pay? Nothing has been resolved.

As for the problem of poverty, the Boko Haram wanted to take care of that in Cameroon; so 3000 young people have received 300 euros each and all the paraphernalia of the perfect terrorist: Kalashnikovs, knives, ammunition, and together with that, conversion to Islam. For the youth, this is not a problem, provided they have a good monthly salary and plenty to do, even if it involves killing. Fortunately, it is still quiet here; it is said that Chad does not interest them. But the killings still continue in Nigeria and northern Cameroon.

St. Theresa, Inchanga, has produced 10 priests, the first of whom was the late Fr. John NGUBANE and the tenth being Fr. Phumlani C. NDLOVU, currently working in the Diocese of Keimoes-Upington. Several religious women came from the Mission and several young men from there are currently in formation. In his homily, Archbishop Jabulani said, “Inchanga is a fruitful Mission. The fruits are there to be seen. You see them. I see them. We see them. This is a result of hard missionary work in and around Inchanga.” The archbishop too was parish priest at Inchanga and left Inchanga with the gift of the new church with glass windows looking out on a superb view of the valley of a thousand hills. The old original church still stands and is used for parish meetings and events of various sorts.

The current parish priest, Fr. Jean Lambert Nzaji KALALA, assisted by Fr. Mthokozisi MNCWABE, continues the legacy of their fellow Oblates.