SCENES FROM DAILY LIFE

The ritual of foot washing expresses what we want our daily life to be-Mutual service in Brotherhood.

Dancing the night away.

The weekly bike ride to explore new corners of Tamale.

A daily reality-wash -up!

Now,what is he doing?

Out on the town.

In the wet season Tamale is green and lush.

Nature's birthday.

Visiting the old slave camp at Paga in Northern Ghana.

Edmund Rice activities with local children.

Turning up for the weekly community Mass.

Lunch is ready.

Newly baptised catechumens

Socialising after our May 5th Edmund Rice celebration.

Scrabble looks like serious business.

Rex (2007-2012), RIP

Those who have been in Tamale over the last five years will have met Rex, the good-looking but not-always stable community dog.  Rex’s earthly existence was recently cut short prematurely.  Since early this year he was suffering from a worm infestation, and it became increasingly difficult to treat him.  He ran away when we tried to wash him or administer medicine, and became savage when we tried to restrain him so the veterinary doctor could examine him.  Because of these problems, he was not getting better. 

Finally, he bit one of the novices.  It was clear that Rex was never going to allow us to care for him properly, so we had the vet put him down.  We were sad to farewell him but could see no alternative.  We are looking forward to getting a new puppy and making sure that it is well trained from the beginning so that the same problems will not be repeated. Rest in peace, Rex!

FEEDING THE MARGINALISED

We have been privileged to work in the Shekhinah feeding programme over the last few months.  The programme prepares and serves meals each day, 365 days each year, to the destitute and street people of Tamale, some of whom suffer from various mental disabilities, as well as to prisoners in the central prison.  These people have no other sources of food except for the meals they get from Shekhinah.

Each Friday we join the four regular volunteers and work with them.  We have been inspired by the attitude of the workers at the feeding program. They are punctual and hardworking, and have a loving heart for the work.  They have motivated us by freely involving us in the work. This has helped us to build a good relationship with them, and so make the ministry a very satisfying experience.

As we all know, each person is a messenger of God. God therefore, invites us to share our lives with others in love. This is what we try to practice in our ministry.  As we meet those served by the feeding programme, we come to realize that these people are neglected in the society.  It is surprising for many people to see us talking with them when giving them food.  The destitute are lonely with few to take an interest in them, so the presence of the Shekhinah volunteers gives them a sense of acceptance in the society.  We appreciate the love that God has given to us to be able to share his love with the destitute

We have also come to realize that some of the mentally challenged smoke or abuse other drugs. This left us with a question - why is it so? We have asked the people we work with this question. And it is sad to hear that the number of mentally challenged people on the street increases due to this abuse of drugs.  Many of these people are youths. This has helped us to understand how dangerous drugs can be if abused. It is an invitation for us to educate the youths about the side effects of drugs in our schools and other institutions.

In conclusion, our experience at the feeding program has been very helpful to us. It has helped us to see the real life that the poor have each day. We have seen a suffering God. We have seen the presence of God in the people we are working with. We have been reminded to be true disciples of Jesus by loving in deeds and actions.

Elly Sakwa and Lewis Musonda

YUMBA SPECIAL SCHOOL

Yumba Special School, located on the outskirts of Tamale, is primarily set up for students who are mentally handicapped, though a good number of students also have various physical disabilities.  The population of the school is quite less than a hundred students with eleven teachers and eight support staff.  It is significant that the name “Yumba”, a word from the local Dagomba language, means “love them”. 
For the three of us novices who have worked at Yumba last year and this year, working there asks for patience, courage and commitment. Most of all, it asks for a heart of love of God and the poor.  It is indeed a hurdle when you are not trained to work with such people, but with a heart that sees God in others, especially the marginalised, it becomes a life-changing story.

 
Lewis and Yumba students

One thing we found is that, although the children of Yumba are mentally challenged, they are happy people. From the moment you arrive in the morning till the time you leave in the afternoon, you will have the opportunity to experience the joy they share. They seem to be living in the true spirit of the gospel by enjoying the present moment. It seems the only thing that matters to most of them is the present moment..

                                            Students dancing

Language was our main limitation in terms of communication, but we came face to face with the reality that, for the mentally challenged, for whom talking is far from the first thing they do, love can change lives to respond positively. That is what we experienced.  We saw change and improvement as a positive outcome of the love they received from the teachers as well as from each other. We witnessed the beauty of God in how caring the students themselves can be to each other in school. It is something that challenged how we as “able” people treat those living with disabilities

 

                                   Victor and Yumba students

The challenge for us was, “If mentally challenged students can try their very best to look after one another, then what is God telling us?”  We found Christ really present and appealing to us through these students.  Being among them is very challenging and we really experienced God’s presence to us through them. They minister to us more than we do to them.
 

Victor Piniau, Lewis Musonda, Amos Kutwa

ONCE UPON A TIME UNDER A MANGO TREE

Ever since the Christian Brothers have had a novitiate in Tamale, novices have been inspired and challenged by their experiences as volunteers at Shekhinah Clinic and the Shekhinah Feeding Programme.  The Clinic and its founder, Dr. David Abdulai, are household names in Tamale. They provide medical and feeding assistance to the poorest of the poor for absolutely no charge.  Their vision statement, proudly written up over the verandah of the Outpatients building, proclaims: Services in the clinic and feeding programme are aimed primarily at the poor and destitute, purely for love of God and neighbour and are absolutely free. They depend unconditionally on Divine providence.

Dr Abdulai (centre, with his wife Miriam) receiving the Martin Luther King Jr. Award (for his contributions to peace and justice) earlier this year from the American Ambassader to Ghana.

 It is now 20 years since Dr. Abdulai carried out surgery on a woman under the mango tree near to where the Outpatients building now stands. At that time, Dr. David knew that he wanted to serve the poor, but had no facilities. He recalls how he was aware that the situation for the woman was desperate, and that he was taking a risk, but he put himself in God’s hands and went ahead. The operation was a success and the woman recovered.

From that dramatic beginning, the Shekhinah project has taken root, with the main clinic comprising an Outpatients department, facilities for surgery and limited inpatient care, a pharmacy, and accommodation for those in need. These include people living with AIDS (for whom here is a hospice) and mentally and physically challenged people who have been abandoned by their families and don’t have anywhere else to go or call home. Shekhinah has expanded to include a mobile feeding programme and another clinic at Wamale, just beyond the eastern fringe of Tamale.

Many of the people served, especially by the feeding programme, are destitute and some have mental illnesses (in many cases the result of untreated cerebral malaria). Prisoners in Tamale Central Prison and patients abandoned by their relatives in other hospitals in town are also provided with a solid meal every day. During the years it has been running, the feeding programme has not missed a single day in its service of the destitute, prisoners and the abandoned.

Doctor Abdulai saw the need of the local people who were suffering due to lack of access to healthcare because they could not afford to pay. As someone who grew up in abject poverty, he had not forgotten his own experiences and has a deep compassion for the poor. All his siblings died at young age due to sickness, lack of access to medical facilities and malnutrition. His mother was a beggar and his father a leper. He was helped to grow and acquire an education by priests and well-wishers until he joined university and sought help from the government. 

  

Novices Romano (left) from Kenya, and Hazeley (right) from Sierra Leone, at work in the Shekhinah pharmacy, preparing drugs for distribution.

A convert to Catholic Christianity, he has a deep faith in God’s unconditional love for all and in God’s providential care, especially for Shekhinah. He recounts with a wry smile that he has only applied for grants twice in the 20 years of Shekhinah’s history, and failed both times! Shekhinah depends completely on donations, which support not just the clinics and feeding programme, but also the team of volunteers who staff the project (there are no salaried employees, only volunteers!).

Dr. Abdulai is grateful for the assistance he received in getting started from the Congregation of Missionaries of Africa and the Congregation of St. Gildas Sisters (UK), and for the financial support Shekhinah continues to receive from a network of donors across the world.

Dr. David is a charismatic person, in the fullest sense of that much-abused word. The fruits of the Spirit are seen in his dedication to and love of the poor, his easy, warm manner with all, his simplicity and his ready smile. David Abdulai’s faith and commitment have much to teach us who aspire to follow Jesus in the footsteps of Edmund Rice. He is truly an inspiring and challenging person, a living saint.

VISIT OF THE CONGREGATION LEADER, BR. PHILIP PINTO

Leadership is much more than just administration, and we usually expect leaders to inspire and challenge us. Inspiration and challenge are certainly what we experienced during the recent visit of our Congregation Leader, Br. Philip Pinto, to Tamale.

Many Brothers and others around the world have experienced Philip’s simple yet personal and profound way of presenting a vision of the Christian Brothers and their vocation in today’s world and church. Philip made time during his visit for the Team, Brothers Kevin, Con and Tony, and especially the novices. Philip not only led a retreat day for the novices, but spent the best part of two mornings interacting with them in class.

Philip sketched the journey of the Congregation over recent decades towards a more dynamic and comprehensive understanding of God, the universe and our calling within our changing world. Many of his lines are still echoing in our conversations and hearts:

“Keep alive the dangerous memory of Jesus!”

“You don’t have to be a Christian to be God’s person.”

“The earth is God’s agenda.”

He challenged us very personally - to make the connection between prayer and our deepest desires; to let ourselves see things in a different way; to be honest with ourselves and to speak the truth. He left us wondering about this “bigger God” and about what sort of “alternative” we Christian Brothers are called to offer in the church and world. He urged us to find creative ways of living out our congregational motto of Presence, Liberation and Compassion.

Thank you, Philip. We know that you won’t be able to come again to Tamale this year, but we look forward to next meeting as Brothers, wherever and whenever that may be.

A Unique Way of Life

Sometimes it has been observed by members of other religious congregations that community has a significance for Christian Brothers that is not part of the tradition of every congregation. It has always been crucial to life and ministry. This was certainly true for us in our recent Community Pastoral Placement (CPP).   

Our community consisted of five novices: Elly Sakwa and Amos Kutwa (both from Kenya), Daniel Phiri and Lewis Musonda (Zambia), and Victor Piniau (Papua New Guinea).  For all five of us, the experience was a unique part of our formation experience.

It was a new experience for all of us because although some have lived in community previously – with Brothers or other postulants – here we were living with people from different cultures in a smaller community, and away from the structures of the novitiate site.  We were challenged as a community to take responsibility for ourselves. As far as each member of the community was concerned, life was full of fun, challenges and joy. Each member of the community could feel and experience the real sense of ‘being brother’ to one another in a loving and caring way.

Immediately below: (from left) Elly, Amos, Lewis and Daniel.  Where’s Victor?

We have all been very pleased with the experience of a full week’s work in our respective ministries, whereas last year we were at ministry on just one day a week.  We have been enriched through the daily encounters at ministry and these experiences have really helped us to grow in awareness of the social conditions of the people with whom we are working.  We learned to be attentive and open to the needs of those we minister to. All of us came home each day with experiences that were shared with the community so that our ministry experiences became also central in our community sharing.
Prayer was the centre of our community life and was like the fountain from which we got the inspiration to go into our ministries each day. From our sharing in prayer, each of us was challenged and invited to continue to listen to and for God both in the community and at the ministry site. Each of us brought his gifts and uniqueness into how he facilitated prayer. Each day we were grateful for our experiences of the “Holy Mystery” even though we never understood this “Holy Mystery” fully.
Below: (from left) displaying the Choggu team strip are Victor, Elly, Amos and Lewis.  Now Daniel is lost!

Hospitality was very much part of our community experience. Our door was not only open to familiar faces, but also to people of different creeds. We had Christian and Muslim friends alike coming to our community for a meal and that was a tremendous encounter. Our Muslim friends still talk about how hospitable and open we were to them as young men not only of a different faith but from other cultures as well. One thing that amazes our Muslim friends was how people from different cultural backgrounds could live together in one house and eat and drink as if coming from the same parents. For our community this compliment was indeed a blessing. To us, this is a reflection from others indicating the kind of community we not only live in but a community that we value as a way of life and not just a place.
Each of us have come out of the three months with something very significant to our own growth, spiritually, socially, emotionally and intellectually. We enjoyed the three months – though it was not without challenges – and we look forward to the reality of community living in our respective countries when we pack our bags from Br. Paul Noonan Formation House at the end of 2012.

COMMUNITY PASTORAL PLACEMENT

We novices are currently doing a very important part of our novitiate experience – the Community Pastoral Placement (or CPP). This is a chance for us to practise in a much more realistic way the life of the Christian Brothers. We are living for three months in two communities in Tamale, away from the novitiate and managing our community life, attending to our daily chores and working full-time in our various ministries. The CPP began in early January and concludes at the end of March.

GURUGU COMMUNITY

One community is at Choggu and the other at Gurugu. Each community has a Community Coordinator and a Bursar, and these positions rotate after every month, so that all of us have the opportunity to be in a leadership role in the community.

At Gurugu there are six of us - Belamino Muunga, Blaise Semoso, Christian Hazeley, Nature Busiku, Romano Rambu and Septimus Sama. Gurugu is a suburb of Tamale about 2 kilometers south of Tamale town centre. We were all anxious about what awaited us in our new setting, considering it was a new experience to all of us as non-Ghanaians, away from the familiar grounds of the novitiate house. Nevertheless, we have now acclimatized in the new place.

We are grateful to be living, working, praying and interacting with each other as we form a community and interact daily with the wider community around us. We are trying to express our commitment and be inspired by the spirit of Edmund and Jesus to live as a Gospel community. We admire the way that each of us has settled in to the new environment with his diverse experiences, uniqueness and gifts. There has been a good brotherly spirit over the first four weeks as we have adapted to our daily routines. The experiences encountered in our community are dealt with responsibly. We believe our experience so far reflects the quality of the novitiate programme over the last eleven months together, as well as the giftedness of each novice. We look forward to the gifts and challenges of the remaining two months.