Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: Cull of the rabbits and the planting of Mango trees

Friday, January 9, 2009

Cull of the rabbits and the planting of Mango trees

We had to cull 6 of our adult rabbits as they were eating up every

bit of green in the property. With the end of the rains and the lack of fresh grass they attacked every plant leaf within reach and when leaves were not available they went at the bark!! So the choice had to be made between the rabbits and saving the vegetation. And in this area rabbits do grow faster than plants so the decision was made to cull the rabbits. We still have 14 young rabbits but they are encaged and their movements limited. A rabbit enclosure is being considered.

In January, Henry initiated the planting of 10 mango trees. All of them are grafted plants and we got them from the Intergrated Tamale Fruit Company(ITFC). They are being well cared for by Henry and Mohammad our gardener/watchman! The fact that we getting a very regular and bountiful supply of water from the municipality now helps in taking better care of the saplings even in this dry season.

I am told that the saplings should start bearing fruit in three years time!! One plants another harvests!!

PS: Did i mention that rabbit meat is delicious??

No comments:

Post a Comment

What do we want this novitiate to be?

There is a saying that goes something like this: “If we don’t do what we believe in, then we’ll end up believing in what we do”. Without a vision that is authentic and alive to guide our actions, then we can settle for rationalizing the status quo or what is convenient and comfortable.
One of the first things the new team in Tamale did was to spend time beginning to articulate its vision of a novitiate beyond the basics laid down in our Constitutions. Here are some elements of what we came up with:
Novitiate is a journey, a process that involves KNOWING, EXPERIENCING and CHOOSING.
It is an INITIATION into Christian Brother religious life, so a “rite of passage” into a new identity, a time of learning and testing.
Novitiate confronts the novices with the Brother’s vocation as a call to brotherly solidarity and community, not to privilege, status and security.
It involves exploration of the basic values of faith and vocation, and the challenge to embrace these out of personal conviction and free choice.
Novitiate means understanding that a religious vocation makes a claim on the whole of the person and his life, including his inner life, his relationships and his professional activity (ministry). Furthermore, it challenges the novice to see the dynamic inter-relationship of these areas and to learn what their integration means.
Novitiate is a time of DISCERNMENT. The novice learns more deeply who he is, and what this Christian Brother life is. There is a constant back-and-forth movement between these two poles as an answer is sought to the question, “Is this where I am meant to be? Is this the life that will enable me to find my true self in God?”