Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: THE TREASURES OF TAMALE

Monday, October 22, 2012

THE TREASURES OF TAMALE – Part 1

As our time in Tamale comes to a close, we want to share with you some of the impressions and memories we will treasure about our time here. This is the first instalment – a second part will appear in the coming weeks.

HOSPITALITY, WELCOME, FRIENDSHIP

The friendliness and friendship of the people in Tamale is something that cannot go unnoticed. Any time I leave the novitiate to go to town or for a walk, to ministry or to visit friends, I feel completely secure and safe. I have always been humbled and nourished by the simple gestures of respect that accompany the greetings from stranger that I meet on the way. Old and young, women and men, boys and girls, all show respect in different ways. You never pass unnoticed unless you choose to.

Even if you are a complete stranger, if you happen to meet someone eating you will be surprised to be invited there and then to join the person, eating from the same bowl. I never experienced this in my life until I came to Ghana. I can say the people are very receptive and more than just being friendly to me. This is why I have come to feel so at home here and have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Tamale.(Victor)

It is unusual in Tamale to pass a stranger without extending greetings. Greeting expresses concern for the health of the person, and wishes them well. It makes people feel recognized and able to venture into the next matter of business. One day I passed two men seated under the tree without greeting them. Having lost my direction for coming home, I came back and asked for help. I got a list of questions: “You did not greet us, yet you want help from us? Did you look down on our help? Are you from this town?” Apologizing was all I could do. They offered me water, wished me well and showed me the way.

The importance of greeting others should not be overlooked. It is the first opportunity to focus entirely on another person, and it determines the next step of good relationship. It expresses acceptance, and makes one feel happy and respected. ( Daniel)

Having stayed in Tamale for 20 months, I have come to like the country and am used to the climate. It has been a wonderful experience and I have learned a lot from the Ghanaians.

The people are very welcoming and I am happy to say that Tamale has been a home for me. I have come across many families and they have made me part of their family. The teachers I worked with in Yumba Special School have so good to me, welcoming me when I visited them and introducing me to so many things in Ghanaian culture, some of which I will take home with me to Zambia.

I really admire the way people respect and cherish their culture. They like and value their local products, and encourage local industries making such things as clothes (especially the distinctive smocks), sandals, necklaces and so on. It has been an inspiration for me and I wish my own country had something like this. (Lewis)

My experience of Tamale has helped to reshape my worldview. The people are friendly, warm and hospitable, always ready to offer assistance whether you ask for it or not. I have had the opportunity to work and interact with people from different backgrounds and this has made me get in touch with people at a deeper level and develop a passion for people, especially those at the margins of society. I have also seized the opportunity to study aspects of their culture. These experiences have helped me to deepen my relationship with God. (Hazeley)

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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?”