Professional training for young women in Luanda, Angola

The Oblate Santo André Oblate Parish is situated in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Luanda, the capital of Angola.  Most of the 16,000 parishioners are former refugees of the country’s 27-year civil war.

Angola is now as a post conflict country and has begun its reconstruction.

During the period of civil war, many children and youth could not attend school for reasons, such as being orphans of both parents, poverty, being refugees, or for lack of functioning schools in the areas they lived.  The result is a current high number of illiterate adults that are at disadvantage at finding employment.

Young women training in Angola

Particularly vulnerable among these persons are young women and girls.

Many of them not only did not attend school but got pregnant very early in life either because they had married very young or because they were forced to live with men in order to survive the war.

Rather than completing secondary school, many of these young ladies want to get their lives back and to support their children as single mothers.   Many times, professional formation is the only alternative they have.

The Missionary Oblate Partnership is supporting a project launched in 2011 with the assistance of two private foundations, to train these young women in three areas with good employment opportunities: interior decoration, culinary arts and pastry cooking, and hotel keeping and hospitality

The courses are offered in a center that belongs to the Santo André Oblate Parish and is under the authority of ProMAICa (Promoção da Mulher Angolana na Igreja Catolica.or Promotion of Angolan Women in the Catholic Church), a Catholic women organization. The center has a capacity to train 75 women and girls per year.

Many of the attendees pay full or partial tuition but many others need financial assistance.  The local Oblates address this situation and the sustainability of the program through strategies such as catering for local events, selling what the students have prepared, and providing the students’ services.

 

Celebrating the 230th birthday of our Founder, St. Eugene de Mazenod

St. Eugene de Mazenod’s impassionate commitment to help the most marginalized of society has profoundly influenced the lives of millions of persons around the world. 

Born in Aix-en-Provence, France, on August 1, 1782 to a noble father and a wealthy bourgeois mother, Eugene’s prospective of a comfortable life was shattered by the French Revolution that obliged the family to flee into exile.  When after an impoverished and lonely adolescence and a broken home he returned to post-revolutionary France at the age of 20 his main goal was to make up for lost time.

Members of the Missionary Oblate Partnership in the room where the Missionary Oblates Congregation was founded.

Then, during the adoration of the cross on Good Friday, 1807, Eugene finally acknowledged the “conversion” that had been taking place within him and decided to dedicate his life to Christ.  He was ordained a priest in 1811; his dream was to become the servant and priest of the poor, the abandoned youth, the prisoners, the farm and domestic workers, of all those had fallen into the cracks of society and the Church.

Soon, he founded a group of missionaries, whose major task was the preaching of parochial missions in the local language as part of the restoration of the Church that had been shattered by the French Revolution.  In February 1826, Pope Leo XII formally approved the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.  Their goal:

to lead people to act like human beings, first of all, and then like Christians, and finally, … to help them to become saints.

(Oblate Rule of 1818, cited by Dulier, “15 days of prayer with Saint Eugene de Mazenod,” 2009)

Named Bishop of Marseille in 1837, the diocese grew steadily under Eugene’s direction.  As bishop, he felt equally comfortable meeting with the mayor of the city or the fishwives and beggars; he received them all by strict order of arrival.  He was known for wandering the alleyways of Marseille.  Usually dressed as a simple priest, and often accompanied by members of the religious sodality he created from among the fishwives, together they would bring the Sacraments to the sick and dying in the poorest slums.  He remained at his post throughout the plague epidemics, making up for the deficiencies in services, because

when new needs arise we must, if necessary, invent new means to meet them.

(Hubenig, OMI, “Living in the Spirit’s Fire,” 1995)

Church of the Madeleine on a market day, today

St. Eugene’s charism of radical love for the poor translated into the care of the whole person, the spiritual but also the physical needs.  His belief in the equal dignity of all persons was best expressed on Ash Wednesday 1813, when to the annoyance of the upper classes of Aix he preached to the poor of all sorts not in the usual French or Latin that were the languages of the Church and the wealthy, but in Provençal the tongue of the people:

… You, the poor, the needy, whom the injustice of men obliges to beg for the bread which will sustain your existence …  The world sees you as the rejects of society … But you, …  my very dear and respectable people,…  you are the children of God, the heirs of his eternal kingdom, … You are … the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ … you are kings, you are priests, you are, in a way, gods … Within each of you there is an immortal soul, made in the image of God …  ”

(Hubenig, OMI, “Living in the Spirit’s Fire,” 1995, page 53).

Eugene’s other concern was to bring the Gospel where it had not yet been proclaimed.  During his life, his missionaries carried the Good News of Christ’s personal love for each of us to England, Ireland, Ceylon, North America, and Southern Africa.  Today, more than 4,000 Oblates and their Associates serve the poor and marginalized in 67 countries.  Eugene de Mazenod died on May 21, 1861 and was canonized on December 3, 1995.  He is considered the Patron Saint of dysfunctional families.

References:

“St Eugene speaks to us” www.eugenedemazenod.net

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate; Congregation’s website:  http://www.omiworld.org

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, US Province’s website: www.omiusa.org

Dullier, Berndard. “15 days of prayer with Saint Eugene de Mazenod,” New City Press, New York, 2009.

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, US Province, “Guide for Oblate Associates,” Mission Enrichment and Oblates Associates, Belleville, 2008.

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, US Province, “Elements of Oblate Spirituality for Associates of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate,” Mission Enrichment and Oblates Associates, Belleville, 2007.

Santucci, OMI. Francis, “Eugene de Mazenod.  Co-operator of Christ the Saviour, Communicates his Spirit,” Association for Oblate Studies and Research, Rome, 2004.

Aubin, OMI, Hervé, “The Founder of the Oblates.  Saint Eugene de Mazenod,” Mariam Press Ltd., Battleford (SK, Canada), 1997.

Hubenig, OMI, Alfred A., “Living in the Spirit’s Fire,” Novalis, Ottawa, 1995.

June brings good news for mission’s Special Children in Tijuana: A new bus

The month of June brought good news for the Special Children of Tijuana.  In 2009, the San Eugenio Mission started a “Giving Hope to Special Kids” Program to provide services to children with special needs (i.e. autism, attention deficit disorders, Williams Syndrome, sight and hearing deficiencies, and others) that are left behind by the local public school system.

In June, the program received much needed help, a new bus to provide transportation to the center for these special children, and their families.   The new bus purchase was only possible thanks to grants from an U.S. foundation and the Mexican government.

Staffed by a team that includes a psychologist, a social worker, a special education teacher, a language therapist, and a coordinator, the program gives these children a chance to be diagnosed and treated, as well as to learn.

Special Kids celebrating

More that 140 young people have already been receiving these services for some time, but many more in some of the most remote areas of the mission were limited in their ability to travel to the community center where the services take place.

To reach out to these latter children and their families, who do not have the ability to travel to the community center, and transport these children to the center and back everyday, last June the San Eugenio Mission was able to purchased a new bus.

The purchase was made possible by a grant from an American private foundation and one from the Mexican government.

Global Oblate Fundraisers meet in San Antonio and Belleville

Hosted by the US Province of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, from May 27 through June 4, fundraisers from the around the Oblate world met in San Antonio, TX, and Belleville, IL.

Representatives from the Congregation’s General Administration and from the Anglo-Irish, Australia, Austria, Germany, Mediterranean, Poland, and the two Canadian Provinces, as well as the United States, including the Missionary Oblate Partnership attended the gathering.

Visit to US MAMI, in Belleville

The purpose of the meetings was to discuss ways to better coordinate efforts in order to make more efficient to raise funds for the missions in the 67 countries where the Oblates are present. Participants shared experiences and special issues affecting fundraising in the different provinces, issues that many times result from the legal frameworks and regulations of the countries.

High points of the meeting were the presentation of two films, “When the wolves came,” based on the memoirs of Fr. Francis T. Pfeifer, OMI that shows his struggle to protect the people of his mission in Mexico, and “The Nazarene” about the life and work of Irish Oblate Fr. Charlie Burrows, OMI, in Indonesia.

Additionally, participants toured the Office of Oblate Missions and the O’Shaughnessy Library of the Oblate School of Theology, both in San Antonio, and the Office of US MAMI in Belleville.   A half-day trip to the San Jose Mission in Texas, put them in touch with the state’s Catholic Past.

Sponsor: a new water tank and repairs for the kitchen for Our Lady’s Hospice in Lusaka, Zambia

Our Lady’s Hospice was started in 2001 in Kalingalinga, one of the poorest and most populated areas of Lusaka, Zambia, by four religious congregations, one of them the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.  The Hospice is a faith-based institution that provides palliative end-of-life care for patients with HIV/ AIDS.

Hospice’s services include:  (1) an Outpatient Department that offers Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART), Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) and TB treatment. The hospice’s Laboratory can perform blood tests and people testing positive for HIV are then enrolled in an ART program; (2) a Children’s clinic, established in 2004 under the Zambian Centre for Infectious Diseases Research, provides paediatric palliative care; and (3) Inpatient Services, using 30 beds across 5 wards to provide palliative care to HIV patients.   The Hospice also admits and cares for patients with opportunistic infections, such as TB or cancers such as Kaposi Sarcoma.

At present, Our Lady’s Hospice needs to:

(1) renovate the water system in the premises.  The water tank is integral to the functioning of the hospice to provide clean and uninterrupted water supply to the patients.   Water is basic to keep the hospice focused on providing good and hygienic palliative care to patients and a clean and friendly environment.  Water is obtained through boreholes in the premises and stored in a tank used to channelize water to the inpatient and outpatient areas.

The tank has become inefficient and is in a dire need of repair because it is resulting in loss.   The estimates obtained point towards replacing rather than further repairing the tank. The estimated cost of dismantling the tank and replacing it with a new one is 26 Million ZMK or around US$5,000.

Detailed budget:

 Description

Total Amount (US$)
Dismantling the existing system/ bringing down the tank

300
Wire brush the steel section to receive red oxide

100
Supply & fix the timber to support the tank

400
Supply & fit 12000 ltr PVC tank in place

1,900
Weld a steel cage around the tank

400
Paint all the steel section

500
Test the water supply & hand over

150
Labor

500
Mark up, supervision & transportation of tank

700
Total

4,950

(2) repair the kitchen.  The kitchen is used to heat food for patients, prepare food for impromptu patient needs, and to boil water for the wards. The roof requires a coat of paint and also needs to be fixed at several places, the sink and shelving need to be replaced, and the windows need to be replaced along with the meshing.  Besides, the kitchen has a pantry area which is not really used as food is not stored here; hence it has been decided to break down the wall separating the pantry to ensure the space is bigger and easier to work in. The kitchen will also get false roofing inside to seal it from outside elements and therefore make it easier to keep clean.  The cost of breaking down the pantry and renovating the kitchen is estimated at 27 Million ZMK or around US$5,200.

Detailed budget:

 Description

Total Amount (US$)
Demolish existing blockwork/ shelving/ windows

200
Redo windows/electrical/shelving/ painting

4,150
Mark up, supervision & transportation

870
Total

5,220

The hospice has limited funds available for operational and project expenses and needs external support to replace the water tank and to repair the kitchen.

If you would like to sponsor either of these projects totally or partially please, contact:

Arthur A. Pingolt, Jr., at
Telephone: +1 612- 810-9147
Email: apingolt@oblatepartnership.org

21 MAY 1861 – COMMEMORATING THE DEATH OF OUR SAINT

Today, May 21, we commemorate the Feast of St. Eugene de Mazenod and also the 151st anniversary of his death.

The last wish in St. Eugene’s heart:

Practice among yourselves charity
charity
charity
and outside, zeal for the salvation of souls.

Joseph Fabre (Eugene’s successor as Superior General), Circular letter of 1861

As the current Superior General, Fr. Louis Lougen, OMI., puts it:  “Saint Eugene was a man on fire with a great love for Jesus Christ, for the Church and for the poor.“

Today, more than 4,000 Oblate priests and brothers and thousands of associates located in 67 countries, are dedicated to the evangelization of the world’s most abandoned, the vision and charism first articulated by St. Eugene.

St. Eugene de Mazenod’s model for living the spirit of poverty

  St. Eugene de Mazenod’s model for living the spirit of poverty was what he learned from the first Christians:

The first Christians followed that counsel faithfully to the letter. They still had fresh before them the example of their divine Master. 

It was to live oblation by “imitating the virtues and examples of Jesus Christ”:

who chose to be born in a stable
and to die upon a cross,
after having lived deprived of everything,
for he was without the small coin needed to pay Caesar’s tribute,
and did not even have a place to rest his head.

1818 Rule, Part Two, s Chapter One. §1. The Spirit of Poverty.

The spirit of poverty is the spirit of simplicity, of not cluttering our lives by clinging to useless possessions, ambitions and occupations. The spirit of poverty challenges us to remove all in our lives that is an obstacle to being open to the presence of God and others.

From St Eugene de Mazenod Speaks to Us

Bangladesh

The Oblate Delegation in Bangladesh was started in 1973.  Today, it has 33 members spread in four Dioceses:  Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong, and Rajshahi.   Oblate ministries include several parishes and schools, a cultural center, a medical clinic, and a religious vocation program.  In addition, the Oblates work closely with the many tribal communities, to promote the love of God and defend the rights of the indigenous (native) people.

The Partnership is supporting the Oblate Delegation of Bangladesh to obtain funds to build a Delegation House, combined with Office, meeting facilities, and rooms for elderly Fathers.

 

“Can I ever forget those bitter tears which the sight of the Cross caused to stream from my eyes one Good Friday?”

Church of the Mission, Aix-en-Provence

That was probably Good Friday, 1807, when during the adoration of the cross, Eugene finally accepted the “conversion” that was taking place in his life and fully opened himself to the love and goodness of Christ to whom he decided to dedicate his life.  He was ordained a priest in December 1811.  His dream:  to be

“the servant and priest of the poor,”

the abandoned youth, the prisoners, the farm and domestic workers, all that had fallen into the cracks of society and the Church.

Sponsor: Craft-making and marketing by people with physical disabilities in La Morita, Tijuana

Flea Market in La Morita

Jacinto Morales, a young man, paralyzed from the waist down but very talented with his hands, makes bags, blankets, designed T-shirts, and rosaries and sells them to help his family.  Jacinto is willing to share his skills and to teach other local “disable” persons to make and sell crafts.  Some of these persons are already very gifted at making beautiful embroideries.

The crafts made by Jacinto and his group are currently sold informally to visitors to the San Eugenio Parish or to other local people.  Visitors of San Eugenio can also buy coffee and beans from Cristina a physically-disabled woman that sells them from the window of her room.  The small profits she makes go to buy diapers or milk for her two small children.

The hope of Jacinto and his friends, as well as of the local Oblates that support them is to have a stall or a booth to sell their items in some open air markets (sobre ruedas) or in flea markets (also called tianguis).

The timing is good.  A young American volunteer, Julia Campagna, will be in La Morita May to July to help launching the group.  Julia is familiar with the local people.  Some years ago, as a student at the University of San Diego, she worked in La Morita as part of the University’s Campus Ministry Program.  This fall, Julia returns to the University of San Diego for her graduate degree in Pastoral Theology, but previously she will spend the summer at La Morita.

To launch this craft training project, the Oblate Mission in Tijuana needs only about $1,000 to purchase the initial materials and pay for the transportation of these people with mobility limitations from their homes to the place where the crafts will be made and sold. 

Once launched, the project will self-sustain.  Some of the income obtained will be used to buy more materials, to pay for the right to have stalls or booths in the fairs, and for transportation.  The artisans will have some money left to be able to help their families on whom they depend.

This program will have an additional benefit.  The people who would participate in this program are significantly limited by physical disabilities; their ability to even leave their homes is very restricted.  They tend to be isolated from contact with other people who are not part of their immediate families.  This program will give them an opportunity to learn skills they can use, as well as a chance to meet and interact socially with others who are also severely limited.  They will feel more productive as persons.

If you would like to help launching this craft program please, contact:

Arthur A. Pingolt, Jr., at
Telephone: +1 612- 810-9147
Email: apingolt@oblatepartnership.org

 

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