1166 Long-time missionary in East Timor gains Masters in Theology
austra L asia 1166

Long-time missionary in East Timor gains Masters in Theology

DILI: 15th June 2005 --  Fr Jose Vattaparambil was, last month, awarded his Masters in Theology from the Dominican School at Berkeley USA.  His thesis was "Restoration and Reconciliation in the context of East Timor".  Fr Jose had in fact defended his thesis at the end of last year, and has now returned to East Timor. 
    Fr Jose was for many years the Rector at Fuiloro, and was responsible for  masterminding a scheme to drill down to artesian water supplies.  He is a water-diviner, almost by 'trade', and has little difficulty in divining not only where water can be found, but at what depth and in what quantity.  These skills, combined with the practical backing of the Australian province which funded a project to provide mobile drilling equipment and pumps, gave many thousands of villagers access to drinking water and basic irrigation needs denied by the situation of conflict the nation was then in. 
    On his recent return to East Timor, in much calmer times, he now finds himself on the formation team at Venilale.

VOCABULARY
artesian: refers to a geological structure whereby water is held under pressure below ground over perhaps millions of years.  This area, including Timor and Australia, holds vast reserves of such water.

___________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific.  It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome.  For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml.  If you subscribe, email this information and your name will come off the regular email list.  RSS eliminates problems such as multiple mailings, viruses, email bloat.  Think about it!