Aug_Sept_M28


Aug_Sept_M28

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23
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE SALESIAN MISSIONS ANIMATION OFFICE (FIN) ISSUE NO. # 8 – VOLUME 3 AUG -SEPT 2010
UPDATES: PROGRESS
AND HOPE IN Haiti
Dear Friends,
We never missed an issue
since the inception of the
M28 newsletter which was
then called the Auxiliaries of
the Mission. We began in
March 2007 publishing hard
copies and sending soft
copies by email. At present,
we have produced 41 copies
already in our monthly issues
tackling different missionary
news and stories in order to
strengthen
missionary
animation here in the FIN
province.
We have built a respectable
database here in the country
that reaches out to regional
countries as well.
The sad part is that we
missed a single issue in the
publication of the August
newsletter for 2010
And the reason, I broke a leg
literally that sent me to the
hospital for surgery,
recuperation and rest. But all
is well. Although, it should
have been 42 and not 41,
Continued on page 3:
Last January of this year a massive
earthquake hit struck Haiti just before 5
p.m. on Jan. 12, about 10 miles southwest
of Port-au-Prince, the country's capital.
The quake was the worst in the region in
more than 200 years. A study by the Inter-
American Development Bank estimated
that the total cost of the disaster was
between $7.2 billion to $13.2 billion, based
on a death toll from 200,000 to 250,000.
Earthquakes in the Caribbean
Haiti sits on a large fault that has
caused catastrophic quakes in the past,
but this one was described as among the
most powerful to hit the region.
The Caribbean is not usually
considered a seismic danger zone, but
earthquakes have struck there in the past.
"There's a history of large, devastating
earthquakes," said Paul Mann, a senior
research scientist at the Institute for
Geophysics at the University of Texas,
"but they're separated by hundreds of
years." Most of Haiti lies on the Gonave
microplate, a sliver of the earth's crust
between the much larger North American
plate to the north and the Caribbean plate
to the south. The earthquake on Tuesday
occurred when what appears to be part of
the southern fault zone broke and slid.
The fault is similar in structure to the
San Andreas fault that slices through
California, Dr. Mann said.
Such earthquakes, which are called
strike-slip, tend to be shallow and produce
violent shaking at the surface. They can be
very devastating, especially when there
are cities nearby. An earthquake of this
strength had not struck Haiti in more than
200 years, a fact apparently based on
contemporaneous accounts. The most
powerful one to strike the country in recent
years measured 6.7 magnitude in 1984.

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Several Salesians are living in a temporary residence that
was under construction in April but is now finished. Temporary
classrooms have been completed and painted,
The Salesians began educating the poor in Haiti at the
invitation of the Haitian government -- the Salesian Sisters (the
Daughters of Mary Help of Christians) in 1935 and the
Salesians of Don Bosco (priests and brothers) in 1936.
Salesians in Haiti now number about 85 sisters and 70 priests
and brothers. The Salesians are the largest providers of
education in Haiti after the government.
A plan to build a new education system in Haiti is one of the
most encouraging things to emerge from the rubble of the Jan.
12 earthquake. It is expected to be endorsed at a meeting on
Tuesday of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, the joint
Haitian-international body created to guide the country’s
rebuilding.
Nearly all primary schools in Haiti today are private; parents,
eager to give their children a better life, pay dearly. Judging
from Haiti’s high illiteracy and dropout rates and dire lack of
qualified teachers, the system needs a complete overhaul.
The plan to reinvent the education sector is hugely
ambitious but relatively simple. It does not try to build entirely
from scratch — many schools will still be privately run. But the
government, with international help, will provide generous
subsidies to parents who choose to send their children to
schools that accept new layers of oversight and accountability,
including government accreditation, a modernized national
curriculum and teacher retraining. These schools will also have
to be certified as structurally sound.
The goal is to provide universal free or nearly-free education
for kindergarten through 12th grades in accredited schools, with
eventual government financing. The full transformation is
expected to take 20 years.
Eight months after the quake, the list of things that need to be
fixed in Haiti is dauntingly, disturbingly long. Indeed, there are
still more than one million people who are displaced and need
homes. This education plan, built with a constructive mix of
homegrown initiative and outside help, should be a model for
moving other desperately needed projects forward. There is no
time to waste. There is still an enormous amount of work to do
but the scene is more hopeful.
“Just as in a family
everyone gathers around a
sick child, so, moved by
great “„com-passion‟ we
want to share the burden of
this
extraordinary
emergency and help in a
very practical way this
small Vice Province so
sorely tried.”
Our Confreres in Haiti have
been sorely tried but
without doubt they are
turning to us. They are
asking for help and support
so that Don Bosco may be
able to continue his work in
this country and may give
them a sign of hope as
they continue along their
path as Salesians. For
days they have been living
out in the open with
thousands of other people”
Fr Pascual Chávez

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SALESIAN MISSIONARY ANIMATION DESK
Celebrating DOMISAL 2010
In fin province
Attention: Spiritual Moderators / Pastoral Affairs in-charge
We are requesting our spiritual moderators to find time in order to schedule the celebration of the Domisal
for the year 2010. We encourage you to document your activities and share it with us for others to hear
about the work we do to promote missionary animation in our settings.
ince 1988, its main aim has been to give IMPULSE
S
to missionary animation throughout the
Congregation by offering something by way of an
annual project, and it is usually based on some
frontier situation; it is set up along similar lines to
Dthe World Mission Day proclaimed by the Pope. It is not an
isolated event, rather a chance to involve our SDB and EPC
communities in the missionary dynamic of the universal
Church, so it has a broad perspective.
T
DOMISAL aims to arouse
Missionary cooperation, by presenting some current
Salesian missionary work
Fervour for mission in Salesian communities and their
work (SDB, youth, Salesian Family, lay people)
An opening up of minds and hearts to make room for
the missionary activity of the universal Church and the
Congregation
A new faith-filled enthusiasm for missions and
especially missionary vocations ad gentes
The campaign of the Salesian Mission Day 2010 The Salesians
walking with the Gypsies wants to contribute through the means of social
communication in overcoming the prejudices towards this most numerous
ethnic minority present in the European continent for centuries. At the
same time we also want to make known to the Church and society the
truly missionary commitment of our confreres with and for the Gypsies in
the various countries of Europe (Albania, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy,
Czech Republic, Spain, Hungary)
In the Philippines, we remember to pray for the Salesian Family in
Europe during 2010, especially for the intention of overcoming prejudices
against Gypsies. We should realize and answer the question when will
people stop persecuting this vulnerable minority for their way of life and
realize that they are part of the fabric of humanity for hundreds of years
including other marginalized groups in society
Editor‟s Note (from page 1)
we are coming up with a special loaded issue for the month of September. It is extra special because we celebrate Mama
Mary’s birthday on September 8. She has been Don Bosco’s protector and guide in guiding the young grow up to become
holy and upright citizens. We renew our efforts to promote missionary animation through news, missionary stories from
priests and volunteers assigned in mission stations and remembering missionary pioneers who worked in Philippines shores
to establish what Don Bosco is in the Philippines right now. Help us with your comments, suggestions and contributions.
Marmaing salamat po. (Editor)

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SALESIAN MISSION NEWS
QUETTA, Pakistan.- Salesians are distributing food and supplies
to thousands of families that have sought safety from the massive
floods ravaging Pakistan.
Last week, a Vienna-based Salesian non-governmental
organization provided Salesian Father Peter Zago, based in
Quetta, Pakistan, with an initial contribution of €5,000 ($6,360).
He is using the money for families that have been displaced as
the monsoons move south; more than 50,000 families from Sibi
and other areas are spread throughout four or five camps.
As in 2005 when an earthquake devastated Pakistan, the
Salesians have organized groups of young leaders, so as to reach
more people. The goal has been to give each family a survival kit
to last for a month.
The Salesian Info Agency reported that as much as 20% of the
country is under water and 15.4 million people have been
affected by the floods. Father Zago told Vatican Radio: "This
morning we received around 100 families and gave them what is
essential at least for a month: flour and oil to cook 'chapatti,' their
basic meal, some beans and medicine. We have children, boys
and girls, some of whom are presenting symptoms of cholera and
other diseases due to non-treated drinking water."
Salesians are sheltering 1,500 families -- some 150,000 people.
"We have received significant help from Germany and Austria,
but we are in need of more," the Salesian said. "[...] We have
more than 100 families coming from areas as far as 850
kilometers (530 miles) [away].
"Here the U.N. is not yet present. We are private institutions at
work. We have €80,000 ($102,000) and we are the only ones
helping around here, looking after the families that are most in
need. "Approaching the local merchants we tell them: 'Look, we
are taking care of your Muslim brothers, give us a good discount.'
They prepare daily 50 portions for me, containing almost
everything, and I don’t see anyone else around coming to give
any help."
Father Zago noted that when the funds run out he will have to
stop the humanitarian aid. He recounted how the initial distribution of supplies was not easy: "We were literally
attacked by people of all ages, men, women and children crying. They quickly surrounded the car in which we were
traveling. For security reasons, we took down data through the windows of the car. Then the climate changed when the
people had the amount of food that we gave each one."
The other Salesian community in Pakistan, in Lahore, is also directly aiding areas affected by the floods.

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SALESIAN MISSIONARY PIONEER
Faithfulness in the Ordinary
“Don’t make a big fuss of it,” was the
straightforward way Fr. George Schwarz reacted to
an invitation to share some thoughts on his 50 years in
the priesthood. His life was one of quietly working on
the background. Several thousands of teachers all over
the country have benefited from his science seminars
and free science kits given to each participant. “One of
the spiritual works of mercy,” writes a Dominican
sister, “is to instruct the ignorant.” How Fr. George
excelled in this! His boyish gaiety reminds me os St.
John Bosco. Like Don Bosco, Father George lives only
for others. He spends all his time, energy and money to
help others … Humbly speaking his charity is greater
than this.
Wherever he has gone, he has left behind a well-equipped laboratory and today DBC’s equipment is second to
none in the country. His association with science began in Shanghai. But in 1948 he was transferred to Chiuchow to
take his position as rector. In 1954 he spent just a few months in Mandaluyong then took in Victorias amd later Tarlac,
Mandaluyong and Tarlac again as rector to complete 18 years in this office. It was through his instrumentality and the
generosity of the German people that the main building in Tarlac was built. This was in 1965. He saw to the expansion
of Mandaluyong and the four-storey building as well as setting on foot the highly appreciated college and technical
course in Mechanics and Electronics which filled an urgent need in a technically oriented age. After a year or so of
home leave he returned to spend the next 15 years at what he likes best: teaching science in Don Bosco Seminary
Canlubang. At present, he is a confessor due to his advanced age. His entrance into Salesian and religious life is still a
mystery to him today. “Vocation is like that. If the Lord wants you, he wants you,” He states:
“At the beginning of the novitiate, one evening the Novice Master gave a conference on religious life.
“Religious life?” I asked, “I have to be careful and find out what it is!” I went to see the Novice Master. Not sure of
myself I had handed up half of what I had! I simply stayed because I liked it. It is the same today. People will stay if
they like it. There was never a problem about vocation with me. Besides going to the missions… that was romantic. It
was an adventure. Some of my friends went. I went. They left. I remained. Vocation is something… if the Lord wants
you, he wants you.”
By Fr. Remo Bati
Snippets
Every time there were no superiors who will give a goodnight talk to the seminarians, Fr. George would
usually approach the altar in the big chapel in Canlubang to share his reflections. Very often he would
start quoting the Gospel where Jesus was entering Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The donkey thought
that all the accolades and praises given by the people were meant for him, little did he realize that it was
for the man who was riding him. He imparts the lesson that Jesus must take precedence in our lives
before our selves.
Fr. George does not fail to honor our Blessed Mother and Don Bosco by consistently putting flowers in
the statues in the corner of the big Chapel.
Fr. George says his rosary at night and ends visiting the cemetery praying to the statue of the crucified
Christ.

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MISSIONARY ANIMATION DES K
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