austraLasia #2173
News from
Tetere SI
TETERE: 13th June 2008 -- Parish priest and Rector of Christ the
King Parish community, Fr Dominic Kachira, writes recently of life in
that extensive rural parish, characterised by difficult mountain
terrain on the one hand and many villages on a flatter but extensive
plain, largely given over to palm oil and root crop plantations. His
'report' covers the following items:
Rural Training Centre
This development is for young adults who have dropped out of
school. It is already into its third year of development.
The Centre offers a two year agriculture-based course. With 7
teachers and some 122 students, the course is obviously popular, though
the dropout rate is also high. Fr Dominic speaks of one young teacher
who has been able to go off to do a course in rice plantation thanks to
a Rotary Club sponsorship from Melbourne (Australia).
Parish
The parish has an extensive number of sub-stations, villages or
clusters of villages with a small chapel. The assistance from
Salesian Missions New Rochelle, they are now building a decent chapel
in Turarana village. The chapel will be dedicated to Mary Help of
Christians and will be a centre for many of the villages in the
hills. Back in the parish centre itself, with assistance from the
Rector Major's Fund, the existing parish hall will be extended with an
additional wing.
Good Samaritan Hospital
Before his ordination as Bishop of Gizo, Fr Luciano Capelli, with
assistance from Italian volunteers from his town of origin was able to
construct a hospital in the parish. It was finally blessed and opened
on the Feast of Don Bosco this year. The project has been handed
over to the provincial government to administer, though since 7th March
this year the Pietà Sisters from the Philippines have arrived to
assist the government in its administration. So now there is an
additional convent in the parish with three Sisters, two from Peru and
one from the Philippines.
Bush Villages
Pastoral work in the villages is challenging because people are on the
move - the visiting priest is likely to find new people each time he
arrives! Familes move out to plant a new garden of sweet potatoes and
tapioca and can be away for months and even for years. Many come to
work with the Oil Palm company as day labourers, or to work in the gold
mines. SOmetimes after taking all the trouble to reach a village, more
than half the village may be away for a funeral, and funeral mourning
may take weeks or months depending on the status of the one who died.
This kind of movement has obvious implications for educational
stability.
Parish census
During the past year Fr Dominic has done his utmost to trace Catholics
in the parish area, particularly those working on oil palms or in gold
mines, both of which ventures have re-opened after being closed for
years during less stable times. Hundreds have come in from other
islands and from other parishes. With the kind of movement
already alluded to, it is clearly difficult to establish any kind of
real register. He has added 70 families and a further 130
individuals, amounting to something like 500 souls!
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Title: australasia 2173
Subject and key words: EAO Provinces PNG-SI Tetere parish
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2173
