Joy for today, hope for the future: Vicuna Hostel opens on St
Mary Mazzarello's Feast day
HONIARA: 15 May 2010 -- The FMA community in Honiara, Solomon
Islands, celebrated the Feast of St Mary Mazzarello in a special way
this year with the blessing and opening of the Laura Vicuna Hostel for
young women. The Sisters began their work in 2007 at Don Bosco
Technical Institute, Henderson. They came to work with the young
women who had begun attending the College to learn life skills and home
economics. It was clear from the beginning that these young women
needed safe accommodation to be able to attend Don Bosco College. Many
of them come from other islands or distant villages and live with
relatives or others from their villages. They are often the subject of
domestic violence and used as domestic help rather than being able to
study. The cost of food and bus fares to get to school is often
prohibitive. Soon after building their own house to live in the Sisters
dreamed and planned for a hostel for the young women, most of who are
in their twenties. The support of the FMA South Pacific Province in
fundraising, some generous benefactors and the many sacrifices of the
sisters has enabled this dream to become a reality on the Feast
of Maria Mazzarello, foundress with Don Bosco of the Salesian Sisters.
The Henderson community welcome Sr Kathleen Taylor,
General Councillor, and Sr Margaret Bentley, Provincial, to the island
the day before the opening. On the morning of the Feast the Sisters
celebrated morning Eucharist with the entire College community as well
as other religious, friends and families. Groups of students in
national costumes danced and sang the entrance procession, the
procession of the Word and the offertory procession. Fr Panjab
SDB celebrated the Mass and preached the homily, encouraging everyone
to get to know the life of Mary Mazzarello better and follow her
example of loving care for others in great humility.
Following the Mass the group processed across the
road for a short ceremony of welcome and blessing. Sr Margaret welcomed
everyone and explained that the hostel was dedicated to Laura Vicuna, a
pupil and boarder of the Salesian Sisters, who found a home among the
Sisters because her own home environment was not safe. Sr Margaret
prayed that all the young women who came to the hostel would find a
family environment that provided a safe place to live and study, she
went on to announce that the motto for the Hostel would be “Joy for
Today, Hope for the Future”. The Sisters aim to help educate
these young women for life in the Solomon Islands, whether it be
married life, a working life, or single or religious life.
Fr Herman Tige, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese
of Honiara, addressed the group, commenting on how needed this work was
and how timely it was to cater for an urgent need in the area. Sr
Kathleen Taylor spoke of her joy in being in the Solomon Islands for
the first time, the beauty of the land and the openness of the people.
Then the keys to the Hostel were handed over to Sr Kathleen Taylor who
cut the ribbon and opened the door. Fr Marsup, the local Parish Priest
then blessed the new building. Everyone was able to admire the
simple and practical design that will allow for 36 young women to live
in safety, while studying or working. A short performance by the
students of song and dance concluded the program and everyone was able
to enjoy refreshments together.
The hostel will begin in July when the students
return from a midyear break. It will add to the apostolic work
the sisters do teaching at Don Bosco College, supporting the Parish at
Red Beach with catechetics and Sunday games, supporting the Catholic
Teacher’s Association and the new work of coordinating Catholic
Communications for the three dioceses. In three and a half years
the Sisters have achieved an enormous amount of work and hope to
continue for many years to come the work of Don Bosco and Mary
Mazzarello in the Solomon Islands.
*******
RIP: Fr James (Jim) Carroll SDB, Australia-Pacific province, who died
peacefully on the morning of 15 May, in Melbourne. Jim would have been
known by many of austraLasia's older readers. He was 86 at the time of
his death, if I am not mistaken. Sent off to study Canon Law in the
early 1950's, something Jim accomplished as was asked, and well too, he
was possibly better known at the Crocetta for fixing all manner of
electrical appliances, as he was subsequently known in the Australian
province for farming, fixing, fabricating - and sheer goodness! Jim was
one of the kindest persons one could ever encounter. He was no mean
administrator, and spent two stints as Vice Provincial and a long
period (20 years) as Provincial Economer. Alert until all but the last
months, Jim was at Ferntree Gully community, which was then absorbed
into Lysterfield earlier this year, but in recent months his decline in
health meant he needed constant care and he moved to a private room
with the Good Shepherd Sisters whom he had cared for spiritually and in
every respect for many years while located at Ferntree Gully.
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