EAO: 7
December
2013
-- The
144th miisionary expedition headed off in September - or did
they? The
commissioning in Turin is not the entire story, and some did
not even
make it for that! Then there is the not-so-simple matter of
visas.
Below is a brief résumé of where things are at as they
affect EAO, for those coming, or going:
Delphin
Ndungu Kahemba was on the 144 List but with a note at the time
('no
news'!). He is a Practical Trainee from AFC, a
Swahili-French-English
speaking young Salesian who by today (7 December) should be in
Hong
Kong, and thus the first African Salesian missionary, at least
in
recent times, to head in that direction. 'No news' was good
news in his
case, but not having made it for the combined course, he has
spent some
time in Rome for a personalised course, and was commissioned
formally
in the 'African' chapel (St Francis de Sales) at the Pisana on
5
December in the presence of Fr Klement, Fr Basañes
(Africa-Madagascar
Regional) and Fr Wong. The ceremony was a mixture of Swahili,
French,
English and Italian! We see him above in the photo being
congratulated
by Fr Chávez.
Fr Giovanni Mandrella, Rome-born Italian missionary, had less
difficulty in arriving in HK. He was part of the group sendoff
in
September. You can read all about him in the December
edition of the Italian Salesian Bulletin. If Italian is
not your go, then just run the article through Google
translate
Myanmar's
very first missionary, Francisco Robewno has arrived in his
destination
- Juba, South Sudan, and is busy learning something of local
and more
general African culture. Today, 7 December, finds him,
however, in
nearby Nairobi for a gathering of Practical Trainees in AFE.
Francisco
indicates that he has already been 'baptized', as they call it
in many
parts of Africa: his first bout of malaria.
In
another 'first', the first two Vietnamese missionaries have
already
arrived in Mozambique, where they are living at the Provincial
House
while they spend their time studying Portuguese, perhaps a bit
of local
language as well, since they also have the large Salesian
Higher
Education Institute next door.
But not
everyone has received his visa as yet. Fr Andres Belo ITM is
still back
in Laga awaiting a visa (along with three others, but not from
ITM) for
Bangladesh. Joseph Nguyen Cao Thai is still waiting for his
visa for
South Africa, and Fr Ramon Pacada FIS awaits his visa for
Pakistan, but
is busy with an extended course on Islam in Rome.
