John Roche's African Adventure - 4

Monday, June 21, 2010

Sunday was a pleasant day, and the meeting of the “Quinquennium” began immediately.  At 9:00 AM I gave the opening conference for a gathering of the young priests in their first five years of ordination.  Four of the young priests, Fr. Peter, Fr. Abel, Fr. Artimi, and Fr. Francis were with me during the retreat as well, and  I assured the material for these meeting would be entirely different.  None of them seemed to mind at all.  

All together, 9 young priests and the Vice-Provincial were in attendance for these meetings which began on Sunday morning and will go through Tuesday night.  Represented in the group are such places as Iringa, Khartoum, Korr, Moshi, Upanga, and Nairobi.  

The opening session on Sunday seemed to go quite well.  I made use of some media presentations to kick start the discussions and these were very interesting.  There were two sessions before lunch and two sessions after lunch.  By evening, all were tired but the spirit seemed very upbeat and many expressed interest in the material.  

On Monday, I asked the Salesians to gather into two groups and to identify new forms of abandonment they have seen in their contexts.  I also asked them to identify new forms of accompaniment offered and areas that still need to be addressed with some form of accompaniment of the youth and their families.  The discussion was lively and insightful.  

By strange coincidence, a local paper had done a cover story the day before revealing a growing trend toward divorce and families falling apart in East Africa, normally known for its cohesion.  The next day, the cover story was about the explosion of usage in cell phones and texting.  Both of these topics, and the topic of technology and rapid changes in the youth culture highlighted much of this dialogue.  Even in the most desperate place of poverty, some young people have phones and gadgets even if they do not have sufficient food or clothing! 

The Salesians have seen a shift in the youth culture and an increase in the distractions pulling the youth away from educational discipline and the achievement of passable grades and advancement.  The parents are having less traditional authority than in the past, and there is an increasing number of elderly persons abandoned by families and society—a shocking trend in this culture.

Here are some of the new forms of abandonment they are witnessing to varying degrees:

• Single parenting
• Grandparents raising children
• Professionalism taking priority over quality time with families
• Boarding schools filling up with children who are too young, “Baby-class”
• Too much exposure to pop culture, music, television, etc
• High increase in early pregnancies, as young as 13 years of age
• Strict laws against abuse limiting contact and interaction
• Increasing numbers of IDP’s (displaced persons)
• Increasing numbers of refugees and orphans due to war and sickness
• Militarization of children
• Victims of war with all that brings
• Increasing unemployment, even of very qualified or educated youth
• Desperate women who remain without husbands or support
• Illiteracy
• Human trafficking
• Prostitution becoming a huge industry
• Street children

Some of the forms of accompaniment that are apparent are these:

• New lay movements and involvement
• The “Scaffolding” Program
• Informal education for more and more people with an upgrade in the content
• Better life choices are being made in many contexts
• Structures are being offered for social and religious programs
• Structures are both buildings and programs
• There is a rise in dynamic groupings of people and the young for prayer, for scripture study, for the rosary
• More and more work is being offered among refugees
• Mass media is becoming an effective tool of communication, education, and evangelization

Some groups thought some attention was still needed to create better accompaniment:

• The sacraments need to become more significant in various programs with an emphasis on reconciliation
• More work needs to be done in creating blogs for young people and connecting on various social networking sites such as Facebook.
• Perhaps some Salesians could devote their energies to mobile ministries, rather than focusing on one area
• Mentoring toward conversion is necessary at all levels

At the end of this long and full first day with the young priests, a few of us gathered to watch the first of a two part film based on the life of St. Bakhita, a young woman slave from Sudan who came to Italy as a slave, eventually came to faith, became a religious, and lived a  very powerful life of holiness despite her past and the harsh conditions of her life.  The first part was powerful and I can’t wait for the second part of the film this evening.  

On Monday morning, today, I began the first of two conferences with some media, once more.  Then I launched into “New Evangelization” and Don Bosco’s experience of accompaniment.  These sessions led to a very interesting discussion about the growth of the Salesian Mission in Africa.  We wrestled with the issue of international   volunteers, the clash of cultures, the motivation for volunteerism, and the experience of racism.  This discussion session was very provocative and inspiring.

After lunch, the Youth Ministry Delegate in this province gave a presentation on the Rector Major’s most recent letter on Youth Ministry (ACG 406).  This evolved into a presentation of the history of Project Africa and identifying the stage of African enculturation and integration making the Salesian charism truly applicable in these specific contexts and languages.  This was a very powerful presentation.  We are on a break between two afternoon/evening sessions.  The conclusion of this session will begin at 6:00 PM.  

After supper, Br. Jim and Br. Vigilio will join me for the conclusion of the film.  Br. Jim went into Dar Es Salaam today and bought me my own copy of the film “Bakhita” from the Paulist bookstore.  Fr. Gianni told me he has obtained a fairly large nativity set from Kenya for Gael.  And with the repacking of my bag, after wearing out my muggy clothes for about 10 days, I will have to start planning the packing of such items for transport in less than two weeks.

I spoke with my brother Jim by Skype, touched bases with Sean, spoke to my mother, and finally called Gael all last night when the internet came on clear and strong.  Today, it has been up and down and usually weak, as expected.  At the moment, it is down once more.  I am hoping it will come back on this evening for a few other calls.

In the back of my mind are all the tasks still to be completed for SLIM when I get back with the knowledge that Judy and Al are fully engaged in SYLC at the moment.  I am hoping to get to some of those details tonight and later this week.  There remain more than a few days when I return, but I am not sure how long it is going to take me to get back on track with the changes in time and over a day of travel!

I will cross that bridge when I get to it.  For now, this experience among the Salesians of Africa has been a powerful one of renewal for me with hope generated from a young province bringing the Gospel to the young of this continent!

More later…