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Archives 2004 |
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November 2004 |
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| 7th Nov. 2004 | 14th Nov. 2004 | 21st Nov. 2004 | 28th Nov. 2004 |
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News and Sports |
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WEEKLY
OFERING |
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News and Sports |
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YOUR
PRAYERS ARE REQUESTED FOR: WEEKLY
OFERING |
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News and Sports |
YOUR PRAYERS ARE
REQUESTED FOR: WEEKLY OFERING |
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News and Sports |
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'A Wedding in the making' Contact Pat Kearney for a copy of his play 25
Card Drive
I write this letter to you all, to share a little
of my future plans. I am sure most of you will have heard
by now, that sometime ago I made the decision to leave Mozambique
and the African Province and to return to live in my
mother Province of Ireland-England. My apologies to those
of you who may not have heard. I leave Harare for London and
Dublin on December 17th. 2004. At present, I have little idea of
what the future has in store, as I am still heavily involved in tying
up loose ends here in Mozambique and have had little time to think of
the future. After a few months of rest, reflection and
advice I am confident that the good Lord will open another door for
the next phase of my life, which hopefully will involve a continued
involvement with Mozambican and African issues. In fact, it may
already be opening.
It is difficult to share all the elements involved in
my decision in a common letter. However, suffice it to say that
one strong element in my decision, is the fact that I have been so
long in the one place. Next January, it will be 12 years since I
first set foot in Inhaminga and in the following September, began with
Derek, ministering to the people of Inhaminga, Chupanga and
Marromeu. Up until the year 2000, I was fortunate to live
with 2 brothers from my home Province, first Derek followed by
Fergal. Since the year 2000, we were joined by Joe McGeady
from Donegal (who had been working near Maputo, heavily involved in
constructing new houses, following the serious flooding there, in a
project funded by Trocaire in Ireland) and other brothers from
Holland, Brazil, Congo, Spain, Poland and Portugal have been available
to assist with the work. In fact when I leave, 6 ss.cc. brothers
(including Joe) and 5 ss.cc. sisters will stay on in Inhaminga
and Chupanga. The way I feel about developments in the last 12
years, is that Derek, Fergal and myself were pioneers. Following
many years of social disruption and a brutal civil war, the 3 of us
were privileged to be able to help in a small way to stabalise and help
develop in a small way, this part of Mozambique. With
definite religious, social, economic and political development
over the years, the time has now come for consolidation and an
opportune time to move on. Since the Congregation does
not have a similar rural outreach in any other part of Mozambique,
I think that with God's help, I may be able to channel the
experience I have gained in Mozambique in another direction, to assist
the people of this continent. This direction as yet,
has not been fully revealed.
Over the years in Inhaminga, we got heavily involved in
purchasing agricultural products produced locally, with the
intention of assisting local farmers to get their produce to market
and have access to income in an area with zero employment.
Because the ss.cc. African Province has no one to take on this mantle
of supporting these farmers (c. 1,700), I have worked out with the
African Province that I will continue, at least for the coming year, to
direct this project from my new home, wherever that may be. To
this end, I have formed a team (4 lay people) who will run the project
here on the ground and I have been training them for about the last 6
months, letting them handle most of the harvest for this year.
Over the years, this project has developed in such a way, that in
2004, it involved an investment of c. $40,000, most of which will be
recovered to serve as capital for next year, when the buyers get
around to paying for the produce they have received. As
such it is our biggest project each year. In Oct. 2005, I will
return to Mozambique for a few weeks to evaluate the project with the
African Province. Perhaps the African Province may wish to take
the project on at that time but if not, I am willing to continue to
direct it from afar. In fact, my hope is that the project may
grow even further and who knows, I may meet someone in Europe or the
U.S. who is interested in having access to the African
agricultural market. Also, my visit next October may
correspond with the re-consecration ceremony of the Church in Chupanga
following it's renovation, thanks to your generosity and hard work. Fr.
Joe McGeady (Donegal) will be based in Chupanga and will be
able to assist me in monitoring all the recent projects of the African
partnerships based in County Mayo in Ireland.
None of this work (and many other projects that I
could mention), would have been possible without your personal and
material support of our presence in Mozambique. I sincerely hope
that the news of my departure from Mozambique will not leave you
thinking that all these projects have come to an end. Far from
it. The people who are being assisted because of your
generosity will continue to need that support in the coming years,
until such time as the economy of Mozambique becomes capable of
lessening the day-to-day burdens of it's people. Mozambique
will have it's 3rd democratic presidential and legislative elections
on December 1st and 2nd. So far the campaign has
been positive, progressing without any serious incidents. Let's
hope that it will continue to be another positive step on the road to
lifting the burden from this people who have sufferred so much.
So once again many thanks for your prayers over
the years and for the support that I have always felt from the
SSCC community and from the friends and benefactors of
Mozambique. Please continue to remember me in your prayers that
I may have the courage to open whatever door I am directed to in the
future. Until next time, God bless and take care.
Peace, Eamon
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