Fr Paul's Mozambique Visit June 2008
Extract from the first e-mail sent by Father Paul from Beira, Mozambique
This is another
world full of dramatic contrasts and I am constantly moving from extreme to
extreme - a little demanding in every possible way! Father Isaiah and I travelled
to Zove last Friday on public transport (that story needs to wait for its
telling!) and used the centre in Zove as our base for three days. The work
carried out there by the church, school and clinic, with hardly any resources,
is life giving to people in desperate need. We travelled each day deep into
the bush to celebrate Mass and visit remote church communities and I was both
heartened by their spirit and broken by their deprivation. The church has
tried to start schools in each area and the government has responded by providing
teachers (who live in desperate poverty themselves). These schools have NOTHING
other than children and teacher. No building, no resources of any kind other
than the basic books the government sends. Many of the children have little
to eat, especially if their families depend on hunting for food - some of
them arrive at school, if they turn up of course, having walked up to 15 kilometres
on nothing but home brewed beer. They are so dependent on the weather and
the delicate balance of rain and drought, so disturbed by global warming,
makes for a precarious life. The children have been universally curious and
stare at me as though I were from another planet. They giggle convulsively
when I use their language and follow me around fascinated! I have laughed
and wept as never before. In comparison with these out of the way schools
the school in Zove is luxury for they have a building, desks and blackboards,
but nothing else. The playgroup use the outdoors and play on the dusty/muddy
ground with no toys, no teaching aids, nothing other than human imagination
and the resources of the inner being. The two class teachers are provided
living space that we would consider an insult - one tiny room with no bathroom
or kitchen - all in one for them, their spouses and children. The Head has
a house with two rooms and the priest, Father Domingos, has two bedrooms,
a sitting room and a store room! I won't mention toilet or washroom facilities!
The full time nurse who runs the clinic is also housed in a tiny space. However,
in comparison with the world around them, they are well cared for. They have
no electricity or transport and have to walk or cycle 20 km to the nearest
town for all their needs. They were warm in their welcome, loving in their
care and full of prayer and praise.
Father Isaiah and I left Zove on Monday and travelled again by public transport
to Niamatande. The minibus, seating 14 was carrying 30 people, crammed, hot,
precariously perched in every possible way. There were children on top of
people, babies and the inevitable chicken under, over, everywhere. The next
morning Chris arrived with his Land Rover and the world all of a sudden seemed
a better place. We then travelled to very, VERY remote church communities
in dense bush country, the Land Rover proving its worth much better than they
ever do in Hampstead! In these villages the conditions are utterly different.
The soil is wonderful for growing all sorts of foods, bananas, pineapples,
corn. The problem though is to do with seeds and weather, so, again, these
people live precarious lives.
As a result of the political situation we are not going on pilgrimage to Zimbabwe
but instead are meeting at Chimoio, on the mountains near the border with
Zimbabwe. It is hoped that some Zimbabweans might be able to cross over the
border into Mozambique to join with the pilgrims in Chimoio.
A second e-mail describing Fr Paul’s visit to Mozambique.
Saturday lunch time. We left Inhaminga at 4.00am and arrived back
in Beira at 10.00 this morning after 10 days of gruelling travel feeling both
relieved and terribly sad that it is over. When I managed to email
last time after my first journey South to the bush visiting Nhamatanda,
Muxungue and Zove with its outreach work, I was feeling the
emotion of facing another world with all its dramatic contrasts and witnessing
the overwhelming suffering and poverty that blight so many people's
lives. I cannot begin to express how I feel now. The Bernardo
Mizeki pilgrimage in Chimoio was a joyful occasion tinged with the heavy
sadness of the events unravelling in neighbouring Zimbabwe. I drove
to the border and prayed for a people trapped by corruption in their
own country and the apparent indifference of the rest of the world, unable
or unwilling to intervene. The people of Mozambique feel the tragedy
keenly as neighbours but also because they remember too clearly the
darkness of violence and oppression. There were many Zimbabweans who
had made it to the pilgrimage and their testimony was moving and horrifying.
A coach load of people from St George's made the journey. Padre Isaias
and I with the Deacon from Nhamatanda, recently injured in a motorbike accident,
went in a hired 4x4, a blessing considering the roads we had to travel on
and the places we needed to reach. After the pilgrimage the clergy stayed
on for a couple of days in Chimoio with Bishop Dinis for a conference addressing
some of the issues facing the Church here. Top of the agenda were the
perennial problems of poverty, hunger and disease that stunt the growth of
this population. Malaria and Aids are not the only concerns; cholera,
malnutrition, leprosy... the list goes on.
After the plains and bush country of Nhamatanda and Muxungue it was higher
and mountainous in Chimoio, beautiful country with the most amazing sunrises
and sunsets. The stars at night drink one's awe and wonder, the Southern
Cross a constant reminder of the sacrifice of Christ for the salvation of
the whole of creation.
Back in Beira for one night we then travelled North to visit some of the most
isolated Anglican communities in the world, deep in the bush along the Zambezi
river. Chris Henborough drove Padre Isaias, two of his own colleagues
from Project Mozambique and me in his Land Rover Discovery, packed in every
possible way with things, people and goodwill. We showed the Jesus film,
translated into Massena, to eight different communities. I preached
at every turn, feeling less anguish than before about having anything to say
in the midst of such deprivation. The Gospel is relevant in every place
of God's creation. I found nothing but friendship, extraordinary generosity
and humbling gratitude that I had journeyed so far to see and to share our
trust and fellowship in Christ. I have been shunted here and there by
the piercing contrasts found in this country. We spent one day in the
Gorongoza National Park and saw many wonderful wild animals; we failed to
meet either an elephant or a lion but we did have two hair raising encounters
with snakes that left us shaking with wonder and I suppose fear! The
roads we have travelled on are rough and not without risk of many kinds and
littered with the debris of war as we were in the areas of fiercest fighting
in the civil war when so much of the infrastructure of Mozambique was destroyed.
Yesterday morning, at 6.00am I crossed on foot the Dona Anna bridge linking
Sofala Province with Tete Province. This is an old railway bridge,
built by the British, that had suffered partial destruction during the
war. The Philpotts went over it by car when they were here. At
that time the railway network was virtually dead. There has been much
rebuilding of the railway network especially from Beira to Tete.
It is still in progress and the rails have reached three quarters of the way
across the Dona Anna bridge crossing the Zambezi river near Caia. Padre
Isaias and I went across the bridges' foot path. The beauty of the river
is breath taking and juxtaposed with it the desperate plight of the people
crossing it. Many of the planks of concrete on the foot path are missing
and once could see the river underfoot wild and fast way down below infested
with unseen crocodiles. As we were nearing the end of the bridge an
elderly woman fell into one of these gaps. We manged to pull her up
to safety. She was blind and maimed by leprosy in her hands and feet,
dressed in rags and stunned, badly bleeding from the fall. I could not
make myself understood as she spoke no Portuguese and I no Massena.
Frightened I think as much by us as by the fall she stumbled on leaving
a trail of blood behind her, moving towards wider gaps on the bridge ahead.
So much beauty and such despair.
All this time I have been out of reach of modern technology! Chris and
Camica have been tireless in their kindness and willingness to help and support
me - they have embraced me with great care and friendship. For Padre
Isaias I have the deepest respect and admiration for so many things, not least
his great heart and inexhaustible efforts to bring comfort and effect real
change in the lives of the poor and the desperately needy in his care.
He is an amazing man and a wonderful priest.
In just half an hour I am meeting the youth of St George's and tomorrow is
my first and last Sunday in Beira as the congregation will welcome me and
bid farewell almost in one breath! Then on Monday I return to the UK.
I have been truly blessed in witnessing the love of God powerfully at work
in some of the darkest places of his creation and I hope and pray that I will
be changed by these four overwhelming weeks in Mozambique.
With my
love to you all and my blessing.
Fr Paul
To view Fr Paul's Mozambique photographs select one of the albums below.Click on thumbnails for full size images.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||