Dearest Cenacolo family, We want to share with you the most important event that has happened in Cenacolo Africa: the first children have arrived.  After your prayers and a lot of waiting, and after having received permission from the State, we have welcomed the first five children.  All of them lived before for a period in the house of the sisters of Mother Theresa, which normally welcomes sick children during the time of their treatment.  However, it happens that some of them are abandoned or orphaned while they are there; in this manner, the Congregation of the Blessed of Calcuttta decided to entrust them to us.  Before welcoming them we went to visit them; on those occasions we were a little worried about their reaction to seeing white people (because for many, above all for the youngest ones, the first impact is pretty tragic)—but, it was a miracle!  There was no crying and no fear.  Also, the children were sociable because they are used to being taken care of by lots of people, being that their families are “large”--everyone feels like brothers. You can imagine how much joy they brought to everyone, especially to the first group of uncles who have been working and constructing for almost two years in order to prepare a place that would be welcoming to the children; now everything has taken even more life.  Their presence has changed the whole house, first to us who are now in line with the games, representations, song practices, school, and small jobs, all in the African style; and then all around us: hands on the wall, hanging diapers, powerful voices in the Gospel style that enliven the prayer and tell us WE ARE NO LONGER ONLY US! We want to share with you something about each one of them.  They are called the magnificent five, beginning with the youngest: Kelvin, one year old; John, two years old; Ibrahim, four years old; Mohammed, seven years old; and Emmanuel, eleven years old.  It is a fantastic team.  The youngest live with Aunt Ekaterina and Aunt Sabina who are trying to teach them English without Bulgarian or Slovenian accents; but the children, however, remain faithful to their “Liberian English,” calling them SISTER-OOO! Or MA-MA-OOO!-- the words “Auntie” and “Uncle” have not yet entered into their vocabulary.  They are a huge satisfaction for the aunts and, above all, for the cook, Sister Veronica, because they are capable of eating big plates of rice with local soup and hot sauce…nothing like baby food and mashed bananas—they really have strong stomachs!  Kelvin’s first teeth are coming in, and he still has to learn how to crawl; he’s a little behind with respect to his age, on account of malnutrition and tuberculosis.  John, however, is tranquil and sensible; he loves to look at photos of the Pope, sisters, and consecrated.  Together with Ibrahim, he greets and sends kisses every morning to Mother Elvira’s photo.  Ibrahim is our star because he is a special child, sensitive and affectionate toward everyone; since he’s arrived, he’s made a lot of progress.  The Sisters of Charity told us that when the youngest came to them, they thought that they wouldn’t have been able to them survive and that Ibrahim wouldn’t be able to walk.  Instead, today we can contemplate the Grace of God that is working in their lives. While Aunt Gabri gets the tailoring shop up-and-running for all the children’s needs, Sister Brigitta has been dedicating herself to the care of the garden and of the prayer, enlivening the first Saturdays of the month, with Eucharistic adoration open to all, especially Father Adrian’s parishioners.  Despite the fact that they may live with us who are always in a hurry, the children maintain their own rhythm; in this manner, we must “Liberianize” ourselves, adapting to their times…because in Africa, in the place of “GMT – Greenwich Meridian Time,” the only thing that works is “BMT—“Black Man Time”! The oldest live with Uncle Nick and Uncle Martin…the two musicians, one American and the other Scottish—we’ll see which English they will choose…well, they’ll certainly learn to play the guitar!  We have already discovered Emmanuel’s talent: he loves to play the bongo, involving everyone with traditional rhythms that transform our songs.  Mohammed, instead, is a soccer player and dreams of becoming like Messi.  Having been with the Sisters of Charity for three years, he played with a small children’s ball; but now he can play on a beautiful field and use a real soccer ball. Each day, between work and various activities, we learn to get to know each other better; we do a little bit of afternoon school, or we delight ourselves with various Gospel representations.  Also, there are the games that involve the children that live close to us as well as the elderly of the house, like Papa Giorgio who gives them a lot of attention like a good grandfather. Uncles Nick and Martin, together with the children, leave every morning with boots and machetes, in the direction of the JUNGLE.  They return for lunch sweating, but loaded with bamboo, palm leaves, wood poles, and, sometimes, some fruit that they have found; all this is to be able to construct small greenhouses for the garden.  Now our heroes are creating a plan to save the precarious situation in the garden and Nick’s pepper plants!  Being the rainy season, the plants are submerged, and the drainage canals are overflowing like the canals of Venice, so much that the group of Aunts and Uncles from Veneto: Riccardo, Gabriella, and Sister Veronica—feel right at home! We are all positively involved in beginning this new step of our mission, each one in his own different way: tending to the house, going on out on commissions, and being involved in Father Adrian’s parish.  In fact, he involves us more and more in the Liberian reality, sending us young people who do experiences, or asking us to take part in organizing representations with the young people, especially during the year’s most powerful moments; and, above all, he puts us in contact with the most needy realities.  In fact, a group of us went to go do a repair job near an institute of deaf/mute children who have now become our friends.  In their silence they communicate lots of desire to live, and even if they don’t express it with words, their faces and eyes transmit lots of joy! We feel the Providence close by, thanks to the presence of many friends and missionaries that immediately offered us their help in the small and large things; we truly lack nothing, whether it be from the material or spiritual point of view.  We thank them all because they have sustained us with the prayer. It is nice to perceive that, through the Faith, one may feel part of a large, unique family, where each member cares for the needs of another.  WE DO NOT FEEL ALONE; with us there are many: the Sisters of the Consolata, the Sisters of Charity, Sister Barbara with the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Father Gary with the SMA, the Archbishop and all the priests that we have met at different meetings, the Nuncio and his secretary, the Spanish sisters, and many, many others that have helped us enter into the Liberian missionary reality with patience; we feel like their children, and we want to follow their example. We thank God for the time spent up until today that formed and prepared us for this new page of missionary life; we thank each one of you, guys and girls, consecrated, sisters, families, missionaries, children, parents, and friends, for all the prayers and sacrifices that have helped us to be here today to serve the little ones.  We ask you to continue to pray for our mission that is still at the beginning and that still has many beds to fill.  A special thanks goes to you, dearest Mother Elvira, and to Father Stefano, for your trust in us and in the Madonna, the QUEEN OF PEACE that guides and protects us!!! We entrust all of you to Her so that She may continue to provide for each one of your needs and desires… Aunts, uncles, sisters, and children of the Liberian Cenacolo Community

Print this page