October 2009

See upon the palms of my hands,
I have written your name.
Isaiah 49, 15

Cathy Minhoto

Jo Kennedy, planning facilitator, Kathleen

Kathleen O’Keeffe, General Treasurer, and I recently returned from visiting our sisters in Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe and doing work in the area of planning and finances with both Regions. I also accompanied Kathleen in her ministry as Institute Fundraiser for Africa as she reviewed RSHM projects which have been funded through Misean Cara, an Irish aid agency providing funding support for missionary organizations and their partners engaged in global transformation.

Talent, Kathleen Murphy Simba, Kennedy

I was struck by the names of those we encountered during our month-long visit in Africa – Faz Bem (Does Well), a former street child who has now been given a home and education by members of the SHMEF in Mozambique; Talent, a lovely, young woman, one of forty AIDS orphans cared for by RSHM friends, Sybil and Norm McDonald on the outskirts of Harare, who is Vice-Head Girl in her secondary school; Gift and Blessings, two young men who are engaged with the Herbal Project Center in Dangamvura. These names became intertwined in my prayer for Africa – that the persons whom I met, especially the children, would experience life as a “gift”, filled with “blessings”, that their “talents” would be recognized and developed so that all will be well and “done well” in this beautiful, mystical continent.

To the God of many names, Mbuya (Mozambique), Mulungu (Zambia) and Mwari Baba (Zimbabwe), I entrust the many persons who came into our llives on this brief African journey. Mbuya, Mulungu, Mwari Baba, you have called each person Kathleen and I met by name, their names are engraved in the palm of your hand, you have embraced them in love, keep them whole and holy in your gracious, compassionate love.

 

After the inter-regional finance meeting: Kathleen, Lisby Bissane (M), Breda Shelly (EAP), Margaret Treacy( Z - Regional), Veronica Brand Lelia O'Shea (Z), Kathleen Murphy (Z), Lúcia Rodrigues (M), Pam Penkert (Z), Serafina Helena - (M - Regional) Antonietta Abreu (JPIC Coordinator)

Kathleen and I want to thank our sisters in our two African Regions for their hospitality, gracious welcome and their attentive presence to our needs. We express our gratitude as well to the Regional Superiors, Serafina Helena and Margaret Treacy, and their respective councils for organizing the multiplicity of details required because our visit, involving planning, finances and onsite project review. To our tireless Zambezi chauffeur, Kathleen Murphy, we say a great "Ndatenda"!

I have called you by name and you are mine.
Isaiah 43, 1

Lisby Pinto Novo Bissane Ana Mó Senguaio

On Saturday, September 5th, Lisby Cristina Pinto Novo Bissane (Moz) made her perpetual profession as a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary in the Church of the Holy Family, Quelimane, Mozambique. The celebration was a stunning, moving expression of African culture in song, dance and prayer. The rite of profession began with the “Chamada” – Serafina Helena, Regional Superior, called Lisby forth by name from her place among her people and her family to proclaim in a public way her “total commitment to follow Christ in personal transformation in him, and to transformation of the world” (Const. §2). Approaching the altar in song, Lisby sang her “YES” – Eis-me aqui Senhor, para fazer a tua vontade, para viver o teu amor: eis-me aqui, Senhor (“Here I am, Lord, to do your will, to live your love: Here I am, Lord”).

We thank you, Lisby, for your generous “YES”, like that of Mary, a YES in the face of the unpredictable, a YES without condition (Const. §1) . We promise to walk with you in this journey in faith, sharing the gift of the Spirit given to Jean Gailhac, Mère St. Jean and our first sisters so that all may have life, life in abundance.

See Lisby’s Profession Album

Not a baobob for The Little Prince!

What's in a Name?
Kathleen O’Keeffe

From September 9th until September 22nd, Cathy Minhoto and I truly experienced how as RSHM we are “living the Mission Statement more authentically by sharing our resources, financial and personnel, beyond boundaries of Provinces and Regions” (2007 Gen Chap) in our commitment to women and children in Zambezi and in our commitment to sustainability and succession in the future. In driving, perspiring, laughing and sometimes crying in our journeys from Lusaka to Mutare, I was able, with the help of Breda Shelly (EAP), to monitor all projects funded through Misean Cara in the Zambezi Region.

The following is my glossary of terms, sites and projects that may help you understand my ministry as Institute Fundraiser for Africa, a role in which I have served prior to my appointment as General Treasurer.

Misean Cara (Irish Aid) = Friends in mission: funding for missionary organizations and their partners working in the areas of poverty eradication, education, health care and inter-religious collaboration.

Lusaka
Kalingalinga: Pre-school for orphans (Umoyo Day Center) - 96 of them! Collaborators: RSHM, St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, many local stakeholders

Children - Umoyo Pre-school	Edna O'Connor, Kathleen

Choma
St. Mulumba’s School: Boarding school for 210 hearing-impaired, blind and developmentally disabled children. Project: Electrification of Kitchen. Collaborators: RSHM, Department of Education, many stakeholders, families

Arise School - basic school for poor children in a needy area of Choma. Collaborators: RSHM, Department of Education

Children - Arise School	School Building in construction

Chivuna
St. Joseph’s School for Girls: Secondary boarding school serving over 700 girls.
Project: water purification utilizing advanced technology. (During a recent cholera outbreak, this was the only school to remain open in Zambia as a result of the purified water system.) Collaborators: RSHM, Holy Spirit Sisters, Department of Education

St. Joseph's School, Chivuna	Misean Cara project: Chivuna Water System

Mutare
Herbal Centre for Natural Medicine for HIV+/AIDS patients: this is one section of an integrated Community Care Programme, funded by many stakeholders.

Eveline Murray	Jean Kakumbi	The Final Product: Herbal Medicine

Hob House: basic school in poor area of Dangamvura in early stages of development. Collaborators: RSHM, Diocese of Mutare

Hob House: Sacred Heart School	Fields of Hob House

Personnel Projects: Hospice care/counseling, Hospice outreach programmes, Herbal Project development, teaching, nursing, monitoring of local projects, capacity-building of the Regions

Stakeholders: To varying degrees, across the range of projects, there is involvement of RSHM Provinces, Departments of Education, Health Services, schools/colleges, dioceses, parishes, individuals across all Provinces, Holy Spirit sisters, NGOs, local businesses and banks.

Chivuna: Sr. Rosalia (Holy Spirit Sister) and student	Our Lady's Hospice, Lusaka: Kay O'Neill, FMDM, Pam, Breda, Kathleen

Other Projects (not funded by Misean Cara) : in which RSHM are involved, the stakeholders are many and varied.

View other albums from our African journey:

	Mozambique	Zambia	Harare	Dangamvura

Archived Generalate Bulletins

July 2009