...the
hippopotamus of the Zambesi31 JANUARY
Dearest brothers, brothers-in-law, grandchildren and friends all,
I give a fast resume of the general situation and the projects just to enable you to understand how things are.
1 - Project for Wells: in Màgoe we have success in finding a well
with 2000 litres per hour. This week they will put the pump and we will solve
the problem for some hundreds families.
It was the finest gift we received from the Lord.
2 - We starter on building a last chapel in Magoè and we hope to put the roof over it in two months.
3 - Hunger started to make her victims. Thanks to your helps, which my sister
succeeded in sending us, we are buying corn to be distributed among the most
poor and to help the others.
We already spent 3.000 €.
In Mukumbura country there were already 9 people starved to death.
An old man, 5 km from Mukumbura, who didn’t eat since many days, crossed
the border with Zimbabwe to ask for a job. They sent him to dig. When the
owner came back found him lied down on the ground, dead.
My Mission’s country is the most affected by drought. People have no
more he seeds because they already sowed three times. Each time seeds sprouted,
but for more than 15 days it didn’t rain and, with a scorching sun, all
was burned. Warm was terrible.
4 - In the northern part of the country there were floods. Roads have been
cut by landslips and some bridges have been taken away by flood. Traffic between
north and south is interrupted. Maybe it will open again in two weeks.
5- As you would know, I have been transferred to Boroma Mission and I will
do the removal at the end of May. It is 30 km from Tete, not 350 as Mukumbura
is. I will send you my new e-mail address. That of our house in Tete is the
following: combonitete@teledata.mz
My current address is comboniest@teledata.mz,
and it will remain until April.
6 - A young from Piedmont, with Sicilian ancestors, has come to help me and
he really helped me very much in this period making travels, transports, etc.
by car. His name is Marco Marino and he is a sailor by profession. He arrived
to Mukumbura, alone, by local transports, and that is enough. He deserves
a medal.
7 - With this letter I ask you to inform, and chiefly to my nephew Alberto,
who is an expert in the matter, how does it cost an oil-press for seeds of
sunflower, because here we have to do something to give people a chance. Sunflower
grows very well and we could do oil from it if we should have an oil-press.
All our area should have benefits and it should be a good help given to these
brothers of ours that have no means to win against poverty, but with some
means, they could have success. It has to be with a diesel or an electrical
engine because in Estima arrived electric light and the telephone.
What will you want more?
8 - We had a universal carpenter machine (plane, saw, drill, etc.). It smashed
up because was used by St. Joseph in teaching Jesus the Child. I would I know
if in Italy, with the new security rules, many carpenter machines have been
replaced by new ones. And by knowing that Mr. E. Messina, of the maritime
transports Company, could bring with his ships a container for us to Mozambique,
if it could be possible to send a universal carpenter machine and an oil-press
inside a little container?? Can you see if the thing is feasible? If yes we
will organize ourselves and when we will decide to go on action we will have
all things ready.
9 - The trailer of the tractor has to be sent to the garage because they
broken a piece having filled it with too much sand. They still have to discover
that 6 tons are not the same thing than 4. Moreover roads are terrible, so
...
10 - We decided to buy an oil-press to help people. Universal machine electrical
engine is still good, so we need to buy only the oil-press costing near 4.000€!
What are you thinking of that?
11 - In Songo F. Gianfranco has about 27 boarder boys who need about
2000 € per year to survive. Is there someone who can help us?
For today it is enough. I had a malaria and a hear infection! Now I am
in a recovery phase!
As you can see work is not lacking. As a matter of fact pastoral work, visits
to communities, Eucaristic celebrations fill a great part of my time. Here
is why Marco helped me so much.
Trappists said "Ora et labora " (Pray and Work). Without prayer
life is a disaster.
I leave you before tiring you too much. Tomorrow morning I am leaving for
Mukumbura and on February 10 I will start for a meeting in Maputo.
I’ll call you back within 20 days.
God bless you. If someone says there is no job he is wrong.
There are not enough money, but not the work to be done and things will not
change until someone wants to catch everything leaving nothing to the others.
I embrace you with so much yearning and pray to God to have Him staying near
us forever.
Claudio, fibrillating hippopotamus.