Tuesday, March 9, 2021

My Journey to the South Coast Part II

 On Monday morning, half of our Diocesen family left for the village of Valanguo while I stayed in Turuk and accompanied the Bishop to the Island village of Magiem. This is the island where the Bishop was born and attended his primary school years. I felt honored to be invited.  The village warmly welcomed their won-tok and their Bishop home. His island is the first island of three almost identical islands with a clear passage between each island. From a distance, they look like triplets and some call them chocolate bar islands.  A week later when returning to Turuk, I saw the triplets in the distance and they actually did look like a chocolate bar - three equal mounds of island (chocolate). 

While on the village of Magiem (the Bishop's island), a welcome mass was celebrated by the Bishop along with a memorial mass for a Sr Mary Rose, a religious Sister from Australia who was killed in that village in November 1964. There is a church named after her with a plaque commemorating her and dedicated by Bishop Bill placed inside the church. She was killed while teaching class and her students honored her memory by dancing a dance that afternoon that Sr. Mary Rose taught them those many years ago.

Tuesday, we said goodbye to Turuk and the FMI Sisters who were going their own separate ways. We once again got into our boats and took off for the village of Valanguo.  I felt especially lucky to sit next to Sr Gabriel, MSC who grew up on the south coast and who served as a personal tour guide of the islands we were passing. It was nice to hear her stories of how her class had picnics on that island, or how her family grew a garden on that island or how her class would take field trips to that beautiful island over there. Again - what a beautiful paradise.  

It took us the entire day as we were welcomed at several island villages along the way where the Bishop was welcomed, food was prepared and a sing-sing was part of a welcome celebration for the Bishop and his entourage. It felt nice to be a small part of this celebration- something not very many people have the opportunity to experience and it was nice to be part of the diocesen family. The Bishop made it a point to introduce his entourage.

Fr Lucas, a Polish priest, caught the attention of the children who enjoyed him as a source of entertainment.  He told them stories, showed them how to play a few games, showed them how to stand on their heads, and made them laugh and enjoy his company. It was a little funny watching some of the real little ones who watched in total fascination, but you could almost see their little minds working away as they didn't really know how to respond- whether to laugh with the others or to cry in fright at the white man doing his best to entertain them. 

We finally made it in the evening to Valanguo. In the last stretch, we traveled through a passage made up of mangrove trees to reach the village. Our boat ran out of gas just before we reached the parish, so we had to wait awhile until petrol was found before we could finally reach the parish. 

The parish itself was located on an island.  The women were to stay about 15 minutes away on the mainland in a secondary school dormitory.  In my opinion, it was too far away from the parish itself. The accommodations were very rustic, and even though there was a bathroom, water was extremely limited at the school and at the parish as well. The water situation was not planned well and was challenging for all concerned. I walked to a well where the water was murky and not trusted for anything more than flushing the toilet. Yuck. 

The one redeeming quality was a beautiful wash-wash river located in an actual cave that we visited for some fresh water. Everyone had a great time exploring the area, diving into the water and swimming in the cool clean water.  I don't swim, but my Diocese family made sure I also had a tour of the river cave by riding on the shoulders of Brother Peter. I hung on for dear life while touring the beauty of the cave on his shoulders, but it was well worth it. Amazing! 

(To be continued...Diaconate Ordination)

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My Journey to the South Coast Part III

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