Members of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle and Mary Mother of the Church, have recently started a presence in the Eparchy of Endibir. Located 4 hours southwest of Addis Ababa, a place inhabited by people from the Gurage community, and where there is a big number of Ethiopian Catholics, who follow the Ethiopian eastern rite.

On 16th April 2023, hundreds of catholics, young and old, gathered at Holy Trinity Church, in the village of Dakuna, to celebrate Easter Sunday. During the feast, people celebrated the resurrection of the Lord as well as breaking from the 55 days fasting from animal and dairy products.

Apart from its unique mix of fascinating history, deep-rooted identity, incredible natural wonders and rare wildlife, Ethiopia is well known of maintaining the use of its own calendar which is very similar to the Julian calendar. Most of the Christians in the world celebrated Easter Sunday a week earlier, following the Gregorian calendar.  However, things were different in Ethiopia. Their Easter followed one week later.

Prior to Easter, many Christians commit themselves to extended periods of both personal and communal prayers. This is done with the sole purpose of growing closer to God and to remember Jesus’ life and death.

On Easter Vigil, all Christians of Dakuna had their candles lit to express their faith. Then drums came. And then, the joy of the Risen Lord illuminated the face of all the faithful who were gathered at Holy Trinity Church.

Following the Ethiopian tradition, most people invite their family and friends for a common meal on Easter Sunday. And of course they cannot miss the presence of traditional dishes like injera, dorowot, kitfo and kocho, which altogether give a sweet fragrance to the celebration.

By Lydiah Obok.

A day like today just 8 years ago, we blessed the Kakuta mission. It was the first Catholic mission in Ethiopia’s Nyangatom land.

From the year 2011 to 2013, Father David and I were often traveling to Nyangatom from Lokitaung, Turkana.

We usually came and went. Our stays were short and lasted as long as our drinking water and food lasted.

The year 2014 was when we would finally “burn our ships” and we would no longer turn back. After being camped for a few months in the compound of the government’s dispensary in Kakuta, and from where all our belongings were stolen in August, on November 24th we moved our large tents while they were set up, between 6 people, almost like a Holy Week processional image, from the dispensary to the mission.

After the blessing of the compound according to the Catholic rite, the elders blessed us in the Nyangatom style. We ate goat and drank the traditional epun (coffee husk infusion).

Today the Kakuta mission houses the St John XXIII – Ekisil mother and child center, where 50 preschool children learn hygiene habits, eat breakfast and lunch, in addition to receiving a quality education!

These last eight years have flown by. At the same time, it gives us the feeling of having already lived several lives here: both good and bad times! Always being grateful, with the firm hope that it was a mission from God, trusting in Jesus Christ, who from the first moment “guided our steps along the path of La Paz”.

Alakara lowoi!

Angel Valdivia MCSPA

We have recently returned from Ethiopia, from the project that the MCSPA is carrying out in Muketuri and that MOSSolidaria NGO supports, supporting the kitchen and checking the nutritional status of children under 7 years of age, pregnant and lactating mothers in the village of Gimbichu.

World Food Day is celebrated every year on October 16th, the anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) which was founded in 1945. This day aims to promote healthy eating and eradicate hunger, according to the 2030 agenda, by this year world hunger should be eradicated. I am very afraid that, although it could be achieved, it will not be so.

There are large pockets of poverty and a lot of hunger, for the few people who work on the ground, from the base. We have to be there, but also make known what the missionaries do, here, without our moral support and solidarity, it is very difficult that they carry so much forward. It is sad to know that, while some Western countries allow us to waste food, because we can pay for it and we have it within reach, others suffer from diseases derived from an insufficient and monotonous diet, which prevents them from developing their most essential capacities.

Boys and girls are born with low weight and suffer from the deficiencies presented by the wasting, that their mothers suffered. Then, their babies suffer, due to the lack of such basic and essential nutrients as proteins, vitamins and minerals.

The MCSPA mission in Muketuri, and its responsible, Lourdes Larruy, make an effort to maximize the feeding of the more than 370 boys and girls who attend the Muketuri mother and child center, plus the soup kitchens in the surrounding villages. The combination of the food is properly done, so that it is sustainable and provides the maximum of varied and complemented nutrients. This is not an easy task, if we take into account that to obtain milk you have to feed and care for the cows. To offer eggs you have to buy corn for the hens and that to provide vegetables you have to take the water to the garden, plus complement it with rice, pasta, vegetables, bread etc. Even so, the missionaries achieve it. In the kitchens they prepare delicious stews, which fill the atmosphere with a special smell, a traditional home, all of us, young and old, enjoy those delicious meals, simple but complete and well accompanied.

But hunger is not only alleviated with bread, it is also satiated with love, lots of love, with hope, with assistance and listening, with faith, a strong and powerful faith that is contagious and brings more faith and conviction that a more equitable world is possible. Because of that faith the missionaries continue there and in so many other difficult and hostile places, which they soften with their iron conviction, because they know that they are not alone, that God protects them and that other men and women are attentive to their needs. To continue with the mission of assistance, listening, health, personal growth, which they offer to those who request it. Thank you for enabling us to  hope that hunger can be alleviated!

Mari Olcina (10/16/2022)