by Angela Cave
EMMAUS HOUSE, ALBANY--Until recently, it was only a dream for an Albany Catholic Worker family to travel to South Africa and meet the village of Zulu people they have been supporting for almost a decade.
Fred Boehrer and his wife, Diana Conroy, run Emmaus House in Albany. The couple, their three children and a Schenectady priest realized their dream this summer.
“It was very overwhelming,” said Fred Boehrer of Emmaus House after the trip.
Fundraisers in the Albany Diocese encouraged by the Catholic Workers have supported the installation of water taps to 15 homes in the village of KwaNdebeqheke on the east coast of South Africa. They have also contributed toward the proper burial of AIDS victims, who had often been wrapped in sheets and thrown in ditches.
Catholics from the Diocese have helped eight children with school tuition, books, clothing and two meals a day each year since 2003. All education is tuition-based in South Africa, and sometimes hard to find in rural areas.
“We’ve seen their names on paper, and they’ve mailed some letters to us, but to meet them in person was very special,” Mr. Boehrer said of the children. Of the students, who range from age nine to 17, one wants to become a doctor; another, a lawyer.
Face to face
About 200 people greeted the American group with traditional song and dance to express their gratitude.
“We’ve been praying for these people for so long,” said Rev. Robert Longobucco, pastor of St. Helen’s parish in Niskayuna and sacramental minister at Our Lady of Fatima in Schenectady.
Father Longobucco, a member of the Catholic Worker community, used money left by his late mother, Lorrie, to help fund the trip to Africa. His parishes, Emmaus House and the Shrine Church of Our Lady of the Americas in Albany also collected nearly 125 backpacks to distribute to the children. A children’s Rosary group from St. Helen’s sent along 50 rosaries.
“We know that we were carrying a community with us,” Father Longobucco told The Evangelist. “It wasn’t just six people going there.”
The local connection to the remote South African village began when natives Mpume Zondi and her son, Nhloso Mpontshane, turned to Emmaus House for living space. Ms. Zondi was a visiting professor of African studies at The University at Albany (read a previous story at www.evangelist. org).
They lived at Emmaus House for a year — during which they described the troubles of KwaNdebeqheke, the village of Ms. Zondi’s mother, Celestine. In some homes in the village, children would walk a mile up a mountain every day to collect stream water for bathing, drinking and preparing food.
The province has a 30- to 35-percent HIV/AIDS infection rate. The government also cites a 25-percent unemployment rate, though citizens say it’s higher.
Grandma at work
Celestine Zondi, known as Gogo (Grandma) Zondi in her village, taught at a Catholic school for blacks during apartheid, the former policy of racial segregation and political and economic discrimination against non-European groups. After retiring in 1998, Celestine Zondi opened a preschool program and started the burial program for AIDS victims.
Now 78, she’s planning to open a soup kitchen; the Catholic Worker community plans to buy her a freezer.
“I think she is a living saint,” Mr. Boehrer declared.
“It was really an honor” to meet her, agreed Father Longobucco. “Her humility and her strength both show up in equal proportions.”
During the trip, the priest concelebrated a Mass in the Zulu language. He was struck by the presence of 500 people forming a single line to enter the church when there were only 20 cars outside.
“It felt almost biblical [in] a way we can’t represent in our culture,” he remarked.
But communion time struck a familiar chord with the priest: “The difference and the sameness was all-present at the same moment. That’s the beautiful thing about being Catholic.”
The Catholic Workers knew only a dozen Zulu phrases, but were able to sing “Siyabonga, Baba” (“Thank you, God”) at Mass.
The group stayed in a bed-and-breakfast in the city of Durban, which is surrounded by stone walls cloaked in barbed wire left over from the time of apartheid. Mr. Boehrer said their experience can inspire the people of the Albany Diocese to stand in solidarity with others.
“We have a responsibility to be good stewards for each other,” he said, “and we really felt that on this trip.”
Source:
(08/04/11)
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