Christmas in Bangladesh: the mission is stronger than political violence
Dinajpur (AsiaNews) - Here is a letter by Fr Franco Cagnasso, regional superior in Bangladesh for the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME).
Dear friends, for months, politics here have been getting uglier. Strikes, riots, killings, attacks on party offices and Hindu villages are multiplying. The opposition wants to paralyse the country to force the government to amend the electoral law. Roadblocks, train derailments, and fires are on the rise; but luckily, our work so far has not been directly affected. We still have a lot of problems, especially in implementing school curricula and conducting exams or treating the sick (with surgeries postponed and travel hampered) . . . but work goes on, our "work" i.e., that of all those who are in the thick of things every day - lay Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, nuns, and others who, like you and me, provide vital assistance.
Relaxing in Para Tong Khyang
Among the things we do, I can never forget the first one we did: the Tong Khyang Para hostel. I have been following it for many years. Over time, it has earned everyone's sympathy, becoming a home for about 100 ethnic Marma and Tripura boys and girls, who really want to learn and work, not only for their own future, but also for that of their marginalised and scattered people.
As time went by and they learnt to help each other, pass exams, be treated with dignity, they and their leader, Yeo Mong Marma, have gained in confidence. Recently, some of them travelled 16 hours, between strikes, in order to bring me a bag full of papayas and bananas from their garden, and tell me that others have finished the twelfth grade and now are trying to get into universities. Can you imagine that? University!
The girls of Dino and Rotna
Dino and Rotna, with their two young daughters, have the same enthusiasm they had at the beginning when they welcomed into their home a 15-year-old pregnant girl who already had a child, who had been abandoned by her husband and rejected by her own family.
They have learnt to put order in what they do. Mostly, they run a sewing shop where many young women learn the trade and earn a living, and a school for slum girls, which provides one meal a day so that they can attend class instead of begging or stealing.
There are also some important changes. They got a bigger house, just outside Dhaka, where they have taken in a dozen girls who have no support. They have practically adopted them. Visiting them was exhausting because of the heavy traffic on the hot road. Dino shuttles back and forth almost every day on a battered old bus . . . .
The girls from the Santal hostel are growing up. After grade 10, they are going to take the exams for Grade 12 and they like to study.
In addition to them, we are helping hostel residents, about 270 students of different ages in various locations and in different ways. In some cases, we pay their fees; in others, we provide financial assistance. And in others, we have our older kids teach younger ones; this way, they can pay back the help they receive from us . . . . It is a small, effective "virtuous circle".
Then there is unexpected . . . . Biren, who could not pay back a debt of € 800 that he took out to buy rice for his ramshackle hostel, ended up in jail, where he got beat up. I ended up having to get him out . . . .
Lilmoni and Sundori
Three young disabled people left the House of Tenderness in Rajshahi and are now able to earn a living and live independently. They are an inspiration for everyone.
Roby finished college and is taking a computer course; others will follow suit.
Two more arrived. Sundori, 14, has crooked hands and feet and can only walk on all fours. Shusmita, 10, has Down syndrome; she was locked up in a small closed apartment, usually alone. I nicknamed her 'earthquake' because she is restlessness, but is now slowly beginning to socialise. She likes to dance, and now speaks somewhat 'more intelligibly. She is happy.
A final but important piece of news relates to a meeting with the clergy in the Diocese of Rajshahi. It confirmed to me that everyone values the 'Patient Support Centre'. Some unexpected extra help made the nuns who work there happy, and made us realise that we will go on if we believe in it. More than 4,000 patients, including 400 with tuberculosis, were treated and cared for in the year that is ending.
This summer I spent a few weeks in Italy for medical tests and surgery. Everything is under control . . . . However, I was sorry that I could not get to Rome, and that I could not go to certain meetings. I did get though some feedback on a book of my mine that was recently published (Il Vangelo del Dialogo or The Gospel of Dialogue, by EDB, Bologna), which I discussed sometimes at the dinner table, sometimes with people around the parish.
I also saw the passion with which Bangladeshi products were on show at exhibitions in Lecco, Milan, and Romano di Lombardia, as well as the local weariness due to the economic crisis, and the distrust in politics. I noticed the Francis factor as it swept up everyone as an unexpected breath of hope! And now I am back, up and down Bangladesh, happy to be here.
I would like to end with some thoughts about the eighth Street Kids Festival, where I was invited last 25 October.
It was raining. The city was tense because of potentially violent events expected that afternoon, which in fact caused havoc in some boroughs.
The kids who suffer on the streets every day, for once were indoors and safe, pampered by volunteers of all ages, religion, social status, who played with them, healed them, offered them a meal worthy of kings.
Outside, the world seemed to have gone mad, but inside an equally true, albeit almost hidden reality existed, one that I shared with people who during the year offer in all humility and in silence, time, efforts, and affection that the kids repaid with their joy. That day was a real treat!
Is this not what the mystery of Christmas is all about? Becoming a man of God, quiet, humble, someone who comes with tenderness among the shepherds, someone who refuses to be trapped in the logic of power and the search for magical solutions to our problems. The difficulty of living is also His, and His welcoming it gives us courage.
Best wishes, and thanks to all
* Missionary with the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) in Bangladesh.
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29/12/2017 19:10
16/12/2016 11:06
