Fr Cagnasso sends his heartfelt thanks to God and his doctor for letting him go back to Bangladesh
The former regional superior of PIME in Bangladesh sent his Christmas letter. He spent 2016 with college students on the outskirts of Dhaka, helping people with TB and those with vision problems. Expenses are up and the number of missionaries is down, partly because of terrorism. He almost did not make it back, but “when I had my heart test, everything was okay”.
Dhaka (AsiaNews) – Dear friends,
I am writing from Mirpur, where I have been working since January as parish assistant. Mirpur is huge, low-income neighbourhood in Dhaka, with big buildings and shacks, luxurious banks as well as filthy alleys where the city’s rubbish is dumped and sorted.
This is a place where fundamentalists seek converts, under the shadow of the very popular cricket stadium, Bangladesh’s glory. Christians are few and far in-between amid the flotsam of people, but trying to find ways to be faithful to the Gospel in these circumstances is inspiring and beautiful.
I live with the parish priest, Fr Quirico, and a dozen college students. Sharing time, work, prayer, services, and experiences, we try to help them find their best path. A few seem to be moving towards a missionary life with PIME. I am happy to have "ended up" in this community, where I can pursue my other activities, some far from Dhaka.
To the west, in Rajshahi, I attend the Sick Care Centre run by the Sisters of the Holy Child Mary. The sisters of Mother Teresa run a service in a nearby neighbourhood, so the number of our poor "clients" has slightly declined. However, spending went up because we get the more complex cases, especially people with cancer and heart problems as well as tuberculosis (TB). For the latter, we have a special ward. Last year, TB killed 80,000 people in Bangladesh. We saved a few hundred . . .
Rajshahi also has ‘Snehanir’ communities with more than 40 guests, mostly disabled. Last year, we accepted 16 boys and girls with serious visual and hearing impairments. They were seen by specialists and treated, and now three can see well, and everyone is doing better. This did not take a lot: a simple operation, medicine, and better food.
A nice thanks to science, but remember the people who "found" these children in remote villages, those who welcomed and loved them, who took care of them because other people, like you, contribute to the necessary expenses, from a distance, producing the "miracle" of their new life.
We do not want to see them flee into their "disability". When one of them leaves us because he or she can do it on their own, the satisfaction is great. This was case this year for Christopher who now teaches, and Pauline who is getting married, and others. . .!
In Bandarban, in the south-east, I attend the Marma hostel, founded and led by Mong Yeo. In recent months, during the rainy season, 4,475 fruit trees (mango, lychee, betel and others) were planted. Hopefully, with these trees and with the already planted rubber trees, the hostel will get what it needs to become self-sufficient.
As boys and girls grow up, they study and work hard, very conscious that their future and that of the Marma people are at stake.
Dino and Rotna, the two teachers you already know, adopted some 20 orphan girls, and continue their work in the slums of Dhaka, running a small school for 150 poor children.
As "bait" to make them go to class, they give them lunch, freeing them from the need to beg, scrounge, and collect rubbish to get something to eat.
Lately, their initiative had found the support of many foreign residents in the city, and was going full speed ahead.
Unfortunately, the terrorist massacre on 1st July, which killed ten Italians, spread fear. Many foreigners sent their families home, or to safer places, and the number of supporters has thinned. Still, we continue our modest work of support, hoping that it will succeed, as it did in other difficult periods.
Terrorism does cause problems for missionaries as well, not so much in Dhaka as in the north, where we are not allowed to go out without an escort and missions are under 24-hour protection.
Fr Piero Parolari, who was the victim of an attack in November 2015, is safe, but he cannot go back. On top of that, many of us were hit by a wave of serious illnesses with nine of us in Italy. Our community has thus lost almost a third of its members, and the past few months have been pretty tough.
Last year, I too was afraid of being told, "You cannot go back on mission". Luckily, they fixed me. When I had my heart test, everything was okay. A big ‘thank you’ to God and the doctor, right from the heart!
Finally, a big THANK YOU for all of you: for the friendship and support with which you follow me, and the many people to whom I dedicate myself. A special thought also for those who help me on a regular basis – in Lecco, Romano di Lombardia, and Milan – who set up Bengali handicrafts exhibits, work that requires a lot of time, dedication, and effort.
I wish you all not to be overwhelmed by fear, anxiety, or pessimism. May the mystery of Christ’s birth, of God’s presence in human history, and his suffering give us the strength to live with confidence and courage.
A big hug and Merry Christmas!
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