Pathways: Spring 2004
Following the Gospel
to Benin, West Africa.
by S. Celeste Cotter
One of the mysteries of following the Gospel call is how it leads you to destinations you could never have imagined for yourself. That was my situation last May, when Catholic Relief Services invited me to go to Africa for a ten-day visit to the country of Benin.
Five
other diocesan directors and myself traveled through Paris
to Benin, a country in West Africa, to visit programs sponsored
or supported by Catholic Relief Services. Funds for these
programs come from the collections for Catholic Relief Services
and Operation Rice Bowl in the United States, which I direct
in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, LA. These operations are
used to provide loans for international relief and development
efforts, especially eduation, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS
programs, and water projects for agriculture and drinking.
Along
with Karen Smith from CRS and Dan Misleh from the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference, we traveled to five cities in Benin.
In presenting the programs of CRS, I have learned a number
of facts about hunger, such as that most of the world live
on less than a dollar a day. In our world, ten percent of
the people have much more than they need, thirty percent have
barely what they need, and sixty percent live in desperate
hunger and poverty. One of the greatest areas of need is sub-Saharan
Africa, which has been decimated by famine and disease, especially
HIV/AIDS.
The
lived reality of those facts was sobering, yet we were excited
to discover the impact of Catholic Relief Services in addressing
those needs. We visited the CRS food warehouses, where staples
such as cornmeal, rice, and lentils are stored until provided
as food or sold into the local market to generate funds for
programs in CRS-Benin. Children at the Terre des Hommes shelter
for abandoned, abused, and runaway children in Cotonou welcomed
us with song. Next we went to a village in Porto Novo where
the villagers used CRS funds to create a fish farm. Ponds
that were dug out of the hillside by hand held many Tilapia,
an ancient fish, which they use for food or sell at the market.
A health center in Abomey was the only resource for education
and treatment of many diseases, most notably AIDS. Babies
with AIDS would receive transfusions. Staff treated the symptoms
of adults with AIDS with herbal remedies such as spirulina,
an algae that is grown at the center, because there are no
anti-retroviral drugs available. It was rewarding to see babies,
children, and adults who participated in all these programs
looking happy and reasonably healthy.
What is most challenging for me is to find ways to communicate
the solidarity that we experienced on this trip. We are one
Church, one world, one people of God. Our responsibility is
to seek the well-being of every member of the Body of Christ,
whether that person is a believer or not. Our African hosts
provided many excellent examples of collaboration among faiths
and between government and other agencies. Conversations with
the Bishop of Abomey and Archbishop of Cotonou revealed the
concerns of the Church of Benin, which mirror our own. It
is hard to hold dear what one has never seen, yet that is
the witness of faith. I hope, through my ministry in the Diocese,
to promote that awareness of and solidarity with the rest
of the world that I have been blessed to experience.
As Associate Director of Parish Social Ministry in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, S. Celeste also serves as Diocesan Director of Catholic Relief Services.
Benin, West Africa Info
Once a 15th century West African kingdom called
Dahomey, Benin was colonized by the French in 1872. Upon
achieving independence from the French in 1960, Benin
was subject to a succession of military governments until
1990 when democratic reforms were adopted. Free elections
were held in 1991.
Official Name: Republic of Benin
Capital: Porto-Novo (official), Cotonou (government)
Neighbors: Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria
Population: 7,041,490
Size: 112,620 sq km (slightly smaller than Pennsylvania)
Life expectancy at birth: 51.08 years*
Fertility rate: 6.04 children born per woman*
HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate: 3.6%*
People living with HIV/AIDS: 120,000**
HIV/AIDS deaths: 8100**
Population below poverty line: 37%**
Religions: indigenous beliefs 50%, Christian 30%,
Muslim 20%
Ethnic Groups: African 99% (42 ethnic groups),
Europeans 5500
* 2003, estimated
** 2001, estimated
information from The World Fact Book
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bn.html
How I spent my Christmas Break
(a story about Nicaragua, Central America)
by S. Leyla Cerda
Have
you ever lived with people that live on a dollar a day in
Latin America? This past Christmas eight Loyola students and
two staff members (including myself) traveled to Nicaragua
for a three week immersion experience. Each of us lived with
a campesino family in an agricultural community. We were welcomed
to become one more member of their family eating rice and
beans, showering with a bucket of water, using an outhouse,
riding in the back of a pick up truck owned by the agricultural
community, and playing with the children.
Why
do I go with the TWINS (Two Worlds IN Solidarity) one year
and continue to go in succeeding years? The TWINS program
does not build or fix anything in Nicaragua.
During our
time together, we were not people from either a first world
or third world country. We were simply one family. “If
you have come to help me you are wasting your time. But if
you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine
then let us work together.” This quote written by an
aboriginal Australian woman has inspired me to reflect and
remember that we are all globally connected. For me this time
in Nicaragua was a grace because I experienced deeply our
Sisters of St. Joseph charism of unity and reconciliation.
My campesino family helped me feel at home immediately. In
the morning, Pedro happily brought to us oranges, plantains
or papaya from the fields. His wife Ana offered me some slices
of this sweet papaya for breakfast. This was a treat that
I would eagerly eat. One day, just before Christmas, Pedro
brought Ana a gift of a new, green plastic bucket to carry
water. They had only one pipe with running water once a week.
The water was saved in containers and a tank for the rest
of the week, so the gift was much appreciated.
The
men’s lives revolve around farming. The women’s
lives revolved around caring for the children, cooking rice
and beans over the fire for hours, carrying water in buckets
and then washing the clothing by hand. Of course, without
the modern conveniences, the task of maintaining a household
is a full time job. The women also sell their seasonal fruit
and grain in the market.
These families in the agricultural community work together
for a better chance of survival. They choose to rely on communal
resources, so they will not risk losing their land to a bank
if they are unable to repay a loan. Their biggest challenge
is the free market system because Nicaragua does not have
a system in place to protect/subsidize farmers. The poor people
are not considered in the negotiations. Capitalism, in Nicaragua,
is more about making money than about improving the quality
of life for the people.
In
the mid nineties, this agricultural community started sending
young people to the public universities. In 1995, they sent
three students and currently they have about thirty. The average
expense for a year per student is about seven hundred and
fifty to a thousand dollars. This includes registration, tuition,
transportation, one daily snack, school supplies and copies.
Books are too expensive so they use a library book whenever
one is available.
We left Nicaragua with new experiences, new friends and a
deep awareness of another culture. Perhaps it is best summed
up in the words of our friends in the agricultural community
at the despedida (goodbye party), “No nos olviden”
(Do not forget us!).