… dalla Sierra Leone
VOCATION ANIMATION IN SIERRA LEONE
WHAT CHALLENGES?
Introduction
On the occasion of the celebration of the Year of Consecrated Life, I personally find it meaningful to reflect a little on our Regional life concerning the activity of vocation animation.
What I express here is my own personal opinion as someone involved in the field of vocation animation. I will try to share with you some of the challenges I encounter when I meet young people in the schools and parishes.
Sixty four years ago (1950), the first Xaverian Missionaries arrived in Sierra Leone, their first African Mission. Eight years later, the Xaverian Missionaries arrived in Congo (DRC). After so many years of our presence as Missionaries in this country, the question that many in Sierra Leone are asking, is: “why, after so many years of your presence and work in this Country, is there still no local Xaverian Missionary?” Considering our long presence in Sierra Leone, not only local people are asking that question, but some of our confreres are also baffled by this situation when they look to the other Xaverian African missions. This is surely an opportunity for all of us to reflect on our history and ministry.
Why so late?
The question of local vocations for our Institute was not an issue when the Xaverians began their work in the northern province of Sierra Leone. It came to the fore in the 1980’s and 90’s when several religious Congregations joined us in our missionary work. We felt that there was no urgency to open up to local vocations. First of all because, having been entrusted with the development of the diocese of Makeni as such, we felt that it was our duty to give priority to the task of recruiting and training vocations for the diocesan clergy.
Secondly, we generally felt it was a daunting task to find formators and set up structures in a short time to begin this new adventure, so we preferred to postpone the decision to later times. Finally, the decision to open up and start recruiting and training local vocations depended also on the “conversion”, of at least the majority of the members of our Region, to accept Sierra Leoneans as confreres. This may sound scandalous today, but that is history: Missionaries needing conversion.
Vocation Animation as one priority of the Xaverians in Sierra Leone
Our recent Regional Chapters stress the importance of vocation animation and the involvement of all Xaverians in this missionary activity. Although there was no a specific plan on how to do it, it is clear that Xaverians were aware of this aspect. Indeed, the XI Regional Chapter (2010 ) emphasized the responsibility of all Xaverians for vocation animation. The matter became more serious and practical when the Regional Superior appointed a confrere as full-time Vocation Director and coordinator.
Challenges in the field of vocation animation
In 2010, the Regional Superior asked me to take on the task of vocation animation. The method I adopted was to visit schools and parishes to meet young boys and present our Charism to them. These meetings presented a number of challenges. The main challenge I face as Vocation Director is to answer the question I mentioned above. Following the departure of some of our Xaverian students, rumors have spread that it is very difficult to join the Xaverian Congregation. Many boys are now somewhat afraid to join us, in case they face the same fate as their brothers. Apart from this experience, there are some other serious aspects, such as the WASSCE, health problems, especially hepatitis, a disease that is very common in Sierra Leone. Many people are affected by this disease without knowing it and it has led to the loss of some of our senior candidates.
Education
After the civil war, the standard of education in Sierra Leone dropped further and this has seriously affected our formation too. This year (2013-2014), six of the candidates I had been following, and whose families I had been visiting, were ready to join our Kissy Community in Freetown. None of them passed their Wascce and, consequently, they have to repeat the process. Most of the students here do not succeed at their first attempt: they have to try at least two or three times to obtain the five required credits. Those who do succeed after two or three attempts will be confronted with the age criterion. We have tried to help them with books, academic materials and school fees, so that they have a better chance of passing. All our efforts have, so far, not achieved good results. I am not sure what more we can do. In most of the schools we cannot say, or do, anything about this situation, as we were able to do previously, when the schools were controlled by the Catholic Mission. This is discouraging when all your efforts fail to achieve the results you had hoped for.
Health problems
Our Congregation is more demanding regarding the recruitment of candidates in the sense that, before accepting a boy or young man, we have to be sure of his health situation. In the last two years, we have noticed that many young boys in Sierra Leone are suffering from Hepatitis B, without being aware of it. It is both a problem and a disappointment when we discover that a candidate has this disease. Other Congregations do accept them, but we cannot do so because our General Direction and Formators have decided not to accept such candidates.
More collaboration is needed in our Region
We all know that vocation animation is a task that calls for the collaboration of all the Xaverians in Sierra Leone but, in actual fact, only a few show an interest in our pastoral ministry. We can see this when the formators send our students on a pastoral experience to our parishes. Some confreres do not accept the students in their parishes. They say they have no time to follow them. I used to ask myself why we cannot make some sacrifices in order to promote this essential task of our Region. Is it true that we do not have time to follow our candidates, or do we not accept them for other reasons which we do not express openly?
I do believe that our parishes could be places where we have the opportunity to talk to young people about our Charism, but it seems that many of us fail to show interest, or feel any pride, in presenting our Charism to young boys. Everything is left to the Vocation Director. Sometimes I ask myself what is the role of the Vocation Director. I think that his role is to go and meet young boys who have expressed a desire to join us. It should be easy for me, as vocation director, to visit them and get know their families, but it is not so. If the confreres who are living in that place, and who know the young boys, made an effort to prepare them, it would be easier for me to go and talk to them. Vocation animation becomes easy and fruitful if we embrace it together as one of our Regional priorities. I believe that things will improve if we call all confreres to make a total dedication to vocation animation.
The Ebola epidemic
This is a major problem and an obstacle to our vocation animation. It badly affects our pastoral work. As the saying goes: “ Man proposes, God disposes”. We had planned to boost the vocation animation in our Region. This year everything was ready to begin visiting other dioceses and parishes for a serious vocation animation. I had planned to go to the Kenema and Bo dioceses for the first time to do vocation animation, but it turned out to be impossible. I am thinking of the future since this year no one is going to school and nobody is taking exams. The Ebola epidemic has brought education to a halt in Sierra Leone, shutting all classrooms across the country, leaving all teachers, children and communities affected, as the disease continues to claim lives. What is the future for our formation in Sierra Leone? We entrust this situation to the One who can do everything.
Conviction and hope
Despite these challenges, our faith tells us that no matter what has happened, or is happening to our Region, we must try to learn the correct approach. Blaming others is not helpful. Being truthful about ourselves and about our failures is the correct thing to do. I do believe one of the great joys in the life of our Region is the agreement of all the confreres to prioritize vocation animation, by assigning a full-time confrere to this work and meeting young boys and their families.
This path will not be always easy and it will demand the sacrifice of our time. The year of the Consecrated Life encourages us religious to deepen our sense of consecration to Christ. We need to have the conviction that, whatever we are doing now, tomorrow it will yield some fruit. Someone must plant and water, others will harvest later.
We all have work to do. We need to ensure that everyone joins together to make the difference that is required to promote vocation animation. It is not a matter concerning just one Xaverian, but something that concerns all the Xaverians in Sierra Leone. Let us move ahead with faith and enthusiasm.
Fr Paulin Shadari Tutu, Sx
