Working for a Different World… reflections for the journey home

“She is not a worker, since kids don’t do that.  But she was told to collect firewood from the discarded branches by her mother and aunts to have a stove to boil some rice.  She is safe, but trapped; faithful and hardworking.  She is simply doing the only thing she knows – hard work.

“We are the ones who know better and that, for both of us, makes a world of difference in our obligation to work – together – for a different world.”

These were some of the reflections of National Director Father Andrew Small, OMI as he completed his mission visit to Bangladesh.

His visit to this Asian nation revealed the heroic work of the Church there for the people who are at the most poor and in need.  Father Andrew discovered that those very people are our Catholic brothers and sisters in Bangladesh.

Behind the poverty are numerous reasons, some political and even religious.  Their jobs – mostly in the tea estates for just about 50 cents a day – don’t pay enough for families to have access to houses, or to provide the basic needs for their families.  The Church itself is poor, doing what it can with limited resources.

But love is present in abundance, Father Andrew observed.  “The bishops, priests, religious, and catechists love the people, and the people love them,” he explained.  “That relationship of love and concern has touched my heart.”

And to his heart, Father Andrew took, most especially, the plight of the children of Bangladesh.  “There are children who have no home, no families,” he told UCA News in an interview just before he left to return to the United States.  “They seemingly have no option; they are sleeping on the floors in extreme cold or extreme heat.”

That’s what he found had not that long ago been the reality at St. Anthony Mission Center in Shimulia, some 45 miles north from the capital city of Dhaka.  Like about half of the country’s population, the people in the area just two years ago had no electricity.  Village roads would be muddy and slippery with even a little rain; flooded when rains turned torrential.  The main road is now cement, although still poorly constructed, and some electricity is in place.

Father Andrew made his way through a forested remote area to the center founded by a local priest, Father Dominic Rozario, back in 2005.  There 45 children, mostly non-Christians, receive an education, as well as food, clothing and shelter.  The village has only seven Catholic families who embraced the faith through Father Rozario’s own work and witness.    Over several decades, his outreach to migrant workers and the most vulnerable peoples in these remote areas led to his opening at least five mission centers within the Dhaka Archdiocese.  His own vocation and his work with the most poor and in need was inspired by a now deceased Italian missionary priest.

Three local religious Sisters, all Catechist Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Queen of Angels, care for the children at the mission center.  Father Andrew discovered that the children, up until this year, had no electricity in the center and had to sleep on the floor; they endured sweltering heat in the summer and harsh cold winters.  “Heartbreaking” summed up Father Andrew’s feelings on hearing that news.  He was grateful that the sacrifices of children through the Holy Childhood Association had helped with making a difference for these children.

Speaking of the extreme poverty he witnessed throughout his journey, Father Andrew observed, “That is intolerable, for we who are called to love our neighbor, in our own community and in our world.”

He vowed to tell the story of the poor of Bangladesh.  “Our love needs to be there with them,” Father Andrew emphasized.  “They need more – they need our prayers; they need our support.”

“The Church’s credibility comes in the fact that it turns no one away,” he added.  “So I think when we do raise our voices because the situation is intolerable, we do so based on our credibility, that we are with the poor yesterday, today and tomorrow.”

As he completed his mission visit to Bangladesh, Father Andrew recalled the great joy and love of the people – and their repeated message to him.  “What the people have said to me most often was, ‘Father, the most important thing is you came to us; we are so often not on the path that people travel,’” he said.

“And I think that’s the Church at its heart, the missionary Church,” Father Andrew continued.  “Like the Lord Himself, not waiting for us to turn to Him in need, but He comes rushing to us.  We need, as Church, to send our love – in prayer and support – to the poor of Bangladesh and all the Missions.

“Yes, we are the ones who know better and that, for all of us, makes a world of difference,” Father Andrew concluded.

Contributing to this report was Rock Ronald Rozario, head of operations, Bangladesh, for UCAN/ucanews.com.

More photographs from Father Andrew’s missionary journey in Bangladesh may be found on our Facebook page. Also on Facebook, scenes from Father Andrew’s stop in Thailand on his journey home – and what 10,000 soda can tops and the Holy Childhood Association there are doing to make a difference!

Father Andrew Small, OMI, National Director, visited St. Anthony Mission Center in Shimulia, some 45 miles north from the capital city of Dhaka. There 45 children receive an education, as well as food, clothing and shelter. "We need, as Church - to send our love - in prayer and support - to the poor of Bangladesh and all the Missions," Father Andrew said.  Yes, we are the ones who know better and that, for all of us, makes a world of difference."

Tea – with Hope in Faith

Their plight is heartbreaking – and it’s one that Father Andrew Small, OMI took to his own heart during his visit to two tea estate villages in Bangladesh.

“The world and the Church need to know this story,” Father Andrew told UCA News. “The Church has a lot to do for the poor and in need, but lacks resources. Poor Catholics have strong faith in the face of numerous challenges, but they do need more support from us.”

The indigenous peoples – Khasi and Garo – are mostly Catholic, and are the poorest of the population. Transplanted from India by the British tea companies, they are now virtually “slaves,” observes Felix Ashacra, a leader in Biddyabill village of the Finlay Tea Estate in Srimangal.

“Tea workers are like slaves to the authorities,” he told Father Andrew. “We lack in basic human needs.” There is a reason for their poverty; workers on tea estates earn just the equivalent of 50 cents per day.

For these tribal peoples, rejected in all other ways in their sufferings, it is through the Church that they find hope in faith. This was illustrated by their request of Bishop Bejoy D’Cruze, OMI on the prelate’s own first visit to the area. “We don’t ask for food and clothes from you, Bishop, but help to set up a long cherished Marian Grotto by 2014,” Ashacra said. The village leader went on to tell both Bishop Bejoy and Father Andrew of the 20-year-old Legion of Mary group, which conducts regular prayer meetings and services. The group set up its own shrine a few years back, but would like the grotto for its silver jubilee in 2014. “We promise to spread Marian devotion to at least 25 villages in the next two years,” Ashacra told the visitors.

But the Church does provide the 700 mostly tribal Garo people in 147 families here with those basic necessities, as it is able. Biddyabill is the largest Catholic village among the 74 tea estate villages under St. Joseph’s parish in Srimangal. Holy Cross missionary Father Dominic Sarkar serves the area, visiting the 10,000 Catholics spread over 10,000 square miles. St. Joseph’s in Srimingal is the oldest and largest in the Diocese of Sylhet, established in 1950. Two other priests and eight Sisters serve the parish, which has four hostels for children – places providing food, lodging, and clothing, as well as health care and education for some 300 children of the tea estates. Support for these hostels and for the work of the Sisters and priests is provided through the Holy Childhood Association and the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, two of the four Pontifical Mission Societies. All services are free to the poor.

The heartbreaking plight of the tea estate workers was made clear once again on Father Andrew’s visit to the Teliapara Tea Estate, about 40 miles south from St. Joseph’s Church and served by the Teliapara Mission Center, with brother Oblate missionary priest, Father Joseph Gomes as the priest in charge. Besides the Mission Center, the Church runs St. Joseph’s primary school, educating tribal children since 1956.

Teliapara itself holds the history of the great battle between Bangladesh Liberation Forces and the invading army from Pakistan during the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971. “Many tribal people also fought for freedom and sacrificed their lives,” explains Father Joseph, who has worked in the Sylhet area for most of his 25 years as a priest. “Their contribution, however, is often not recognized.”

As with all tea estate workers, those in Teliapara have their own share of challenges. “We are poor, uneducated and downtrodden,” explained Lazarus Toppo, a tribal Catholic and former catechist. “We suffer from scarcity of food and clothes. During the summer, the shortage of drinking water is a regular problem.”

But, like the villagers Father Andrew met in Biddyabill, Catholics here are also “happy to keep faith,” Toppo said.

In both tea estate villages, Father Andrew was welcomed with great love and joy. As he left each, he told villagers, “I will never forget you all, and your joyous, loving welcome. But more importantly, I will tell all of your great faith – and your great needs.”

Contributing to this report was Rock Ronald Rozario, head of operations, Bangladesh, for UCAN/ucanews.com.

More photographs from Father Andrew’s missionary journey in Bangladesh may be found on our Facebook page. Also on Facebook, a report and photos from Father Andrew’s visit to Holy Spirit Major Seminary and Sunday Mass at De Mazenod Church in Nayanagar, Dhaka.

Next: Working for a Different World… reflections for the journey home.

“No matter how big or small, we all are equal in God’s eyes and called to be a missionary through our Baptism,” Father Andrew told Catholics at Biddyabill village of the Finlay Tea Estate.

"Welcome Father Andrew!" to Teliapara Tea Estate.

Father Andrew with young tribal boy who recently got his cornea replaced with support from the Church.

For the Young

Smiles given – and packed in a grateful heart for the journey home.

“I’ll carry your smiles back to kids back in the United States,” National Director Father Andrew Small, OMI told the young people he met in several tea estate villages he visited in the Diocese of Sylhet.

And helping to keep alive the hope behind those smiles are the efforts of the Church in Bangladesh, particularly in the area of education.

“Tea workers are deprived of a good wage, and so also education, for themselves and for their children,” offers Father Subash Costa, OMI, a local priest in De Mazenod Catholic Church in Khadim Nagar. The Kalagool ESA Primary School at the Kalagool Tea Estate in that village is trying to change that.

Father Subash observes that it’s more than just school subjects that are offered to these students. “Often they come to school hungry, suffering from malnutrition,” he explains. “So we offer them bread with their learning!”

Returning to serve in the parish this time, he’s seen a change – a hope-filled one. “Education is changing the tribal people,” Father Subash says. “Those who studied in this school are now leading and taking part in Church activities.”

“Christians are few in number, but we have a big impact on the greater society, especially through education and health care,” affirms Bishop Bejoy D’Cruze of Sylhet. And in order to expand those services, the new diocese needs much – including a home for its new bishop.

“Yes, my diocese is very poor – and even I myself have no house,” the bishop says.

Land is needed for that home, as well as for a compound that would include a cathedral church to offer Mass, a pastoral center for social and pastoral services for the village poor, and a seminary to encourage and nurture vocations to the priesthood.

In fact, on the way to the diocese’s oldest and largest parish, St. Joseph’s Church in Srimangal, Bishop Bejoy took Father Andrew to see a parcel of land, the possible site for those endeavors.

“It is so important as we grow as a diocese, to  grow in our service to all, especially the young,” Bishop Bejoy says.

Contributing to this report was Rock Ronald Rozario, head of operations, Bangladesh, for UCAN/ucanews.com.

More photographs from Father Andrew’s missionary journey in Bangladesh may be found on our Facebook page.

“I’ll carry your smiles back to kids back in the United States,” National Director Father Andrew Small, OMI, told the young people he met in several tea estate villages he visited in the Diocese of Sylhet.

Children and their families take a photo with Father Andrew Small, OMI and Bishop Bejoy D’Cruze, OMI during their visit to from Biddyabill Tea Estate in Srimangal. Offers one local priest on the Church’s education efforts, “Lives are changed,” he says. “Those who studied in this school are now leading and taking part in Church activities.”

Bishop Bejoy D’Cruze, OMI (left) shows Father Andrew Small, OMI a parcel of land, a possible site for a compound that would include a home for the bishop, as well as a cathedral church to offer Mass, a pastoral center for social and pastoral services for the village poor, and a seminary to encourage and nurture vocations to the priesthood.

Next: Tea – with Hope in Faith

Witnesses to Hope

“Raise your hands if you are a missionary,” National Director Father Andrew Small, OMI asked several hundred Catholic children and families at Biddyabill village in the Finlay Tea Estate in Srimangal, often called country’s “tea capital.” All hands went up! (Read a similar question and answer session in the most recent MISSION magazine.)

“Wonderful!” Father Andrew noted, adding, “Every Catholic is called to be a missionary by the virtue of Baptism.” In addition to meeting our brothers and sisters in faith in Bangladesh — joined with us as “one family in mission” — Father Andrew also encountered missionary priests and religious who serve the poor in this Asian nation, giving witness to the Lord’s hope-filled Good News.

Take Holy Cross missionary Father Dominic Sarkar (shown below next to his calendar). He has 74 villages to visit, some 10,000 Catholics spread over 10,000 square miles. Lots of work — concrete help for the poor, always with the offering of the hope and love of the Lord; help for body and soul. Father Dominic’s parish, St. Joseph's in Srimangal, is the oldest and largest in the Diocese of Sylhet. Back when the parish was established in 1950, it took missionary priests and religious weeks to reach villages on foot, offering spiritual and pastoral services to the scattered faithful. Two other priests and eight Sisters — including Holy Cross Sister Shilpi (below) — serve the parish. The parish has four hostels for children from the tea estates, providing an education, health care and shelter for some 300 young people, mostly from the Khasi and Garo ethnicities. Sisters and priests also offer marriage counseling, and health services through a clinic. All the services are free to the poor.

Father Andrew visited St. Joseph’s — the church built with help from the Society for the Propagation of the Faith a decade ago — on January 20, the feast of the founder of the Holy Cross missionaries, Blessed Basil Moreau. Most appropriately, the celebration began with Mass.

Just a day earlier, on his arrival in the Diocese of Sylhet, Father Andrew was greeted by Missionaries of Charity Sisters singing, “Sagotom, Priyo Bondhu!” (“Welcome, Dear Friend” in Bengali). The Sisters serve in De Mazenod Church in Khadim Nagar. The third oldest parish in the diocese, it is the first founded by the Oblate missionaries, Father Andrew’s Religious Community. The parish offers education, as well as social and pastoral services to the poor and needy tea estate workers.

The Missionaries of Charity Sisters have been running a home for poor orphan children and the sick of the area since 1975, the year De Mazenod parish was established. Seven Sisters care hundreds of sick, including 50 resident patients. In Bangladesh, these Sisters also run a dozen other such centers.
“I bring you the love and friendship of Catholics in the United States,” Father Andrew told the Sisters, adding, “What a great job you are doing carrying God’s love as a missionary!”

And how wonderful that all of us — missionaries by Baptism — can support that hope-filled witness in prayer and support through the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Contributing to this report was Rock Ronald Rozario, head of operations, Bangladesh, for UCAN/ucanews.com.

More photographs from Father Andrew’s missionary journey in Bangladesh may be found on our Facebook page.

Father Dominic Sarkar, CSC with his calendar.

Sister Shilpi, CSC

St. Joseph's Church in Srimangal, built with help from Catholics to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in 2002.

Mass at St. Joseph's Church on January 20, feast day of the founder of the Holy Cross missionaries who founded and staff the parish.

Father Andrew with Missionaries of Charity.

Beginning with the New

“We’ve got two things in common,” National Director Father Andrew Small, OMI told his new friend 'Ananda' in Bangladesh. Since a look at the duo might make one think otherwise, he quickly clarified the statement for the child whose name means “joy.” “We’re both small,” Father Andrew said with a smile, indicating his own last name and the boy’s age and height, “but we’re big in God’s eyes.” Then came a mission connection: “And we both went to Oblate parish schools.”

The start of Father Andrew’s mission journey in Bangladesh January 19 was in the newest diocese in the country, Sylhet, announced as a new mission diocese by Pope Benedict XVI just in July 2011. (Originally Sylhet was part of the Dhaka Archdiocese.) He was greeted with a music-filled rally on his arrival at Kalagool ESA Primary School at Kalagool Tea Estate in Khadim Nagar, Sylhet. (Bangladesh is one of the major tea-producing countries in the world.) The school is run by Oblate missionary Fathers, the Religious Community to which Father Andrew now belongs and the priests who educated him as a child. That village includes 50 families, all depending on the tea gardens for a living.

Father Andrew was welcomed also by another Oblate priest, Sylhet’s Bishop, Bejoy D’Cruze, OMI. Of the diocese’s seven parishes, in fact, six are run by Oblate missionary priests, with one parish staffed by Holy Cross missionaries. Sylhet is a tribal diocese. In total, 22 priests, including two local priests, and 33 religious Sisters serve in those parishes. Out of a population of about 8.2 million, some 17,000 are Catholic. “With such a small tribal community, employed mostly in tea plantations, there is a lot to do,” Bishop Bejoy observed. Sylhet is known for some 132 tea estates in the hilly and forested terrain. The Catholic Church in Bangladesh is known for its services, which are open to all communities. "The Church has a lot to offer the poor and those most in need," says Bishop Bejoy. He noted that most don't earn enough - about 50 cents a day - and cannot afford daily necessities, including food, clothing and housing. They can't even send their children to school, or receive adequate health care when they are sick, Bishop Bejoy added, noting that education and health services are among his top priorities. And, of course, there is the need always to reveal Christ’s saving love to the poor and vulnerable. Catholics worldwide, through the Pontifical Mission Societies, can offer what they can to support Bishop Bejoy, and the priests, religious and lay catechists serving with him.

Contributing to this report was Rock Ronald Rozario, head of operations, Bandgladesh, for UCAN/ucanews.com

More photographs from Father Andrew’s missionary journey in Bangladesh may be found on our Facebook page.

Next: Witnesses to Hope