CIRCULAR LETTER No. 04/2015/08.

 

1.0 INTRODUCTION  Please accept greetings from the Provincial’s office, Wa. It is our hope and prayer that this circular letter finds you all still doing fine in your respective communities and apostolates during this Eastertide. This circular letter is aimed at updating you with information of relevance in the life of the Province since the last issue.

  

2.0 FUNERAL RITES AND BURIAL OF THE LATE BRO. OSCAR NAAPEULMWAN GEM  

The funeral rites and burial of the late brother - Bro. Oscar came off successfully from 6Th - 7Th February, 2015 at St. Louis Community - Wa. It was well attended by many people from all walks of life. The PC is grateful to all the brothers who in different ways helped to make this event happen successfully. Prior to the funeral proper, a memorial mass was celebrated for him on 2Nd February, 2015 in Accra Community.   

We feel very much indebted in gratitude to the Bishop of Wa Diocese - Most Rev. Paul Bemile and his brother Bishops of the Northern Ecclesiastical Province of Ghana, Provincial/Major  Superiors of various religious congregations, Priests and Religious, the entire Kpanyane/Biibile family of Chetu, Kaader and Nyour-yir, Fielmon, Mbo and Memer in Burkina Faso, the Staff and students of St. Andrews Primary and JHS - Wa, friends and well-wishers of the Brothers FIC and friends of the late Bro. Oscar who in diverse ways supported us to give a befitting funeral and burial to our late brother.

 

3.0 APPOINTMENTS  Bros. Jos van Dinther and Francis Sarfo have since 1St March, 2015 taken up the task of house bursary in their respective communities.  Following the transfer of Bro. Aloysius from Kaleo to St. Louis Community, Bro. Conrad Nakuma has also since 1St March, 2015 stepped in as the Ag. House Superior of Kaleo until further notice.

  

4.0 TRANSFERS

4.1 Bros. Peter Saatuo and Aloysius Dabuo Porekuu have since 1St March, 2015 been transferred to Tumu community and St. Louis Community respectively. Bro. Aloysius in taking up a post retirement apostolate has accepted a three year job contract as the Assistant Headmaster of St. Louis Education Complex – Wa. We wish to thank Bro. Aloysius for this availability and wish him well in this new apostolate.  

4.2 Bro. Denis Dery on his part has been transferred effective 1St May, 2015 from St. Vincent de Paul Community, Tamale to Mt. Zion Community, Nandom.  

 

5.0 THE SSS PROJECT After two continuous years of hard work in Yambio - South Sudan as a missionary, Bro. Methodius Kuusoru returned home for a well-deserved 6-weeks home leave. He arrived on 8Th March and has 

P O Box 229, Wa, Ghana. Tel/Fax: +233 (0) 3920 22 424 or (0)392021143       E-mail: ficwaprovhs@gmail.com 

since 18Th April, 2015 returned to his base at Yambio. On 21St April, 2015 Bro. Methodius sent the following email message:  

 "I arrived in Juba on  Sunday,19th April at 2.25 p.m. local time. In Juba we have the head office /  residence facility for  Solidarity with South Sudan (SSS). I stayed there and the following day I was  on my way to  Yambio on board a small plane by the World Food Program. The plane could carry  only 10 passengers but we were six. Despite the size of the plane it was a very smooth flight. I  arrived here in Yambio at 10.50 am local time to a rousing welcome by both staff and students. It  was really a homecoming-experience.  "We have been waiting impatiently for your return" was  the welcome  message. This was edifying.    But what was  more, the community had moved my belongings to one of the new rooms just  completed as staff accommodation. It was clean, dressed with curtains, furniture and all. I was  simply dumbfounded!    It was very easy for me to settle in to my new room and I as I write this I feel that I am grounded  back to base. I have already been oriented into my teaching assignment by those to handled my  classes in my absence. It means that I am ready to start again and I am eager to meet the students  in class just as how they were eager to see me back. When you don't hear from me for a while know  that I am deeply engrossed with my task. Seven weeks of the semester have gone by leaving  nine weeks to go.    Thank you all for making my stay at home a restful, joyous one. I am grateful for the friendship and  care you extended to me so generously. May God bless everyone out there back home".    We are glad to know that, this period of rest though short satisfied your need for a break after a long  period of intensive work of in-service training of teachers and that you return feeling rejuvenated.  We wish you well in this challenging missionary work out  there at Yambio.  

6.0 OUR STUDENT BROTHERS  

6.1 Brothers studying abroad:  Bro. Augustine Kubdaar has recently communicated from his base - the United States International University (USIU) of Nairobi – Kenya. According to him, he is fine and doing well in life as well as with his studies. As a Master’s degree Clinical Psychology Student, he is required to do a number of hours practicum at three different institutions spread over the entire course duration. So far, he has completed the required hours for his 2nd Practicum at Mathari Mental Hospital and received creditable assessment. He hopes to do his 3Rd and last practicum in one of the universities in Nairobi.   

All things being equal, he would have graduated by the close of August, 2015 and should be on his way back home in the 1St week of September, 2015. For now his major worry is the scary security situation in Nairobi due to the recent Al-Shabab militant attack in one of the Universities in Nairobi. Accordingly, there are still pockets of threats of further attacks in other universities that leaves almost every one worried. What he needs most now is our prayers as he works towards the finish line of his studies.  

6.2 Brothers Studying locally – Continuing students:  Bros. Severious B.T. Sentu, Stephen Bangnabayi and Hypolite Dun-Dery are expected to fold  up  their Masters in Education studies at the University of Education – Winneba, Kumasi by the  close of September, 2015. Bro Godfrey Naa-Tampah on his part is also expected to complete his  studies in ICT (computer hardware and networking) at GIMPA by the Close of June, 2015. We  wish them all success in their final exams and dissertations.   

The fulltime undergraduate studies students namely: Irenius Nimbare, Joseph Kyoore and Williams Nyuzagl are still busy in school hoping to end the current academic year by the end of June, 2015. Bros. Peter Claver Kuuniabom, Conrad Nakuma, Joseph Zoyah, John Bosco Miilo, Aaron Nee-eru and Nimorius Dery Ganee who are either sandwich/distance undergraduate students currently are at home in their respective communities and busy in their assigned apostolate. They hope to be in school in July - September, 2015. We wish them all well in their academic pursuits.

 

7.0 PROGRESS REPORT ON FIC JUBILEE SCHOOL PROJECT AT NANDOM

Construction work on the 2-Storey 16-unit classroom block FIC Jubilee School in Nandom which is expected to be completed and handed over by the close of July, 2015 is progressing steadily. Currently the building has reached lintel level and is expected to be roofed by the close of May. There is pressure not only on the Contractor but also on the PC as deadlines have to be met if the first batch of pupils of the new school will have to start by mid September, 2015.

  

8.0 NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR FIC INSTITUTIONS.

8.1 St. Louis Education Complex - Wa.   Following the end of tenure of office of the 1St Board of Directors of the St. Louis Educational  Complex (SLEC) in September, 2014, this Board was dissolved with a new Board recomposed and  inaugurated on 29Th January, 2015. This appointment is for 3 years spanning from 1St December,  2014 and automatically expires on 31St November, 2017. The new Board of SLEC is composed of   Mr. Lazarus Bayeldeng (Chairman), Sr. Laeticia Dombesegtah (Catholic Educ. Unit), Mrs.  Cynthia S. Chiibu (Dist. Educ. Office) and Dr. Jane Frances Lobnibe (PTA representative). The  rest are: Bro. Godwin S. Kuu-ireme (Headmaster), Bro. Cosmas Kanmwaa (PC representative),  Mr. Brian Sotaa Seidu (PTA Chairman) with Bro. Nimorius D. Ganee  as Secretary.  8.2 FIC Bernardus Company Limited.  The mandate of the 2Nd Board of Directors of the FIC Bernardus Company Ltd. also ended in  September, 2014. Consequently, it was dissolved in December, 2014 and with a new Board  reconstituted for a 3-year period (1St January, 2015 to 31St December, 2017) and inaugurated on  22Nd January, 2015. Members of the 3Rd Board of the Company are: Mr. Jocelyn Debpuur (Chairman), Bro. Fabian Bezel (Site Manager), Bro. Patrick Benneh (PC Representative), Bro.  Patrick Naazie  (Member and Secretary), Dr. George Gyardery (Member), Mr. Sabastian Gan  (Member) and Mr. Banabas Naayere (Member).

 

9.0 SENIOR ASPIRANTS' CONTACT DAYS

This year' Senior Aspirants Contact Days (SACD) came off from 15Th - 18Th April, 2015 at St. Louis Community - Wa, under the able-leadership of Bro. Clovis Baaka - Aspirancy Coordinator and Bro. Aaron Nee-eru – Assistant Aspirancy Coordinator. The theme for the contact days was “Let your faithful rejoice in what is good” (2 Cor. 6:41). In all, 10 Senior Aspirants were invited. Of this number, only 5 turned up. 4 excused themselves for various reasons, while one person went out of coverage area.   Two talks were given. The first talk was on “FIC spirituality, a Vincentian approach to evangelization”. This was facilitated by Bro. Felicio Gyeyir. Bro. Severious B. Sentu on his part took charge of the second talk title “I have treasured the words from your lips” (Ps. 119:11).   At the end of the day, three Senior Aspirants after going through medical screening, tendered in their applications for the Pre-Novitiate Programme come October, 2015. The formation team and the PC are yet to meet to consider these applications. Thanks to Bros. Clovis and Aaron for the good work being done for the province amidst the occasional frustrations and unrelenting challenges they have to content themselves with in the vocation drive efforts for the Province.  

10.0 REFLECTIVE DOCUMENT ON FIC CONSTITUTIONS

Bro. Patrick Binneh represents Ghana Province on the committee charged by the GC to produce a reflective document on our Constitutions. He was in Indonesia from 6Th - 29Th January, 2015 for the first meeting. In a nut shell Bro. Patrick Binneh has this to say about that meeting:  

 "Five delegates from the five Provinces of our Congregation, namely: Chile (Bro. Diego), Indonesia  (Bro. Valentinus Daru), Ghana (Bro. Patrick Binneh), Malawi (Bro. Martin Dariyo) and the  Netherlands (Bro Johan Muijtjens) including two representatives from the General Council ( Bros. Martinus Handoko - General Superior and Theodorus Suwaryanto - General Councilor) met  from the 11Th to 17Th January 2015,  Salatiga in Indonesia.  

 Bro. Martinus officially opened the meeting by explaining that the focus of the meeting was to  address General Chapter Resolution 10(a) which is on our common spirituality for our   Formatees and we as brothers. The Formators in particular asked for a knowledge based document to enhance our common understanding of the FIC Constitution.    Fr. Josephus Darminta, a Jesuit Priests guided the participants through the Methodology of  Reading the Constitutions. At the end of the workshop, each Province was asked to write on a  particular chapter of the Constitution. A draft on some of the articles would be discussed at the  forth coming General  Conference, further at a ConCon meeting with the Formators in Indonesia  next year. The document  would be finalized at the 2018 General Chapter in the Netherlands".

11.0 INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR FOR FORMATIORS  

The Sacred Congregation of Consecrated Life organized a seminar in Rome for Formators of   Institutes with Pontifical recognition. This seminar is part of the activities line-up by the Sacred  Congregation of Consecrated Life to mark the year for Consecrated life.   

To ensure that FIC as a Congregation was not left out in this important historic event, the GC  sponsored 3 Brothers for this seminar. The Brothers who benefited were Bro. Raphael Besigrinee  (General Council), Bro. Alpitio Kog (Ghana Province) and Bro. Petrus Anjar (Indonesia Province).     The following is the write-up of Bro. Alpitio  on the seminar: "The above conference was organized  by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and  Societies of Apostolic Life to mark the  year of Consecrated Life declared by Pope Francis, held in Ergife Palace Hotel in Rome  from 7TH  – 11TH April, 2015. The congress was aimed at helping  participants to reflect on the  fundamental aspects of Consecrated Life in the Church and the world in a multi-cultural  context and the demands on formation that this contemporary context entails. It  was an invitation  to reflect on issues and elements that define Consecrated Life, irrespective of our  cultural  differences. In attendance were about 1,266 men and women Religious Formators from  very many  religious congregations across the globe.    Participants were grouped into halls and further divided into language groups at round tables,  called  communities. Some key-note addresses and lectures were given during the congress. There  were  also round table discussions, with questions and answers after each lecture. Almost all the  topics  presented were related to issues of Formators and Formatees in this noble vocation of  consecrated life. Some of the speakers being veterans in formation ministry were invited to  share their personal  experiences.     

Participants had a Eucharistic Celebration at St. Peter’s Papal Basilica followed by an audience  with the Pope on Saturday, 11Th April, 2015. The Pope was overwhelmed by the huge number of  consecrated men and women Formators gathered. The Pope in his message said “Consecrated life  is one of the most precious treasures of the church and as Formators, it is a privilege to participate  in the work of the Father who forms the heart of the Son in those whom the Spirit has called”. The  Pope further noted that, seeing the large number of Formators, one would hardly believe that there  is vocation crisis.   Though there were some organizational challenges, it was a historic event, the first of its kind.  Thanks to the GC and PCG for this opportunity and unique experience in my life as a religious and  as a formator".

 

12.0 THE ACCIDENT OF BRO. STEPHEN CUSTERS.

On 30Th March, 2015, Bro. Stephen Custers left his Community in Bole for work (St. Kitzito's  Vocational/Technical Institute - Bole). On reaching the main road and in an attempt to join the road he got knocked down by an Urvan  Mini-Bus travelling in the direction of Sawla - Bole.    He was immediately rushed to Bole Hospital for treatment as he had sustained a knee fracture and deep cut on his head. Thereafter, he was referred to Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH)  on  the same day for further attention as his condition was life threatening. After 2 days  of  admission at TTH, his condition unfortunately did not see much improvement. Hence, he was  referred to Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra for specialist attention.    Left with no evacuation option to Accra as the available commercial flights on Tamale -Accra route  would not accept patients in such a critical condition, we had to seek the intervention of a Military  Helicopter from Accra to airlift him to Accra from Tamale 1St April, 2015. Thanks to the leading  role played by people like Dr. Ben Kuubuor, Major Robert Taaleh, Dr. Thomas Dakurah and Dr.  Jonathan Dakubo and many others who facilitated all these processes for us.    On arrival at Korle-Bu, he was admitted and 2 days later, moved to the Intensive  Care Unit (ICU). As days passed by Bro. Stephen’s conditions saw very little improvement. From all indications, he needed further specialist attention outside Ghana. Similar to our evacuation experience in Tamale, no commercial airline would accept him on board to The Netherlands. Thanks to the intervention of the General Council who offered to pay entirely the cost of Bro. Stephen’s evacuation to the Maastricht, Netherlands on 9Th April, 2015 by an air ambulance. He has since his arrival at AZM Hospital undergone a knee surgery and recovering slowly. Most recent update information reaching us from Bro. Wim Luiten on the recovery status of Bro. Stephen as at Monday, 20Th April, 2015 has it that:   "[They] noticed a slight improvement in the alertness in the eyes of Stephen and yesterday he spoke a few words which could be understood. But in general [they] still wonder whether he understands [them] and tries to answer [their] questions. Last Saturday he had another CT scan of the head but there were no noticeable changes to be seen yet. He had as well an x-ray of his longs as they noticed a drop of oxygen in his blood and wondered what the cause of this may be? No results as yet. The wound of the operation of his knee is healing well. The stitches on his head have all gone and the wounds have....healed. The rest of his condition is stable".   We continue to keep him in our prayers. The PC is grateful to the General Council, the Brothers of Bole, Tamale and Accra Communities and all other Brothers both at home and in the Netherlands and our friends who in various ways helped us in those critical moments to find treatment for Bro. Stephen. May God bless you all.   

  

13.0 WEEK END FOR TEMPORARY PROFESSED BROTHERS (TPBs)

This weekend session came off from 10Th – 11Th April, 2015 at St. Louis Community – Wa. This particular weekend of the TPBs was unique in several ways. First, the FIC Constitutional Review Committee member who is also the Vice Provincial Superior of Ghana Province was the facilitator. Secondly, all the TPBs including those studying were present. Finally, the reflection was entirely on the FIC Constitution. As described by the speaker the “Constitution is the embodiment of the Congregation”, therefore it behooves every Brother, especially the TPBs to be conversant with its content.   According to the facilitator the Constitution says little about community life and prayer, it however emphasizes on apostolate, towing the path of the Vincentian Spirituality thus, option for the poor and the needy. Mary, the facilitator stressed, is the sole patroness of the FIC Congregation but not St. Vincent De Paul. The speaker challenged the TPBs to be grounded in the structures of the Congregation and take the Constitution as their second Bible.   Brother Fabian Kuupille challenged the TPBs to use the opportunity offered them to revisit the Constitution to enrich their knowledge on the ideals and Charism of our founders.   The Provincial superior - Bro. Seregeous Dery, was grateful to all participants for availing themselves for the session which he described as very important because the entire reflections and discussions were centered on the FIC Constitution. He was also happy to interact with TPBs for the second time since his assumption of office as Provincial Superior. He offered them the following pieces of advice:   Participate actively in community activities so as to grow fully into it.  Take good care of your health; periodic medical checkup is important.  Know that the future leadership of this Province rests in your hands. Therefore, avail yourselves for any leadership role in whatever form it comes now, if it is within your capacity. In so doing, you can learn and thus, mature for bigger tasks in the future.  Make constructive criticisms about your leaders and offer suggestions.  At the end of the day, the TPBs expressed their appreciation to the Provincial Council for their growing interest in the Brothers’ welfare and for their continuous support to young Brothers in various ways. Reported by Br. Fidelis Gyiireh  14.0 BEREAVEMENTS Bro. Patrick Binneh loss his Aunty (Mother's sister) recently. The funeral came off from 17Th - 18Th April, 2015 at her marital village at Tom.   Bro. Patrick Gyereh also loss an Aunty (Father's sister) about a month ago. Her funeral is scheduled for 24Th - 25Th April, 2015 at Zimuopare - Ko.   Mr. Hector Saatuo, the younger brother of Bro. Peter Saatuo also passed on about a month ago in Techiman. His funeral celebration will come off at Nandom-Danko from 1St - 2Nd May, 2015.  We pray that these Brothers and their siblings would find consolation in the promise of the resurrection in their grieve over the loss of their dear ones.   In the same string, we recognize that a number of brothers also loss relatives during the period. By virtue of distance and other commitments, not all of us could be present to grieve with you. Nevertheless, we were united in spirit praying for the peaceful repose of the souls of the dead.      

    

15.0 CONCLUSION

So far, these are the tit-bits of update information we have for you. Some information contained here might be obsolete news for some brothers/communities yet still we think it is vital that all brothers are kept posted with all relevant developments in the Province. We thank you all for your cooperation enjoyed so far.   May the God who calls and missions, continue to shepherd us in our ministry and living together as Brothers. Stay blessed.    

Br. Seregeous  Dery Provincial Superior (On behalf of the Provincial Council)