Damongo Community.

 

Damongo community was officially started in 1990 in a bungalow belonging to the Damongo Agricultural Institute. This Institute was started by the Missionaries of Africa in the late sixties/early seventies following the opening of Damongo Parish. Later on it was handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture, and gradually its development stagnated and the Institute lost its original purpose. This led to negotiations between the Archdiocese of Tamale and the Ministry of Agriculture to hand back the Institute to the Church. The archdiocese had asked FIC to take charge and FIC had some ideas as to how to develop the Institute further. When we were about to conclude negotiations the dialogue was stopped due to a sudden change of plans by the Government in connection with the establishment of UDS (University of Development Studies), in which the Institute had a role to play. From that time onwards the Damongo Agricultural Institute could no longer be our home. 

It was from there that Bro. Justin of blessed memory started sear- ching for other possibilities. He himself at the time was already teaching in the Damongo Senior High Technical Institute. The Brothers managed to find a suitable plot on the other side of town and settled there. 

This is the only community in the Province that does not have its own specific apostolic activity. The Brothers here are engaged in teaching in existing institutions for which we do not have any final responsibility. Bros Stephen and Joe are teaching in the Catholic JHS, St. Anne’s, while Bro. Raphael was teaching at St. Anne’s SHS for girls (a private institution to give attention to gen- der imbalance in the area), and Bro. Basilide is teaching in the Secondary Technical SHS. In 1994 we moved from the bungalow of the Agric Institute into our own house, designed and built under supervision of Bro. Wim L. 

St. Anne’s Junior High School 

This is one of the first Catholic first-cycle schools established in the Parish and as such it has and is still fulfilling an important role in primary evangelisation. The presence of our Brothers on the teaching staff is an explicit witness to this. Also here the Catholicity of the school is suffering due to the educational policy described in the article on education policy. This does not make it easier for our Brothers to be an apostolic presence in the school. 

Senior Technical High School 

Bro. Basilide represents FIC on the staff there. This institution like so many Senior High Schools in the country is growing fast. The number of students has increased far faster than the infrastructure of the school can manage to absorb. Therefore there are a number of partially completed buildings which are already in use because of pressure of numbers and lack of space. Constraints like this make it hard for teachers and students to give of their very best. Bro. Basilide therefore has an exemplary role to play in the institution. 

St. Anne’s Senior High School 

Bro. Raphael was teaching there while staying in Damongo com- munity and at the same time being in charge of our FIC aspirancy programme. St. Anne’s Senior High school is a private SHS for girls started by the Diocese in the late 1990’s in order to provide quality education for girls who in the normal school structure have little chances of being successful. The school fulfils this goal, but at quite a cost, because as a private institution it has to charge fees for both boarding and tuition and that is the reason quite a number of people who would like to enter there, cannot due to financial constraints. 

About his teaching experience in general Raphael writes: ‘As a teacher I have tried to be conscious of the fact that I am an FIC Brother working in a setting different from an FIC environment. How do I comport myself appropriately? I exemplified this at the personal as well as the professional level. Activities that hitherto were not part of the normal school curriculum found their way into school life: Eucharistic celebrations, moral talks at assembly, common prayers for teachers, solidarity with needy children/ students, formation of Christian clubs, educational and moral guidance and voluntary counseling. I have always taught in Catholic schools, and these activities help to give not only a Catholic touch but also a traditional touch to our FIC heritage.‘ 

Obviously this was also his experience when he was teaching at St. Joseph’s in Tamale. It is indicative of the attitude and sensitivity we should develop in our apostolic activities no matter what or where these are.