Guwahati Archbishop With 'Formees' Holds Communal Harmony Camp

GUWAHATI, MAR. 06, 2008, 09.40 Hrs (CBCI News):

Nagrijuli in Kamrup District of Assam which had struck the headlines for communal tension a couple of years ago, was chosen by Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil to hold a five-day social development and communal harmony camp for his seminarians and other young people in formation.

More than 160 trainees, including candidates, aspirants, postulants, novices, junior sisters and young seminarians chose to sleep on straw, brave mosquito bites, survive on village diet and pray in the village style under the leadership of Fr. Varghese Kizhakevely, the Vicar General of the Archdiocese.

Archbishop himself stayed with the team throughout the entire programme, visiting villages with the members.

A little over two years ago, when Fr. Nazarene faced an angry mob of 800 people asking to hand over the land that the he had recently bought to a local student organization, it could never be imagined that Nagrijuli could emerge a symbol of inter-community amity in such a short time.

When subsequently a riot was engineered by communal forces and the temporary building that housed a school and church was burnt to ashes, every hope of bringing up a meaningful Church work in that area was dashed to the ground.

All regional and many national papers reported the tragedy and even the BBC picked up the incident for international attention.

But things changed gradually. Patient dialogue and perseverance transformed the entire atmosphere.

The Sisters of Handmaids of Mary launched a health service that brought health to hundreds of malaria patients in the epidemic season.

The mission school attracted more and more admissions of the neediest students. The new school building became a shelter for people in times of floods and elephants menace.

Fr. Alex organized motivation camps for young people, including drop-outs. Fr. Olicakl initiated life-education skills with the help of Sr. Amali.

The youth came to apologize for the problems they had created earlier for the new mission. The leaders came to thank the Church authorities for the most relevant services they had begun in the area.

Everyone became open to welcome more guidance and assistance from the mission. So came the idea of a five-day camp offering wider services.

A committed team of 160 young people speaking of peace, reconciliation, health, development, self-reliance, mutual help and collective effort can make a difference.

Before launching into the villages, the members of the team spent time in reflection under the guidance of experienced persons who interpreted the local culture to them.

A little later in the morning, they walked in groups to some 14 villages of various distances and spent time visiting homes, conducting games for children, giving talks on health and hygiene for small groups, animating the youth, speaking of development and concluding with a social gathering.

The team would withdraw to the camp in the evening for evaluation and planning for the next day.

The response was beyond expectations. Enthusiasm mounted day after day. When the time for parting came, there were crowds on the road to greet the young social workers. The programme has made a mark on the entire area of Nagrijuli and left a profound impression on the seminarians and other formees.

They have understood better the poverty of the villages, the incidence of sickness, the problems of drunkenness and dissension, cases of malnutrition and TB, the elephant threat and flood losses.

They are also filled with hope that with assiduous effort something more can be done for the poor in the villages and that an inter-community conflict can be brought to happy conclusion in reconciliation and peace.

Fr Varghese Kizhakevely
Vicar General
Archdiocese of Guwahati