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News from St Barnabas’, Bagamoyo, Maputo

[Source: Revd Juliao Mutemba, May 2010]

2010 Pilgrimage to Guambeni

Hulene
A Hulene child with a book
(See below)

The Diocese of Lebombo has developed a long tradition of observing at least four pilgrimages every year. For the case of 2010, we left our various places on 6th of March, early in the morning, going on pilgrimage to Guambene. The Maputo group left the city at 6:00 AM, stopping at Macia, part of Limpopo Archdeaconry, joining the local group and those who came from Chokwe , where the archdeacon of Limpopo works. In this place of concentration we had prayers before continuing with the journey.

The next stopping place was Zavala District, where we waited for those who came from from Maciene Archdeaconry. In this place, we took a long rest while having lunch, under the shade of the trees since it was hot, and people were impatient because the road condition was bad. From Xai Xai to Zavala, the road was very bad, except a small piece between Chizavane and Zandamela, as a there had been roadwork going on.

From Zavala up to Inharrime we had heavy rains. I must say that the conditions of the road caused damage to certain vehicles, but also, road and rain delayed our journey, that is why some of us arrived late in Guambene, for participating in the Stations of the Cross. The Archdeaconry of Inhambane took care of leading this part, being the host; they had possibilities of arriving early in the sanctuary of Bernard Mizeki. In the sanctuary we also found that pilgrims from Zimbabwe and Pungoe District had also arrived.

After this part, we had the evensongs and supper, after which we returned to the church for the night vigil. During the night vigil, it was celebrated the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. As part of vigil, there were sessions of healing ministry, talks on stewardship, admission to the Anglican Communion, admission to St. Bernard Mizeki’s guild, and district reports. Visitors from the Diocese of Harare shared their sadness in regard to religion and political instability, where they found themselves worshipping under the trees, with their church building locked by the opposing leader group. So, we prayed that could be peace in Zimbabwe. The MU presented their banner for the year 2010, with images depicting a mother showing the tree of life to the whole family, which constitutes their theme.

When it was 6:00 o’clock in the morning, Eucharistic Service began, and in the middle, the late Fr. Isaias and Fr. Manuel Bassopa arrived. After the service they reported that they had car breakdown somewhere in Sofala. Obviously they drove through rain water accumulated in the riverbank along the main road. This was a farewell with Fr. Isaias for most of us, we never realized that his days were numbered; we would never journey together with him in this life.

Hulene Children

Hulene
Presenting a book to one of the Hulene children

Children at Hulene dump are devoted to work in fulfillment of parents recommendations. Those who do not go to school spend the whole day in the dump, while those who study, some come to the dump in the morning and go to school in the afternoon, and the ones who attend school in the morning, go to the dump in the afternoon.

Some children go to the dump because they do not have food at home, and the dump provides for them. The other motivation for the children going to the dump, is the fact that they meet with friends and can play there, though the dump is full of sharp material, including the hospital waste.

The parish this time, decided to support the children offering school books to 120 children who work in the dump and attend school built for the poor and vulnerable children, so, they could minimise concentrate their time doing something else for little while rather than having to work because of the school materials. The gifts comprised: exercise books, ballpoint pens, pencils, sharpeners, rulers, and colour pencils. The cost of this operation was 12.485,00 donated by MANNA for Hulene project.