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Visit Report 2006

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St Augustine’s, Viana to All Saints, Fulham

September 2006
[Source: Nicky Thompson, All Saints Fulham]

It does not seem that long ago since October 2004 when we announced our twinning with St Augustine’s, Viana, but a lot has happened since then…

We raised funds to help build a new church in Viana and in August 2005 a group of four - Revd Elisabeth, Jonathan Wheeler who is a member of the congregation, Elissa Douglas who is a teacher at All Saints Primary and Nicky Thomson who is the ALMA rep for All Saints - went to Angola to visit the congregation at St Augustine’s. After such a fantastic welcome and incredible hospitality, we set about inviting a group over to meet us at All Saints Fulham.

What an amazing week! A Welcome Lunch, followed by a splendidly English afternoon tea in the vicarage garden started the week off in the way we hoped it would continue; the sun shone down on us as Revd Kiaku, Eva, Jose chatted with ease about life in Viana. Our guests returned to their accommodation early evening and, exhausted, went straight to bed.

Sunday was a marathon for our visitors. Barely recovered from their previous 40 hours without sleep, they were expected to endure three All Saints services with a Hog Roast sandwiched in between. Remarkably, they sang for us (rather impressively I hasten to add) clapped and laughed and commented on how they loved the Liturgy of the 9.30, the joy of the 11.30 and the beautiful music of the 6 O’Clock.

A visit to Windsor Castle on Monday with lunch ‘in a bag’ at MacDonalds provided a truly varied cultural experience followed by Beavers and Brownies presentations early evening. Later, a Parish Visitors meeting sparked off an interesting debate about who should receive communion.

Tuesday brought some thought provoking discussions at the Parents and Toddlers group. The Bell Ringers rehearsal later that day went down a storm with our visitors who made much amusement from re-enacting the peal in the living room when they returned!

Wednesday morning and lunch were spent at school. After much singing and exchanging of gifts the link between our two schools was further cemented.  Elissa Douglas, since visiting Angola last year, now has a new role which focuses on encouraging educational links with developing countries for all schools within the borough and All Saints children are now motivated to do something each week for St Augustine’s. And with money raised by the children, our guests were able to purchase a much needed computer for the school and returned with it to Viana. Their ‘whirlwind cultural tour’ of some of London’s best known sites late afternoon, followed by a fantastic performance of the Lion King, will certainly be a lasting memory of their visit here.

Thursday’s visit to Westminster Abbey provided a great deal of interest and admiration and the Farewell Supper in the Middle Room during which speeches were made and gifts exchanged proved to be very enjoyable evening.

Shopping in Primark on Friday morning was a real hit. So much so that afterwards some emergency re-organisation of luggage was needed before leaving for the airport. However, it was a sobering reminder that brand new clothes in Angola are only for the wealthy few.

The Revd Kiaku, Jose, Isabel and Eva have now returned to Viana and we have now understood that for them visits are of huge importance - they consolidate links, help build a deeper understanding and enable us both to learn a great deal from each other. So we will plan another visit to Viana in August 2007. What will we do in the meantime? We know that St Augustine’s desperately needs bibles in Portuguese, school equipment (desks, in particular) and support for their work with orphans. But most important of all, they would like to complete the building of the new church as this is something that matters to ALL the community there.