If you want to walk quickly, walk alone If you want to walk far, walk together. AFRAM MATTERS 6

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1 1 SVD If you want to walk quickly, walk alone If you want to walk far, walk together. July, 2016 Joseph Kallanchira, SVD AFRAM ZONAL COORDINATOR AFRAM MATTERS 6 ear Fathers DProvincial, Regional and Mission Superiors, Zonal Area Coordinators, It s after several months that I come to you with another issue of AFRAM MATTERS. Thank you for the interest and the welcome you give to the contents of this latest issue. You will also know if you need to inform the confreres of your province/region/mission (the same goes for the Zonal Area Coordinators in relation to their respective PRM Area Coordinators, please) on some of the contents of this issue as it is in our common interest to bring all our confreres, even those at the grassroots level as they say, to participate to a large extent in the life of the Society in and through its zonal structure, too. Announcing the Theme of the Next General Chapter: On January 26 th this year, Fr. General announced the theme of the forthcoming General Chapter and released the Guide for Communal Reflection in our PRMs. In the circular letter, this is what he wrote in regard to that: Following our discussions on various aspects and to maintain the continuity of our thinking and working from previous Chapters, I am happy to announce the theme of the 18 th General Chapter: "The Love of Christ impels us" (2 Cor 5:14): Rooted in the Word, Committed to His Mission. The objective of this Chapter is to foster a process of spiritual rekindling, bringing us back to the Word of God as the source of our life, vocation, and mission and our religious missionary commitment. Therefore, we visualize the forthcoming chapter to deepen our spirituality drawing resources from the Gospel and the people and to grow in personal enrichment and spiritual animation. I believe that these would come out more clearly and strengthen us to continue the missionary activities that each province and region has prioritized from the 17 th General Chapter.

2 2 Based on the reflections and discussions of the local communities each PRM is required to send a written summary of your reflection on the theme of the Chapter. This should not be more than five pages and you are asked to send it through electronic mail by 30 September What is most important is that there be a wide participation of confreres in the PRM reflection. We entrust to you and your council the organization of the process and phases of communal reflections within your PRM. It is my pleasure to remind you of this process, which I am sure all of you have started long ago in your province/region/mission, and the written summary to be prepared. The AFRAM Zonal Assembly: The 10 th Assembly of our Zone was held in Nairobi, Kenya, February 18-22, The ExeCom organized the assembly; the attendance was in full all the 12 PRM superiors as well as the entire zonal secretariat participated. Thank you personally for coming over to Nairobi for the Assembly, and for participating actively in its proceedings. Frs. Superior General and Treasurer General too, as you know, participated from Rome. For the first time, two SSpS representatives of their membership in Africa Sr. Jerly Renacia, the Regional Leader of Ethiopia-South Sudan and Sr. Antonia Cassuata from Angola, one of the three of their Continental Animation Team, as the SSpS call theirs at that level attended the zonal assembly; of course, on our invitation. The PRM treasurers of the Zone, too, had their meetings at the same time, as you recall, the same venue. For some sessions of common interest, the treasurers too joined the Assembly members in the plenary hall. It is also good to note that our Zone just completed 25 years of its life having had the first ever zonal assembly in Nov-Dec of 1990, also in Nairobi. The Assembly was a good occasion for the PRM superiors and the ExeCom to report on their respective areas of life and mission; in particular for the superiors, on the implementation of the CDs in their respective places; the zonal Area coordinators theirs as well. Formation, especially Common Formation concerns like a new novitiate house and the post-novitiate formation period, took up quite some time of the discussion. The vision-mission statement of the Zone was updated; recommendations leading later to an Action Plan were voted upon; two clauses from the Zonal Statutes (on the appointment of an interim zonal area coordinator in case an office became vacant during the triennium in exercise; and on the ZC s annual budgeting and financial reporting) were amended and voted by the Assembly and later approved by the Superior General. Elections were held for the new office bearers for the next triennium New dates were set for other meetings in the near future. Revised Vision-Mission Statement and Action Plan : During the Assembly, the Vision-Mission Statement of the Zone was updated from its 2013 version, taking into consideration some recent observations from the Generalate and our own present realities of life within the Zone. The following is that statement, which is immediately followed by the current Action Plan:

3 3 Inspired by God and the Congregational Directions of the 17th General Chapter, we, the AFRAM Zone, commit ourselves to intercultural living and engage in intercultural mission to proclaim and witness to the Word of God. This is done through our dedication to: Formation Primary and new evangelization Family and youth apostolate Education and research JPIC and reconciliation With God's blessings and the intercession of Saints Arnold Janssen and Joseph Freinademetz and through the Light of the Spirit of Grace, may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. 1. FORMATION A. Every PRM will identify confreres suitable for formation and train them in view of our formation houses, especially the CFCs and the novitiates. The ExeCom will be notified by the PRM superiors on this process regularly. B. The AFRAM Executive Committee/Zonal Area Coordinator for Formation will identify prospective prefects/rectors for the CFCs at least a year before the end of the term of the current ones. C. Our CFCs will remain open to receiving students from other zones as well. The ExeCom/Zonal Area Coordinator for Formation will extend invitations already from this year to all the PRM superiors worldwide. D. The AFRAM Formation Board will make a feasibility study in 2016 with regard to opening another novitiate house in an English speaking country within the Zone. E. Every PRM will continue to promote Brother vocations, conduct leadership and/or interculturality workshops for all confreres, and promote collaboration with Laity. F. The AFRAM Formation Board will hold its meeting every two years (2016, 2018) and organize a four-week training workshop for the formators as well. 2. CHARACTERISTIC DIMENSIONS A. Every PRM will strive to strengthen the four characteristic dimensions of our Society in terms of personnel, finance and moral support. To effectively achieve this, the PRM councils will meet with their respective PRM coordinators at least once a year. B. Every PRM will continue to work towards financial self-reliance, establishing retirement facilities for the confreres as well as implementing the Congregational Directions as already agreed upon at the 2013 zonal assembly. C. The next PRM Area Coordinators meeting will be held in GHA in 2019; after the next Zonal Assembly scheduled to be held in February 2019 in CNG. 3. FINANCE A. Every PRM will make sure that the treasurers are identified and prepared well for their job. B. They will also identify an assistant treasurer and provide him with on the job training. C. A workshop for AFRAM Treasurers will be organized in January 2017 in KEN. D. The next AFRAM Treasurers Meeting will take place in October The venue of the meeting will be decided by the treasurers during their January 2017 workshop.

4 4 The New ExeCom Members: George Angmor of GHA was elected the new ExeCom chairperson by the Assembly for the new triennium. As the next zonal assembly will be held in Kinshasa, RD Congo, the CNG Provincial Willibrord Kamion Bhia, was chosen as the Vice-Chairperson. At the zonal assembly, we thanked Paul Nadolny (MOZ) and Albert Fuchs (KEN) who held these offices respectively for the past three years. Joseph Kallanchira was re-elected the Zonal Coordinator, thus completing the ExeCom membership. Other Office Bearers within the Zonal Secretariat: Area Coordinators at the zonal level were also elected by the Assembly. Godéfroid Naniakweti (CNG) was chosen to be the JPIC Zonal Area Coordinator; Rex Vegbey (GHA) for COMM these two are the new faces to the zonal secretariat; together with Godwin Fiawoyi (GHA), who was elected by the Assembly as the new (the post itself having been newly created) ZAC for the AFRAM Treasurers. We are grateful to Alfons Müller (CNG) and to Joseph Vadakkan (BOT), both the outgoing ZACs for their great services, the former for COMM and the latter for JPIC. The other ZACs were re-elected for a second term: Wojciech Szypula (KEN) for BPM; Sunny John (BOT) for Mission Animation, Mike Gichuki (KEN) for Brother Affairs; as well as John Asiedu (GHA) for Formation. Forthcoming Zonal-level Meetings: The Assembly also decided on the following schedule for some of the meetings in the coming triennium: Formators workshop Nairobi June - July 2016 Treasurers workshop Nairobi Jan - Feb 2017 Formation Board assembly Nairobi In 2017 Treasures triennial meeting (to be decided) October th Zonal Assembly Kinshasa February 2019 Four Area Coordinators triennial assembly Accra In 2019 Other Developments in the Zone: Veronica Rackova, SSpS of South Soudan: The tragic death, some even calling it a martyrdom, of Sr. Veronica, a medical doctor who had served earlier in GHA, and the last five years in Yei, SSD, plunged all of us into sadness in the second half of May. She succumbed five days later in a Nairobi hospital to fatal injuries received in the abdomen when shot through the ambulance she was driving by government soldiers while she was on medical duty towards midnight after the Pentecost Sunday celebrations in the community on May 15th. Albert Fuchs (KEN), as Provincial, validly represented all of us SVDs at the funeral services on May 28 th at the Yei Cathedral, as the body of the deceased was finally brought back to the place where she served the community with great zeal and love. R.I.P.

5 5 Dieter Skweres (78) left us for his heavenly abode on June 26 th in Lomé, Togo. Since 1977 Fr. Skweres worked in Togo (he was earlier assigned to CNG and worked there for two years) for the rest of his active missionary life. He was a doctor in Biblical Theology, and among other activities, instrumental and/or part of the founding teams, in establishing biblical apostolates through biblical centres and publications in CNG and TOG. He was very much part also of the initiatives behind BICAM and Verbum Bible; and involved with the CBF, too, for several years. And as the first Regional of the new Togo-Benin Region since 1993, he laid the foundation and orientation for the present TOG province. His mortal remains will be laid to rest in Lomé on the 9 th of July. R.I.P. James Djadoo (86) left us, on his turn, for his heavenly abode on the 29 th June in Accra, Ghana. Brother James has the unique distinction of being the FIRST African SVD Brother. Originally from Togo, Brother joined the SVD in Ghana and was later sent to Techny (USC) for the novitiate in 1956, professing his First Vows in He served joyfully all his long life in the GHA province, being an inspiration to so many persons, especially attracting Brother Vocations to the Society. His mortal remains will be laid to rest at the Nsawam cemetery near Accra on the 7 th of July. R.I.P. Verbum Bible and the Jerusalem Bible: Xene Sanchez, the director of Verbum Bible (VB) in Kinshasa, informs us that VB is likely to sign agreements with DLT Publishers in London to have the right to publish and sell the New Jerusalem Study Bible in Africa. Now that the Zonal Area for BPM is an Associate Member of the Catholic Biblical Federation, this offer further opens up the possibility of having the English JB through our hands distributed within Africa. VIVAT Int l Kenya shows commitment in advancing in their ministry in the JPIC field, by a stronger network of SVD-SSpS as well as some other Founding Members of VIVAT in Nairobi being developed VIVAT KEN is opting to serve children who are victims of injustice in the society, a work area that has been identified as a possible field of commitment in consultation with other religious congregations networks in Nairobi (they all seem to specialize in different areas of JPIC concerns when it comes to specific fields of action, thus making this a more concrete and viable programme). A Pause in our Work with the JRS in East Africa: With the transfer of Romeo Cagatin from TOG to the Philippines, his home country, Romeo s 15-year long collaborative work with the JRS in East Africa (Tanzania, DR Congo and Burundi) comes to an end in August. He has been a much-appreciated SVD collaborator with the Jesuits in the Great Lakes area, especially in that particularly sensitive ministry. AFRAM Website Refurbished: The COMM ACs have been working for some time now to relaunch the AFRAM zone s website. It is now a reality. You may access (not anymore svdafram.org) to see the new presentation, although much work remains still to be done in feeding in material on our PRMs. Rex Vegbey, our new ZAC for COMM, is presently working on further improvements on the site; and your creative electronic contributions will enhance the look of the website.

6 6 SVD Bishops Meet: Although it was not a typical zonal event, most of the SVD bishops in Africa came together for a 5-day meeting organized under the auspices of the ANG province end of May. Formators Workshop: As planned and announced earlier, under the auspices of the Zonal Formation Board in close collaboration with the KEN province, the formators workshop is well underway in the Lang ata CFC, Nairobi. There are 11 confreres, from several of our PRMs, participating in the four-week workshop which will end on July 24 th. Personally Speaking: In February/March, I accompanied Fr. General on a week-long visit to our Liberia Mission (GHA), and later submitted a report to the Generalate. Later I spent 2 ½ months in Tanzania (KEN) learning the basics of the local Kiswahili language, mid-march through May. I am happy that I can celebrate the Eucharist in that language now, and am grateful to the confreres in Tanzania for their generous hospitality. With thanks for your kind attention and as always in the Divine Word, Joseph Kallanchira, SVD AFRAM Zonal Coordinator