JUNE, 2009
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My Diary – June 2009
4th June 2009 : Our dear sister Charo returned to God. It is the first death in our Region of Africa.
Her death was sudden. She has malaria for two days. It was nothing serious as we get malaria here all the time & keep popping quinine into our mouths so very often. As she was a bit tired she went to rest a bit early after watching T.V in the night, with the two sisters if her community of Niono in Mali. At about 11 p.m. they heard a thud & wondered who it was outside but actually it was Charo who fell off her bed.
Later they heard heavy breathing coming from her room & when they entered in they found her on the floor. They helped her on to her bed, she spoke to them but the speech was not too clear & there was no co-ordination in what she said so they called the doctor. However she died before that, just like that!!!!! It was a cerebral hemorrhage. She died at 11.45 on Thursday 4th June. She was 57 years old.
Charo was much known. She was in Brazil for 5 years as the Economa. She was very intelligent & capable of many things. She was excellent at accounts, at the computer; at sewing & stitching. It is she who along with Ana & Aurora who planned & prepared for the huge Rally we had end of the month of this March. I cannot just believe she is no longer with us. Charo was with me in the novitiate in Cuidad Real. She made her first vows one year before me. However I caught up with her & we made our final vows together in Rome in 1982 with Sr. Margaret Fernandes as our Tertian Mistress. Charo was close to me & I feel her absence strongly. However I trust in the Heavenly Father who knows what is best for each of us & for the Region of Africa. We are so few & vocations are not many. The other sister of the community of Niono Lolita is elderly & returning to Spain for good. So the poor superior Angela Garcia is alone now. You can imagine the plight of Sr. Antonia - our Regional Superior. I trust in God who knows how to write straight on crooked lines. I pray that the death of our dear Charo will bear fruit & we will get many new vocations.
5th June 2009 : Our girls did a three days retreat directed by Sr. Christa in our noviate in Nasso. They had three days of peace & silence, of prayer & reflection. They have returned filled with strength to carry on their search for God.
7th June 2009 : Feast of the Holy Trinity we renewed our vows. We joined the community of Nasso. We were happy to be together but also sad because of the death of Sr. Charo on 4th June
8th June 2009 : We had the funeral on 8th June. Niono is a village & so her body was taken to the morgue in Segou which is a city about two hours distance from Niono. The funeral was in Segou. Being the very first death, and also in such sudden & unexpected circumstances, everyone rallied around to help. Two bishops & 18 priests celebrated her funeral mass. There were crowds & crowds of people. Charo was here in Africa for only three years & not very well known yet but it is the love that the people have for our congregation & their gratitude for all that they receive from us that made them come. Charo was the only child of her parents who have expired long ago. Two of her cousins - a gentleman & a lady came from Spain for the funeral. Three of us went from here Burkina Faso & all the sisters of the four houses of Mali were present. We received many messages of condolence from all over our communities in different parts of the world.
After the funeral we visited the family of Sr. Christa. Her parents, adopted sister, sister in law, nieces & nephews, cousins were present. They have a nice house. The parents of Christa are retired teachers, both very involved in the activities of the church.
10th June 2009 : We had a meeting with the collaborators & monitrices to evaluate the activities of the year. Everyone was very sincere & shared openly so that we can work together for the good of our girls.
11th June 2009 : The holidays have begun. We have finished with the reports, the parent’s meeting, the giving of prizes, so no more classes. The monitrices come daily every morning ; They check out if we need to buy anything for next year – stationery, brooms & other cleaning equipment. They have also started witha couse in sewing. They are very happy with the teacher & the content of her course. Its 33 years since I made my first vows. The sisters celebrated & gave me a small gift.
The sisters are more relaxed now. We watch the T.V. play with the dog, sew, eat mangoes. Our tree gives huge mangoes. Each mango is nearly 2 kilos. I’m getting ready to go to India for 2 months.
14th June 2009 : The Feast of Corpus Christ was celebrated with solemnity. Crowds of little children who received their first Holy Communion this year were present at the procession from the Grand Mission to the Cathedral. It was also the Feastday of our superior Christa. Two sisters from Nasso joined us in the celebration.
19th June 2009 : We had a week long celebration of the 10th anniversary of the very first bishop of Burkina Faso, a White Father named André Dupont. Each evening there were talks, testimonies etc in his honour. Finally we had a cultural evening & a grand celebration of the Eucharist.
20th June 2009 : The 20 best students of the final year receive a sewing machine for half the price. How excited & happy they were to carry off
their machine to their homes.
25th June 2009
The red letter day arrived. I left Bobo with my mini community – Srs. Christa & Bea. Fr Abraham drove us. We had breakfast at one of his old parishes & stopped to see the crocodiles. We were invited for dinner by Fr. Noel.
27th June 2009
I left Oauga by Ethiopian Airlines on 26th morning & I arrived Mumbai at 6.00 a.m. after a very exhausting but very interesting journey
It was such a joy to hold my baby grand niece in my arms for the first time. She came to me as if she knew me all her life. In the evening I visited the grave of my mother. I prayed there for a while. A party was organised to celebrate the birthday of little Jaedyn & the whole family was present
27th June 2009
After being with Meena for a little while & going for Mass to Victoria church, I went to Regina Pacis, Byculla. They were eager to listen to my stories of Africa. I dressed in the African costume to show them. I was so happy to meet Sre. Palmira who is 90 years old & also to greet the children of the boarding.
I had many visitors. Maria Carmen came to see me with her daughter, who is only 13 but very tall. Sonal came & brought lovely flowers. The ex-teacher Mrs Malatkar came loaded with gifts. I really felt loved & missed.
I visited the Social Centre and met the houseworkers. Nearly 600 girls come for classes. Most of the girls are from Assam. Everything is so well organised.
In the evening I went to Sevalaya, Borivali & stayed there till the end of the month. The community was welcoming, the girls sang a welcome song but above all the neighbours all came to see me with gifts & eating things. I felt at home.I settled up the suitcases I had left behind & gave Away the things I knew I would not need anymore.
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Please pray that the Good
Lord give me the grace and strength to persevere in my mission.
God Bless You.
Sr. Margaret Correa
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YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Vincenta Maria Social Services Society
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