IMAGES OF APOSTOLATE

FRATER DON BOSCO HIGH SCHOOL LEWOLEBA IN LEMBATA

Worldwide the Congregation is being confronted with all sorts of material and spiritual needs. The brothers, together with others, are trying to alleviate these. For the twenty-second edition of this feature, we go to the island of Lembata in Indonesia.

Students of Frater Don Bosco School Lewoleba.

In 2006, the Congregation opened a new community in Lembata, located in the Diocese of Larantuka in Indonesia. At the time, the Indonesian province did not yet have its own project there, so the brothers who were sent to Lembata went to work in the parish of St. Fransiskus Assisi Lamahora. They did pastoral work or worked as teacher in one of the schools of the diocese or of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Charles Borromeo. In 2011, the brothers received permission from the government in Lembata to start a school: the Frater Don Bosco Senior High School Lewoleba.

Since its inception the presence of this school has made a positive contribution to the community in Lembata and to the church community in this area. The school choir sings during Eucharistic celebrations in the church and is regularly invited to perform on other special occasions.

People are proud of the achievements of the students, both academically and non-academic, and even at the provincial and national level. ‘Providing good education’ is the aim of the brothers, which means, among other things, that attention is paid not only to the intellectual education, but also to the personal, social and spiritual development of the students. The school exists now for 11 years and during those years it has become one of the favourite schools in Lembata and the East Nusa Tenggara province.

Brother Yonas Paso CMM, Indonesia

Frater Don Bosco High School Lewoleba in Lembata, Indonesia.

Soccer team. Teamwork.

Music award.

Scouting. Marching band.

Choir competition.

In the classroom. Cheerleaders.

Eucharistic celebration outside.

At the credit bank office in 2004. The tsunami in 2004 and earthquakes in 2005 severely damaged the island of Nias. Credit bank (KSP3) contributed to the recovery and reconstruction work after those natural disasters.

“This gets interesting, Ad. Go on but keep it short!”

THE CREDIT BANK

Brother Ad Hems worked as a missionary in Indonesia from 1969 until 2018. First in Balige, and since 1983 on the island of Nias. In 1985 he began a program with a bank providing microcredits to small farmers and craftsmen called Koperasi Pinjam Pengembangan Pedesaan (KSP3). A loan made it possible for farmers to purchase piglets. They promise revenue later, but one had to take good care of them of course. With the help of a friend, a veterinarian in Middelbeers, The Netherlands, Brother Ad obtained medicines to treat swine fever. That veterinarian found Brother Ad’s work in Indonesia quite interesting. So, in April 2018 he traveled to Indonesia to attend Brother Ad’s farewell from his work on the island of Nias. He was very impressed by what he saw there and invited Brother Ad to come to Middelbeers later that year and talk about his work in Indonesia. He introduced Brother Ad to the audience: “We want him to answer a few questions but keep them limited because I fear that if we don’t do that he will be talking late into the night, his stories are without end.” One of the questions dealt with the credit bank.

“How did that credit bank actually get started?”

Around 1985 I lived in a rectory with two German Capuchin priests and an Italian priest. One evening, as we were eating, one of the priests said: “This morning I was at a village about three hours walking from here to celebrate Mass. At communion time the faithful came forward. Among them was a little old woman who said while she opened her hands: “He pastore lohadoi dalu-dalu?” (Oh pastor, you don’t have medicine?) It got me to thinking. That little woman did not need communion, or Our Lord, no, she wanted to get healthy. I started to study more intensely and learn the local language of the island. The Indonesian language wasn’t very helpful there. One evening I went to a kampong. Some thirty farmers and peasant women had assembled there. I asked why they were so poor. Their response was extremely negative. They told me that there was absolutely no way for them to get ahead. I asked those who thought that as well to stand up. Very soon all of them were standing except for just a few; they might have fallen asleep. “You may sit down again,” I said. “And if it is true that there is absolutely

Brother Ad Hems (left) with boys of boarding school Gunung Sitoli (Nias) in 2005. Brother Broer Huitema (right) on a working visit there.

no way at all to get ahead, I’ll take the boat tomorrow and I’ll be gone.” After a while somebody said: “Is there really a way to escape this poverty?”

“Pretty interesting. Just keep going Hems.”

I stood up and said: “Yes, there is”. I started to talk about co-operative, about the system of saving and borrowing. “Yes but… we really don’t have any money to save.” I asked if they went to the market every week and what they bought there. “Salted fish, a little salt and sugar, coffee, occasionally some rice to avoid eating beets all the time”. I asked them if they still had some money left over when they got home again. Sometimes that did happen. Not much, but still, just a little. So, I said: “Every time when you have a little money left, put it on the top shelf in your house so the children don’t know and can’t get to it. And you do it again the next week. Every two or three weeks you give the saved money to the brother and I will record the amount. Then I’ll set up saving and loan books.” Six months later some people had collected the equivalent of 100 in rupiahs. What I did in that one kampong I repeated in many more kampongs.

Brother Ad at the rice fields in Balige in 2007. “What happened then? Just keep going Father van den Elzen, apostle of farmers!*”

Well, at times some mothers came by to proudly show those saving and loan books. With a pat on their shoulders, I said something like: “What do I see? You saved that much already? That’s fantastic!” This mother, who never had anything, now had a savings account and a small amount of money. She always stood stooped but now she straightened up and became a strong proud woman! It brought me great joy.

Brother Ad (Amator) Hems, The Netherlands

* A reference to Father van den Elzen (1853-1925), a Dutch priest who set up savings and loan banks with and for farmers as farmers’ credit banks in the province of Noord Brabant, in the early 1900’s.

MERCIFUL SERVICE AT SANTO VINCENT DE PAULO HOSTEL IN GLENO

The brothers in the community of Gleno in Timor Leste manage not only the ESTVC-MM vocational school, but also a hostel for boys and girls, the Santo Vincent de Paulo boarding school. This task is seen as part of their pastoral work. Brother João Soares shares about his work in this hostel.

The dining room of the boys.

The purpose of the boarding school is to receive students who come from far away. The brothers manage not only a hostel for boys, as usual, but also a department for girls.

Unfortunately, the current condition of the building and the facilities is not optimal. This situation however does not discourage the brothers from continuing this work. The brothers who labour at the boarding school are always looking for the best way to facilitate the formation of the children.

There are in total 44 students at the boarding school: 23 boys and 21 girls. Central is that this is a work of mercy, which in the spirituality of the Congregation is always the starting point when working with young people. This is realized in the way the brothers teach, communicate and interact with the youngsters. Experience shows that a compassionate attitude is not always as easy as it seems. Sometimes you must make sacrifices, but merciful service leads us to what is needed here: education and equal opportunity for all. This is our task as brothers, together with families, parishes and everyone in leadership positions.

Working in the vegetable garden.

Brother João Soares CMM, Timor Leste