Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
LS
Foya (Agenzia Fides) - "Since returning to Foya this year I have been able to personally meet almost all the children, as many as 102, who have been able to attend school thanks to the support of so many friends and benefactors," writes Father Lorenzo Snider, a priest of the Society for African Missions.
The missionary is in Foya, in a remote corner of Liberia, where education is very different from urban areas. "I met them - continued Fr. Snider - to encourage them, create bonds and establish educational alliances with families and ... last but not least, to listen to the stories of suffering, but also of courage, hope, and tenacity".
Among the testimonies, the missionary recalled that of Fayiah, a man who had suffered the amputation of a leg. "The amputation of his leg had saved his life. About a month ago, while I was trying to prune the mission's oil palms, he approached me and with simplicity and a big smile, he told me he knew that job. When he had two legs he used to climb palm trees for pruning, but even now he was able to take care of palms as small as ours.
From disabled to farm worker," Fr. Lorenzo says proudly. In a couple of weeks his strong hands became leather-hard again and now he has almost finished pruning the ten acres of palm trees we have here. He has to take care of his family and during this season that means providing food, for the elderly mother in Foya and for his wife and children Konda Pombo."
The priest also says that after a two-month blackout, the light returned to the Foya Health Center, followed by the SMA fathers. "As soon as I arrived, I took the 16 new batteries and the inverter to Foya. The technician, who was supposed to arrive a few days later to install everything, took six weeks before venturing out on our Lofa County trail riding a motorcycle-taxi. Patience is a condition of survival here.... We finished the roof of the new classrooms at Vahun school. A young man from Foya tried to brave the hills of Vahun and after three days (to make 80km) and two breakdowns of his pick-up, he managed to bring us the metal sheets and nails for the school roof".
Father Snider concludes by saying that starting next week the children will enter the new classrooms "not plastered yet, but it doesn't matter. Walls, roof, door and benches are there, providence will take care of the rest". (LS) (Agenzia Fides, 15/4/2023)
