The Message from Sr. Leticia Negishi April 28th, 2008
All of the benefactors in Japan,
I always thank and appreciate your support.
I am in Japan now. I arrived at Narita Airport on April 25th.
Renewal of my passport, a medical examination, and checking my diabetes condition are the reasons for my return to Japan.
I thank that God for always guarding my health, and helping me to continue working. After I pass the check-up of my condition, I hope I will be able to return to Africa.
I ask you all pray for me that God will help me to go back Africa.
I will stay in Japan only two months, so it is difficult to meet all of you. But I always thank you and pray that God bless you all.
In April Prof. Sato, Mr. & Mrs. Kanno and Mrs. Nishimoto visited Sierra Leone. You can read their reports about Sierra Leone. I will leave Japan at the end of June. I hope that I will meet you somewhere in Tokyo, or in Kyushu, or in Kansai during my staying in Japan.
Sr. Leticia Negishi
Lunsar, 8th December 2001
Dearest Friends of the Lend a Hand Movement,
It is a real pleasure to be able to address you all. I am using the opportunity of one of my visits to Freetown for sending you these few words. The proximity of Christmas only gives me an extra motivation for writing you because I intended to do it more than once during the last couple of months. I wanted to let you know that things have changed dramatically for us in Sierra Leone, and they have changed in the right direction.
Far back in July we took the bold decision of re-establishing ourselves at Lunsar in spite of the shaky situation in town; 'shaky' due to the imposing presence of numerous ex-combatants who were still ruling the people's life. I myself started coming to Lunsar every week-end, at the end of July, sleeping in our school where the UN peacekeeping troops were located. I had two goals in mind: first to celebrate Mass with my people at the Marampa Mines compound; second, to remind the Bangladeshis that they were lodging inside a building meant to be a school, not military barracks. It took a great effort to convince them to hand the buildings over to us.
Finally we succeeded and towards the end of September we were able to conduct registrations for the students and to start regular classes on the fifth of October. The enrolment kept growing by the day till we could take no more. Right now we count 831 pupils! We could have even more, but we had to draw the line and close registrations. At the same time the condition in town went improving gradually but steadily. With our return, also the people decided to re-establish themselves in Lunsar in great number. And as the regular citizens were occupying their damaged houses the former rebels had to vacate, these lost their moral authority, overpowered by the overwhelming number of the good people. Right now there is total peace and no disturbance whatsoever. The area has not been declared officially safe yet, but we, who are living in town, know that everything is OK and we go after our daily business with no concern for security. A real concern, instead, should be the people who are hungry. Precisely because the area has not been declared safe yet, the international agencies cannot enter with supplies and start other programmes towards rebuilding and rehabilitating as they did elsewhere. This is the gift we expect from the Child Jesus! As for from you, I only have to say many thanks for making of the whole year a Christmas-like year so to speak, since we kept receiving your donations:
As a matter of fact, periodically Mr. Sato was informing me that a certain amount of money had been sent to our Provincial House in Italy for us. Truly, you have been a big blessing: you supported us when we were displaced in Freetown during the last academic year and you have continued sacrificing yourselves in order to reach out to these poor brothers up to date. Counting on your continuous support we are now feeding a population of students of about 2,500! Actually, we will reach these numbers after Christmas, once the Ramadan will be over.
We have helped all the teachers of the Catholic schools in town to relocate in Lunsar by offering them a good package comprising basic materials for lodging and cash and food. These encouraged them greatly to return. If the enrolment is surprisingly high it is also because we could reduce the school fees and the examination fees to all the pupils, in all the Catholic schools of Lunsar and to provide them with some basic stationery items. All this and more has been possible only thanks to your help.
You can be proud of what YOU HAVE ACHIEVED! God cannot withdraw his blessings from you and your families. He cannot but to be true to his own words: Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you did it to me!
Dear friends, MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all!
Maybe this year we will be able to go around carolling again! For several years now it has been impossible because of curfew order. But carols or no carols, peace and good sense seem to be prevailing in this part of the world, finally. This will be again a Christmas of peace, so longed for! I wanted to share with you our sighs of relief and our joy. You have to know because a lot has been achieved thanks to your generous help. You have given; God will give you more! HOLY, BLESSED AND JOYOUS CHRISTMAS to you all and your Families! With heartfelt thanks also in the name of all the beneficiaries of your donations.
May God bless you all!
Fr. Bruno Guzzonato
P.S. Dear Mr. Sato, I wrote this letter well over a week ago but I could not take it out of my computer and transfer in to a floppy disk to be taken down to Freetown. Finally, only today, we found the way to do what I wanted. I am afraid it is to late for publishing it. I am very sorry. Anyway, I tried. I just wrote to Sr. Leticia also. We heard that she will be coming to Lunsar to assess the situation.
We are all eager to see her. Again,
Merry and blessed Christmas to you.
Fr. Bruno.
Freetown,
20th September 2001
Dear Mr. Sato,
I am about to leave Freetown and move back to Lunsar. Next tomorrow I will not be around in Freetown anymore. I am going back to Lunsar to stay. On Monday, the 24th of September we will open registration for the 2001-2002 academic year. By then the Bangladeshis (UN troops) will have vacated Murialdo school. They will continue to leave also the St. Joseph Vocational Institute and the houses they have been occupying so far. Finally! We are eager to restart our activities there, in spite of finding ourselves without many essential items, beginning with the chairs and desks for the students. One way of getting some of the items we need will be by asking the students to bring their own chair. We know that a good number of them are kept in the houses by the people; not only in Lunsar, but also in the surrounding villages. They will have to go around convincing their own fellow citizens to return what thay have taken from the school.
We have been giving the package prepared for teachers and workers of all the Catholic schools in town. By now a good number of them have re-established themselves in Lunsar. Many more people will be moving back after knowing that we, the Fathers, are going. Life in town is picking up gradually. I have been going there every week-end for over one month and half; I started towards the end of July. It was a way of reminding the soldiers that that was my school, not their barracks. It has not been easy, though, to "push" them out. I had to call on the bishop and with him, go to the Commander in chief of all the UN troops in Sierra Leone, Gen. Opande. He finally came to Lunsar last week to solve this problem. The outcome of it is what is going on right now.
My going to Lunsar means that I will not be able to communicate with you through e-mail any more; at least as I have been doing so far. You will have to wait for me to come down to Freetown. Since I have now a portable computer, I will prepare in it my letters and it will be just a matter of connecting the computer to the phone line to send them all at once.
Dear Mr. Sato, I was informed by Fr. Lino about your remittances. As I told you, even if I forget to inform you and to even to tell you Thank you (a big mistake for sure... and great unkindness on my part...) know that so far the transfers have been taking place without any problem. Frequently I am informed about them both by you and by Fr. Lino. Let me tell you "THANK YOU" for all of them!
I hope to communicate with you soon.
May God bless you and reward all your kindnesses.
Till next time, bye. Fr. Bruno G.