Greetings from Rome

Dear friends,

10 Jahre Freundeskreis. It is with great joy and sincere gratitude that I greet each one of you. The year 2015 is a small jubilee year for our Verein in Kahlgrund:  „Freundeskreis der Missionare des hl. Franz von Sales/Fransalianer e.V.“ On this joyous occasion I would like to place on record my deep sense of  gratitude to all members and especially to the founding members and the current Vorstand  for the immense work done throughout the past 10 years. I thank God for the gift of such a dedicated group of friends, well-wishers and the numerous donors who make it possible for us to reach out to the poorest of the poor in several countries of Africa and in many other parts of the developing world. A big thank you to one and all. I wish and pray that the Freundeskreis may win over many more members and donors in the years to come to support our work in the missions.

Adoption at Distance

In this jubilee year, the Freundeskreis is focussed on reaching out to the poorest children in some of the remotest villages of Africa chiefly in Chad, Cameroon, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia. The response to the Program of Adoption at Distance initiated recently both by the Missionprokura in Rome and the Freundeskreis in Kahlgrund has been quite positive. As of now, we have been able to enlist sponsors for more than 50 destitute children in the Sub-saharan Africa and in some least developed regions of India. I thank all the sponsors who have come forward to join this program. We have set a very high target of finding sponsors for 1000 destitute children in the years to come. I request therefore all the members and well-wishers to introduce this program to friends and acquaintances and enlist many more sponsors.

Clean and Safe Drinking Water: Six new wells completed in Chad and Cameroon

A project of providing clean and safe drinking water for villagers in Chad and Cameroon has recently been initiated by the Freundeskreis. The project has been a great success. Six new wells are dug during the past six months. Four villages in Chad and two villages in Cameroon have benefited from this project.

Pater Robin from Doba in Chad writes: „ We have been able to dig a borewell in a village called Bessama near Doba. We found a good source of water at the depth of around 30 meters. We have installed a hand pump. The total cost of the well is FCFA 1,160 0 (€ 1,768 ) of which the villagers had contributed a sum of FCFA 100,000 (€ 152 ) in cash and FCFA 60,000 (€ 91 ) worth of bricks and manual work. Around 1,700 people are profiting from this well. It is the first time that these villagers have access to clean water as they were completely dependent on open wells with contaminated water.

Pater Sandeep from Bero in Chad has reported the successful completion of three open wells in the villages of Ndaba Bebo, Bero Center and Bero Mukasa. The three open wells with hand pumps have been completed at the cost of Euro 1.500 of which a sum of € 220 was contributed by the local community. Around 2000 people in these villages are beneficiaries of this project. Fortunately good source of clean and safe drinking water has been found in the area at the depth of around 20 meters.

Pater Marcel from Ekekam in Central Cameroon and Pater Bipin from Mbe-Karna in North Cameroon have also reported on the successful completion of the projects in their respective missions with similar costs. The people of all these villages are immensely grateful to the Freundeskreis for the necessary financial support. I am confident that the Freundeskreis will continue supporting similar initiatives in the coming years. With a sum of € 1500 an entire village can be helped with a bore well and hand pump. With a similar sum, it is possible to provide two or three open wells with pumps and retention walls and thereby ensure safe and cleaning water to the needy villages.

Education: A New Project at Ngaoundere in North Cameroon

Education is inseparably linked to development. The two mission schools in Bero and Doba in Chad are already making a great impact on the overall development of the entire region. The Mission Administration has therefore decided to open a new school at Gada Mabanga near Ngaoundere in North Carmeroon. Years ago, the mission had received a large piece of land as a gift from a local Muslim ruler for the purpose of initiating educational and developmental projects. The foundation stone for the new school was laid on 28 February 2015. The work is now in full swing. The primary section is expected to be completed by September 2015. We depend very much on the generosity of friends and benefactors for the successful completion of this project.

Welcome to Rome

Amisales, the Missionsbüro in Rome is now a full-fledged co-ordination centre and a contact point for all our support groups who are promoting developmental and educational projects in Africa and India. You are welcome to contact the Amisales office for any assistance that you may need in case you are on a visit to Rome. Hearty Welcome.

Greetings from Chad-Cameroon

Dear Friends of the Fransalians,

Cordial greetings to you from Chad-Cameroon Mission. We the Missionaries of Saint Francis de Sales in Chad and Cameroon are deeply indebted to each one of you for your love and concern for our work in this part of the world.

As for us missionaries, the challenge of evangelization and development go hand in hand. The missionaries and the people in these missions go through the daily experience of a transforming encounter with the Risen Christ. During the last few months we have had a variety of events and experiences of great significance. In the month of February we had the canonical visitation of our Provincial Superior from India. We had our annual Mission Colloquium in the presence of the Provincial. The visitation and the colloquium went on well in spite of the various travel restrictions imposed by the Governments of Chad and Cameroon due to the menacing presence of the Boko Haram across the border in the neighbouring Nigeria. The Mission Colloquium was a beautiful experience of fraternal sharing and exchange which has helped us to decide on a concrete action plan for the coming year.

Some of the major decisions taken at the Colloquium are:

1. To construct a school at Ngaoundere and start the primary section by September 2015.
2. Acquire a piece of land at Doba in Chad and establish a school there for the benefit of all our missions in Chad.
3. Continue the drive to enlist more sponsors for destitute children under the adoption at distance program.
4. Extend the program of drinking water projects to as many villages as possible especially in Chad and in North Cameroon where clean and safe drinking water is very scarce.

I am very happy to inform you that the foundaton stone for the new school at Gada Mabanga in Ngaoundere was laid on 28 February 2015. The work is now in full swing and we hope to open the primary section by September 2015. A big thank you to one and all for your generous support. We the Fransalians in Chad and Cameroon express our sincere gratitude to all our friends and benefactors in Europe especially in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Italy. We are very much indebted to the Freundeskreis in Germany and Amisales in Rome for their co-ordinated efforts to support our projects. Thanks to your generostiy, we have been able to provide clean and safe drinking water to six villages. We hope to continue this program with your support. The people of these villages are indeed very grateful to you for this timely help.

The Chad-Cameroon Mission is in dire need of more personnel with the increasing workload and ever expanding activities. We are happy that two more young priests and five young seminarians from India have opted to work in this mission. We are eagerly awaiting for their arrival. Once again I thank each one of you for the constant support and encouragement we receive from you. I am also deeply grateful to so many of our confreres who keep contact with our support groups in different countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and USA. I thank all of them for their loving concern and sincere efforts to help us in our work of reaching out to the poor.

With every good wish,