Details

Written by Dr. Thomas Cherukat

Greetings from Rome

My dear Friends of the Fransalians,

Greetings and good wishes to each one of you from Rome. It is with much joy and gratitude that I am sending this message to you. I am immensely grateful to God and to so many generous and kind people in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for helping me to work for the poorest of the poor in Chad-Cameroon and in other parts of Africa for the past 17 years. It was in the year 2000 that I left India for Chad-Cameroon to establish a new Mission there. It was indeed a long and tedious missionary journey for me all these years. Then in the year 2008 I had to leave Chad-Cameroon to take up a new assignment at our Generalate in Rome from where I continue to work till today. After having served the General Administration of the Congregation for a period of 12 years I was assigned to our community at Vatican with a new task of organizing a Missionsprokura for the Congregation at the global level. Through your generous support and encouragement I have been able to establish the AMISALES Mission Office in Rome in the year 2013. This office is now fully functional with all the necessary structures put in place. It is now the official Missionsprokura of the Congregation catering to 10 countries in Africa besides India and several other mission countries where the Fransalians are working. Besides facilitating several important projects in Africa and India the Amisales in Rome together with the Agape Afrika in Kahlgrund, Germany this Mission Office has been able to find sponsors for more than 450 poor children mostly from the African countries and from India. This Mission Office has also been able to help several villages in Chad, Cameroon and Mozambique with more than 20 projects of drinking water facilities. Thank you to one and all for your ready support and encouragement. Vergelt’s Gott.

Change of Guard at AMISALES in Rome

After 17 years of missionary service outside India, it is now time for me to return to my native mission in India where I belong to. A new Director for the AMISALES in Rome has been appointed. Fr. Tom Chozhithara, a young and dynamic priest from Uganda will take over as Director of AMISALES in Rome from 1 November 2017. Fr. Tom who is 45 hails from India. He did his theological studies in Tanzania and worked there as a missionary for several years. He has a Doctorate in Theology from the University of Munich. He has also worked as a Pfarrvikar in the diocese of Regensburg. For the past few years he has been working in Uganda building up a new mission there. I am very happy to extend a warm welcome to Fr. Tom and wish him every success in his new assignment as Director of AMISALES in Rome. As for me, I am scheduled to leave Rome for India on 28 December 2017 to take up a new assignment at Mysore near Bangalore. I will however continue to be a member of the Chad-Cameroon Mission and mobilize support for the numerous projects. I hope to set up a Missionsprokura in India and network with AMISALES and other similar offices in the Congregation and co-ordinate the various projects and programs for the missions. Thank you very much for your continued support and encouragement.

Agape Afrika and Freundeskreis in Kahlgrund

I am happy to inform you that I shall gladly continue to animate the Freundeskreis in Kahlgrund and keep in touch with all of you through the Newsletter Agape Afrika even when I am away from Europe. I hope to visit Chad-Cameroon Mission once a year. I shall also be visiting Europe once a year in order to keep in touch with friends and benefactors besides the many donor agencies. I wish you a pleasant summer holidays with good rest and relaxation. God bless.

Yours cordially

Rev. Dr. Thomas Cherukat, MSFS
Director VIKASJYOTHI

Fransalian Resource Centre for Intergral Human Development
1052 New KantharajUrs Road
Mysore 570 023
Karnataka INDIA

Tel. 00-91-0821-2541135
Mob. 00-91-7025747242

Emails: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Websites: www.msfssouthwest.com /www. msfstoday.com/
www.agape-tschad-kamerun.de / www.amisales.org

Greetings from Chad-Cameroon

My dear Confreres and Friends of the Fransalians,

Fraternal greetings of love and good wishes from the Missionaries of Saint Francis de Sales in Chad and Cameroon.

Some Good News

I am happy to inform you that some of our long-cherished dreams and projects are now becoming a reality. The construction of a minor seminary at Ngaoundere in North Cameroon and the extension of La Feuillette, our Study House at Ngoya in Central Cameroon are nearing completion. At present there are 13 priests working in this Mission caring for the 9 major centres in the two countries of Chad and Cameroon. Four more young priests from India are expected to arrive in the Mission during this year. Moreover we have 38 seminarians at various levels of formation. The future is indeed very bright. The Mission is at last becoming self-sufficient at least in terms of personnel.

A New Project And An Appeal For Help

Fransalian School and Childrens’ Home at Doba in Chad

Three Fransalians from India had arrived in Chad some 18 years ago (1999) with very meagre resources to work in a very hostile climate and learning new languages in the midst of frequent outbreaks of diseases such as malaria and typhoid. The story of their missionary journey is replete with joys and sorrows, success and failures, fatigue and dynamism. During the past 18 years the Fransalians have developed two large missions at BERO and at DOBA in Chad with two important educational institutions besides the various other developmental programs initiated for the benefit of thousands of poor people in the remote villages under these two missions.

The new project located at a central place in the little town of DOBA is the third school that the Fransalians are developing in Chad. The primary goal of the project is to provide quality education to children especially to the poorest and the marginalized in a wholesome learning environment. The Chadian educational system is one of the least developed in Africa. Quality education based on a healthy and integral human formation is expected to equip the upcoming generations to break the vicious circle of poverty and achieve the much needed self-reliance. It will open up new vistas of progress for a population which remains highly illiterate and neglected for centuries. Agriculture in this region is on a subsistence level. The socio-economic status of women in Doba is below average. This is largely due to a high level of illiteracy among them. This has enormous negative impacts on the state of family life and society. Due to perennial poor harvests, lack of employment opportunities and low family incomes, educating the children has become almost impossible for most households. The present project therefore proposes to provide orphans and other underprivileged Chadian children quality education and essential life-skills. The first phase of the project proposes to construct 9 classrooms, a staff room and twelve toilets besides a residence facility for the staff. The project is designed to have a total built up area of 1625.36m².
The cost estimate for the first phase of the project is a huge sum of € 411,503.00. A number of donor agencies such as the Papal Foundation in USA and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Italy have already come forward to support this project. However we still need to raise a sum of € 200,000 towards the completion of this project. If funds are available we expect to complete the first phase and start the primary section of the school by September 2018. We make an earnest request to our friends and benefactors to donate generously towards this worthy project in one of the poorest countries of the world. With the limited available resources we have already initiated the construction. The work is going on well. We are ever grateful to all our support groups in Europe such as the Freundeskreis in Kahlgrund, Germany for their constant support for all our projects. Vergelt’s Gott.

Ongoing Projects

I request your continued support for the following ongoing projects. I am particularly grateful to the Freundeskreis in Kahlgrund and to the Friedens Christi Parish in Moosach-Muenchen for their constant support for these projects.

1. The Second Phase of the Fransalian School at Ngaoundere. The ongoing project of Saint Francis de Sales School at Ngaoundere in North Cameroon is now entering into the second phase of its growth. The number of children has gone up from 130 to 216 in the current year. We need to construct another 6 class rooms for the next academic year at a cost of € 64.000.00. We look forward to your generous contributions towards this project.
2. Schuelerpatenschaften is an ongoing program initiated by Agape Afrika and Amisales Rome. More than 100 children from the Chad-Cameroon Mission have profited from this program. A large number of new applicants are on the waiting list. We are ever grateful to our benefactors for helping so many poor children. We do appreciate your generosity and love for the poor.
3. Drinking Water Projects. It is an ongoing project depending very much on the availability of new sponsors and donors. More than 20 wells have been dug in the past three years with the help of so many generous donors. Unfortunately we are now short of funds for the continuation of this project. We request your help.

Dear readers of Agape Afrika, I wish each one of you God’s choicest blessings. May the good Lord reward your love for the missions.

Yours cordially,

Fr. Manoj Arackal, MSFS