 |
|
|
|
They
came back to Italy a few days ago, but they left their heart in Africa,
in the country where they had practically spent their entire existence
–both of them were in Kenya for almost thirty-five years- near the
destitute, the forgotten by everybody, specially by the international
community. They are sr Maria Theresa
Olivero and sr
Catherine
Giraudo, respectively sixty-eight and sixty years old,
missionaries of the Contemplative Movement of Father Charles de Foucauld,
sequestered on the night between ninth and 10th November
2008, in the structure of El Wak, a small village in the extreme
north-east of Kenya, almost near the boundary with Somalia. They were
sequestered by a gang of about ten armed men. Both of them have narrated
that they were treated well, though moments of anguish were not missing.
We
are not interested to speak here on the dynamics of liberation, whether
they paid to be ransomed or not. We do not want to mention the absence
of the authorities at their arrival on the evening of last 27th
February in the airport of Caselle. We want to offer a story to those
who will read these pages, a story of faith at the service of the least
and undefended people who live in a land forgotten by all, in a zone of
boundary between Somalia and Kenya. “It has been hard, very hard –these
were their first words- and we would not have been able to stand the
trial without the help of the Lord”.
The
first to answer the phone call was sr Maria Theresa Olivero, from
Centallo in the province of Cuneo; she has been lending her work in
Kenya for thirty-five years. Her voice was limpid, emotionally firm when
“she thanked all those who, in the hundred and two days of their being
prisoners, had prayed for their lot and had made them feel their
invisible presence”.
Have there been difficult moments during these 102 days of imprisonment?
Were you scared for your life?
“There were many moments in which we felt that tensions in the air were
not missing. Personally I experienced anguish very much, but not
desperation. From the very first moment of the kidnap, when we were in
the car with our sequesters driving towards Somalia, I clearly realised
this: the world suffers, the world suffers. There are many people who
suffer, and what was happening to us was part of that suffering. This is
what I felt in my heart. We had always feared at the thought of being
held as hostages, but we never foresaw when this would happen. Now, we
were within this vicissitude and we had to live it, there was no way to
subtract ourselves from it, we could not help undergoing it. Of course,
we were afraid to lose our life. Though deeply respected by the
kidnappers, we could not know what they had in mind. Moreover, in the
heart of Somalia, in a zone of blazing attacks, it was not clear what
the epilogue of our story would be.
In an interview by Vatican Radio, both of you declared that it is faith
that supported you during this period. Is it true?
“Faith has always been our support, the rock which we could get hold of.
Faith in the Lord supported us during these 102 days of prison. In that
experience of faith, God made us to discover our poverty. We are indeed
very poor. I experienced much poverty. In some moments we felt stripped
naked of everything, of security and certainties, mainly because we
were without any news and communication with the external world. Both
sr Catherine and I sometimes looked at each other and saw our face
transformed by the suffering we had on.
I
feel that this suffering has purified us a lot. It has compelled us to
live the simplicity of this trial, as well as its hardness, without
clinging on ourselves and without egoisms. It has helped us to
understand and to pay attention to live our existence moment by moment,
to live one for the other in our daily reality, in the name of God. In
that naked reality, I clearly felt in my heart the voice of Christ
saying: “I am alive and risen among you’. This was the sentence we used
to repeat, also in the worst moments. ‘Jesus is risen and is among us. I
am the meek and humble lamb of God, He who heals the hardness of your
heart and the heart of him who holds you as hostage.’
From
the day in which we were set free, I carry in my heart an immeasurable
gratitude for the mediators who have been working and suffering with us
passionately and uninterruptedly, during all the time of negotiations
for our liberation. I thank all of you for your prayer, support and
proximity. We came to know and felt that you were close to us. From the
moment of liberation up-to-date I have been feeling astonished at the
discovery of the solidarity with us, which you have been nourishing
during these months. This gladdens my heart because your sensitivity
proves the goodness that inhabits the heart of every person and many
men. Sr Catherine and I feel supported, thanks to this chain of
solidarity. This current of fraternity will go on being the support of
the persons who undergo the hard trials of life. This actually gives me
the strength to continue our service day after day”.
Will you go back to Africa again?
“I
have been living there long; I was twenty-four when I put my foot on
that land. I am desirous to go back to Kenya, where we have three
fraternities, which we are in contact with. We shall see what can be
done. Of course, we do not have the intention of going again through the
experience we have lived. One thing is sure: our heart is there and I
wish to go back, not as a heroine, however. I wish to go simply as a
sister, to carry on my mission at the side of my brothers and sisters
What has this experience and the contact with the people you met during
your imprisonment taught you?
“They
taught me that constant prayer, alone or together with others, lived in
constant union with the Lord, can do everything. This has been our
constant thought. One cannot live an experience like this without faith.
We knew this already, but today, after the lived difficult moments, it
has become a doubtless certainty. Faith has truly been our support and
our joy, though amidst many tears and a lot of anguish. I feel deeply
grateful at the thought that the Lord is faithful. At times I felt to be
very poor, for which often we together asked the Lord to free us. The
Lord has set us free in different ways. Now I desire to walk with more
energy and trust, living instant after instant according to His will”.
Why have you chosen to join the contemplative movement inspired by De
Foucauld?
“The
first thought that comes to my mind in answer to this question is that
of going back to my pst time. I was very young when I came here for a
retreat and when Father Andrew Gasparino, our Founder, made a reflection
on this sentence from the Gospel: When you invite somebody, do not do
it with the rich men who may turn to be useful for you, but think of
those who cannot pay back anything. Be open to this free gift. This is
what I actually discovered in this community from the very beginning and
this is what attracted me. The second aspect was prayer, staying in
front of the Lord who transforms us and moulds our heart, even the
hardest heart, making it more welcoming”.
Does the sense of your presence in that zone call back the charism of
you movement?
“Yes.
We have always been searching the poorest among the population. I was
very happy to visit them in their houses, especially those who could no
longer walk or those who did not dare because of being too poor. I carry
them in my heart. Particularly in this latest time, I feel that the
Lord is calling me to benevolence, that is, to see goodness in others
and to let them notice it. A very solid friendships has been created
with Muslim persons, brothers and sisters in God”.
_______________________________
Sr
Catherine Giraudo, usually called Rinuccia by everybody, from Boves,
Cuneo, sixty-eight years old, has been a missionary in Kenya for
thirty-five years. Here is what she says on her mission at the service
of the poorest.
“The
zone of Elwak is a desert territory, inhabited mostly by nomad
populations. They depend totally on the rainy seasons and on
water-wells, which constitute their greatest richness. The control of
wells often is s source of tensions among different groups. During the
month of November, we lived moments of non indifferent conflicts between
two tribes. We tried to be close to the poor and undefended, to those
who suffered particularly that violent situation. As Maria Theresa has
already mentioned, our community tries to live what the name itself of
our movement expresses: “to be contemplative”, that is, believing that
prayer is our first mission, the sense of whatever we live;
“missionaries”, namely, sent to the poor, to those who suffer in many
ways, because of being marginalised, despised, not loved, thus sharing
with them the love of God, according to the style of Father De Foucauld,
that is, in a simple service near the people; a service that seeks,
beyond work itself, to offer friendship and a welcoming space, where the
other may re-discover its dignity
Our fraternity
wants to be a little presence of prayer in the Muslim world, as well as
a presence of service to the many poor who come to our house, especially
under-nourished children, anaemic mothers, sufferers of epilepsy, aged
in solitude….they are truly many the faces we met and helped during the
past years in the fraternity.
There
is also a little Christian community that walks with us, a community
made up by employers of the Keniota government, who are sent to El Wak,
from other parts of Kenya, for work purposes. We pray and share the Word
of God with them: for many this is truly a possibility of going to the
root of their faith”.
Do you think of going to Africa again?
“It
is too early to answer this question !!! What I know is that I carry
Kenya in my heart: I know that I have experienced a too strong
detachment to go far from our fraternity at El Wak at the moment of the
kidnap …and then also later, at the time of liberation, I felt the
sorrow of leaving without being able to go and greet our people at El
Wak. But I nourish the certainty that the Lord will continue to guide
our life, as he has been doing so far”.
What is left in you? What has this experience taught you?
“This
is the experience within me: the moment we are stripped naked of all
things, but really of all things (not only of material things, but also
of our work, of our needful people desirous of making “a beautiful
figure” and of being said to be right, etc), we strongly discover the
essential and the reciprocal richness: there was nothing more that
divided us, we were truly and deeply sisters, in our being constantly
tending to help and relieve one another. It has been a unique experience
for me. There, I discovered that faith, and only faith gives sense to
life and sustains us”.
About
our kidnappers…of course, they were terrorists, but we have also many
remembrances of their kindnesses, attentions, solicitudes. For this, we
cannot bear them any grudge, but we are rather sorry for what they live
and we go on praying for them”.
|
