Ten Years Bakhita Village

Bakhita Village is dedicated to and named after a Sudanese Slave girl who endured many years of terrible hardship until she won her freedom.  This African woman went on to become a Nun and lived a very saintly life till her death in 1947.  Bakhita Village is located on a small portion of the mission station at Dwars River, Limpopo.  It comprises of a number of buildings that serve as residence, kitchen and work rooms for orphaned girls or girls made vulnerable by family circumstances.  The Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart run Bakhita Village and have made it a loving home with a great family spirit among all the girls.

Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and the girls.

Bakhita Village first opened its doors in 2002 and celebrated the first ten years of their journey just last month.  Despite the many trials and tribulations Bakhita is still going strong and is needed as much now as it was ten years ago.  Just as the young girls have grown over these last ten years so too the village had to grow from accommodating infants to children to teenagers and finally to young ladies.  It means a lot of change, not to mention the usual repairs, the annual maintenance and the odd disaster.  The Sisters are undertaking extensive work to the roof of the main residence, providing extra bedrooms and of course additional bathrooms.

Many guests attended this special celebration.  Among them was Bishop Rodrigues of Tzaneen, many of the Teachers from St. Brendan’s, Carers and sisters.  What made our celebrations extra special was the presence of some of our former girls who had matriculated and are now involved in Tertiary Education.  It is very rewarding to see these young ladies who still are part of the Bakhita Family making their way in the world and yet are very much at home when among us.

Bakhita Village is run by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) who originate from many different continents.  Sr. Merrilyn Lee (sitting down) is the Project Officer and originates from Australia; Sr. Jeanne, the Director comes from Indonesia and Sr. Anne-Marie (back right) is from Democratic Republic of Congo.  The Sisters are helping to show Jesus' love to these orphaned and vulnerable girls.

Mrs. Maggie Strydom a wonderful friend and volunteer at Bakhita managed to get sponsorship from local suppliers who generously donated Chicken and Sausages for the Celebration.  A very big contributor to the whole day was the bread company Sasko who came with their 'Promotion Van' complete with tents, flags and a Public Address System with taped music.  You can well imagine the girls utter delight as they immediately took to dancing and singing on the stage.  They spontaneously began a dance competition appointing judges and all were astounded by their energy!

From the MSC South Africa site.

As part of our sapphine anniversary celebration of 65 years of mission in Papua New Guinea, each month, we are posting a few stories from one or more of our members who served there. We hope you enjoy their stories.

FIRST PAPUA NEW GUINEAN BISHOP OF KAVIENG DIOCESE.

May 12, 1991 dawned clear and warm. It was a nice start to what was going to be a big day for the diocese of Kavieng in Papua New Guinea: the ordination of Ambrose Kiapseni MSC as bishop of his home diocese. He would be the third bishop of the diocese, but the first Papua New Guinean bishop.

Some friends and I were on the local golf course at 6:30 that morning, and we already met trucks coming into Kavieng town, trucks filled to a capacity that only a fellow missionary would understand. I wanted to get some exercise early, so that my ankle would feel better later. I knew that the ordination liturgy would be a long one and would involve a lot of standing, and that aggravates the arthritis in my ankle.

By 8:30 we had finished nine holes, showered, and left for the cathedral. People had been gathering since early morning. Later estimates put the crowd at about five thousand. While everyone was still milling around and waiting for things to start, I took a few photographs, said hello to a lot of old friends, and chatted with some of our MSC Sisters from Rabaul and Port Moresby.

A tavur (conch shell) blew to signal that things were about to start. We all gathered around the banis (enclosure built of dried palm fronds), the commentator said a few

words of introduction, and then the drums began inside the banis. The singing began at something like a low hum and increased gradually in volume and speed. As the singing increased in intensity, first one side of the enclosure began to shake, then another, then another. One side fell, then the other three -- it was as if the sides of a gigantic cardboard box collapsed outwards. And there in the middle sat Ambrose Kiapseni, looking cool and relaxed.

The drums stopped one rhythm and began another, one to walk and dance to. The drummers and singers began a stylized movement toward the cathedral, followed by the concelebrants and the consecrating bishops and Ambrose, and then the throng of people in a typical PNG (Papua New Guinea) style procession. Formless as it may have appeared to some overseas visitors' eyes, the clear awe and wonder on the young children's faces showed that something special was going on. I could feel a sense of anticipation all around.

As we all danced and moved toward the entrance of the cathedral, I made sure that I was near the front of the line -- so that I would be able to see the ceremony and so that I could get at the end of a pew and not get boxed in. Different parishes from among the twenty in the diocese led the singing for the different parts of the liturgy, providing a real sense of the variety of liturgical styles within the diocese.  I enjoyed it all.

During the ordination ceremony, what stands out in memory even now is the affirmation expressed in twenty different languages by representatives from each parish. I felt a special thrill when the man from Bipi spoke his "Wura!" (loosely, "Oh yes!"). And I felt a different, deeper thrill when it was my turn to impose hands on Ambrose's head. My friend, my bishop . . . and I was given the honor of imposing my hands over him. The glow remained when he later shared the sign of peace, giving me a wink.

Much of the rest of the liturgy and ceremony is fading now from memory. I remember the long instruction mainly because of the discomfort of standing for so long during it. When we came out of the cathedral, almost four hours had passed, but it did not feel that long. The experience of that ordination liturgy is one I treasure.

Fr. Tony Ripp, MSC served in Papua New Guinea from 1968 to 1992.

He spent about nine years serving the people of Manus (Papitalai, Bundralis, Bipi) and almost 15 years serving the people of New Ireland (Lamasong, Mongop, Manga-Siar, Fissoa).