Pastoral Work
Secretariat for Missions

Some youths share their missionary experience in Brazil

Mireia Theuma

During mass I attended at Haz Zabbar, an announcement was made stating that group of youths was being formed to go for a missionary experience in Brazil. My dream could become a reality. I contacted Fr. Mario and started attending preparatory meetings, together with six other youths. On 12th July 2007, I was very excited. The journey which was going to take me to what I had been preparing for the last couple of months had started.

When I arrived at São Paulo, after a 15-hour voyage, I immediately noticed the type of environment, where the poor people lived. It is different from ours, since we have good and beautiful houses. I had the opportunity to hear the first mass in Portuguese, in a small room, which served as a chapel in the Singapura slum. From the beginning, we were very much welcomed by the people, who rejoiced and thanked us for going there to share their life.

In the first two weeks, we went to Rolandia, where we worked with children in day centres. I was in a day centre, led by a Maltese nun, who has been in Brazil for 45 years. Every year, Sr. Esmelia eagerly waits for the Maltese group to go to her day centre in order to help with the babies, young kids and adolescents. I could not help being fascinated by these children! We were three Maltese youths. We did crafts with them, skipped ropes, played football and wore out all our strength with them. Time passed quickly and I found it difficult to say goodbye to all the friends, I had made.

The following ten days were spent in a small village of Jaguapita. It was the place which frightened me most! We were going to work with people, who were sick with HIV and AIDS and with children, who couldn’t live with their parents. I am not used to this kind of harsh reality. I started this adventure with eight children, who lived in a small home and were taken care of by a woman, who dearly loved them. Renato, Marcel, Serginho, Gabriel, Ariane, SueEllen, Kaiiki and the young Gabriel, were all mischievous, however they loved in a special way. We used to sing, play Hide and Seek, run after each other and do all sorts of things.

Finally, it was my turn to work at Casa De Maria. I entered the place with mixed feelings. The patients, a mixture of youths and adults, were waiting for us and immediately, welcomed us with smiling faces, while shaking our hands. There I met a person, who is not easily forgotten. Marcel was blind, however, he still worked. So much so that he even washed people’s private cars to earn some money. He took life positively and encouraged me whenever I used to talk to him. Amongst the long discussions I had with Marcel, he told me, “I don’t blame God for what has happened to me as He isn’t guilty of anything. I was the one who made the mistake and now, I am paying the consequences!” I was astonished after hearing these words as I was not expecting him to talk like that about God. I also met Fransisco, a person who knows a lot about handcrafts. He made me two flowers out of very thin wire, which I still cherish today. After all, the time I spent in Jaguapita was not as bad as I imagined it to be!

We left again for São Paulo and I started working in Cidade Nova. The children who attended this day centre were all adolescents and came from slum areas. I had to keep a watchful eye on them as they were pretty much aggressive due to the environment, where they lived. Very often a fight would start after someone teased or pestered someone else. We also made crafts, from anything we could lay our hands on – boxes out of newspapers, dolls out of wool and many others. It was an unforgettable two-week experience with those children.

I would like to thank God for what I have experienced throughout these seven weeks. What impressed me most was the smile the children had on their faces, as soon as we greeted them with a good morning and smiled! I encourage you to take part in this experience as well!

Denise Desira

Around ten years ago, my husband (Saviour) and I went to hear mass in the church at Birgu. As soon as mass started, a group of youths stood up and stated that that summer, they were going for a missionary experience in Brazil. I had never thought of going to the missions! However, when these people started talking, I felt a calling. What I didn’t know was that even my husband was feeling the same thing! During mass, my husband and I looked at each other and I told him that I was interested in going and surprisingly, he said that he was too.

It is unnecessary to say that as soon as mass ended, these youths, who became our best friends, provided us with a brochure. Immediately, we contacted Fr. Mario and from that point onwards, we slowly started preparing for our departure. While we were preparing, we found a lot of help both from the family as well as from our friends.

I departed with the idea of a hero in mind, to go and help, believing that I was better than them. However, when I arrived there and was welcomed by those people, I found out that they were like me, on the contrary, better than me! Even though they were living in a very poor state, these people were very generous and big-hearted and they welcomed us into their homes! Although poor, they gave generously and never pretended anything in return.

I can say that this experience totally changed my life. Where in the past, I got angry when things were not as I wanted them to be, now, I started accepting life as it comes. I started reasoning things differently. I realised that God’s plan for us is different from what we want!

Now, that 10 years have passed, I can say that it was the best experience and lifetime lesson I ever had and I continue to appreciate it throughout my whole life. What I wish most is that I would like my children to undergo the same experience as I know how worthwhile it was for me and I hope that my children will also benefit from such an experience.