Travels in Africa, Part 2

Bros. Bill and Donald have almost completed their journey to East Africa.  Bro. Bill sent this posting.  For more information on our school, St. Joseph Hill in Western Uganda, watch the following video! 

We finally have time to do a posting.  After a short drive from Kampala to Jinja, Uganda and settling into Dujarie House, we had the opportunity to visit Holy Cross Lakeview Senior Secondary School.  It is a school that is a District ministry and its high academic standards have resulted in it recently being ranked 58th  in the country.  That evening, we were welcomed at the candidate house which included some speeches interspersed with music, entertainment and supper.

Tubasanyukidde! Welcome to East Africa!

Brothers Bill Zaydak and Donald Blauvelt, Provincials of the Eastern and South-West Brothers Provinces, are currently traveling in East Africa visiting the Holy Cross members and their ministries.  Holy Cross began working in East Africa in 1958 and currently serves in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.  The mission to Rwanda was discontinued after the genocide in 1994.   Bro. Bill returns to the District after serving there for 10 years.  I invite you to watch a video of Holy Cross' early years in East Africa, then read Bro. Bill's posting below.

The trip has gone extremely well so far.  Donald and I met up at Heathrow and arrived on time in Nairobi late at night.  The next day we started our visit of the District of East Africa with a busy day of going to Dandora Parish for Sunday liturgy.  As always the church was packed, the music was lively, and everyone welcomed us.

We Are Family - Nós Somos uma Família - Nous Sommes une Famille

We asked how we might follow, and we found many footprints on the road. A great band of men had passed this way, men who had made and lived by their vows, men who had walked side by side in their following of the Lord. They beckoned us to fall in step with them. We wanted to be part of the family they formed in order to share in their life and work. This family is the Congregation of Holy Cross, founded by Basil Anthony Moreau.

~ Holy Cross Constitution, "God's Call"

The family of Holy Cross extends beyond the bonds of its vowed members.  An important part of our family are the students in the many schools we conduct throughout the world.  There is no better example of this than at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas.  St. Edward's is the second oldest university founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross in the United States.  It shares the same founder as the University of Notre Dame, Fr. Edward Sorin, CSC.

Unique to St. Ed's is the large concentration -- almost 70 strong! -- of students from Holy Cross secondary schools around the world.  Pictured here are but a few of the students who gather a couple of times throughout the year to share prayer and a meal with the Holy Cross brothers and priests, much as any family might do in their own home -- because these students are at home here!  They represent Holy Cross from France, Brazil, and many cities in the United States including West Haven, CT, Akron, OH, Sherman Oaks, CA, Flushing, NY, and San Antonio, TX.  

For more information on St. Edward's University, visit  www.stedwards.edu/ministry/ministry.htm
or visit them on Facebook, www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=264116&id=120182718014#!/pages/St-Edwards-University-Campus-Ministry/120182718014

Not Your Usual Bacon and Eggs

Bro. Mark and his five younger sisters

Bro. Mark Knightly, CSC of Queens, New York shares an interesting experience after his younger sister "volunteered" him to speak at her unique workplace . . . 

On February 3, the National Prayer Breakfast occurred in government agencies and other businesses all across the country.  While President Obama spoke downtown in Washington, DC, I was asked to co-lead the annual event for participants from the Centers for Maritime Intelligence in Suitland, Maryland.