A Letter from Father George.....Week Four

I have been in Ghana, West Africa for three weeks now, and I have experienced many consolations and desolations.  As I have tried to capture in some photos, the tropical trees, flowers and birds here are quite beautiful.  (While there are some elephants and monkeys in other parts of Ghana, the big safari areas are in East Africa.)  Our Jesuit house is up on a hill, with a beautiful view of the fishing town of Moree, and beyond that, when it is not too dusty like it is now, I can see the Atlantic Ocean. 

There is life and energy everywhere.  I hear music from Moree all night long when there is a funeral wake.  I hear the roar rise up from Moree whenever the Ghana national soccer team scores a goal.  When I take a walk in our village of Brafoyaw, I am greeted by the bleeting and squawking of goats and chickens, and by children in brightly colored school uniforms saying, “Obrani, how are you?”  (Obrani basically means “white person.”)  When I go into the larger nearby city of Cape Coast, there are taxis, markets, street vendors, street preachers, and shoppers almost on top of each other.  

In village or city, or the road in between, I might see a woman walking with a baby strapped to her back, a large load of almost anything balanced on her head, and perhaps a bucket in her hand.  People are quite courteous here, even when they are bumping into each other.  Unfortunately, it is very hard to converse with most people other than priests and nuns, because most of the street conversation is in local Akan languages, not English.

On the negative side, in Jesuit community conversations, in the newspapers, and in the literature there is frequent talk of corruption and violence all over the continent of Africa.  The situation in Darfur is still dire.  Just since I have been here, Kenya has exploded in violence, and there are ongoing problems in other countries  as well.  Thankfully, Ghana has been remarkably free of strife for many years.

Meanwhile, my main task here and now is prayer—prayer for the Church, and for the larger society.  I celebrate mass here on this hill of Brafoyaw with the brothers, sisters, and priests who are here in formation, or in retreat or renewal programs.  They come from many different Catholic religious communities and many different countries, mostly Africans but some “obranis” as well. 

I meet each day with my tertian director, Fr. Don Hinfey, a Jesuit from the Bronx who has been in West Africa for decades now, to discuss my reading about St. Ignatius and the first Jesuits, and to talk about what it means to be a Jesuit today.  I have been learning about what the Jesuits are doing here in Ghana, in greater West Africa, and throughout the continent.  And of course, Jesuits all over the world are following with great interest the General Congregation in Rome, and the election of our new Fr. General Adolfo Nicolas. 

Of course, I am also praying for myself, as I review my life as a Jesuit up to this point, and where the Holy Spirit may lead me in the future.  On Tuesday, Feb. 5, Fat Tuesday, I begin my 30 day retreat, the Spiritual Exercises.  I am making this retreat along with two Brothers from Sierra Leone.  Thank you for all your prayers for me, and I will continue to pray for you.  During this time, I probably will not be in communication much, even by e-mail.

P.S. I see that the Detroit Province insert in the latest issue of the Jesuit Companions magazine has a couple of good articles about Africa.