Dear Friends,
I thought that it was about time for the latest update and to thank so many of you who have accompanied my study with your prayer. I have finally finished the last exam, and now await the papers which have to be authenticated in the States and then in the UK. This will allow me to return to my mission in Ethiopia, as I will have no obstacle to receiving a work permit.
It has been a long journey, and maybe awaiting the papers is now the hardest part, and I find my patience running thin! The situation in Ethiopia is difficult because of Covid-19 and ethnic and tribal clashes, which seem to be increasing at the moment.
The place where I worked seems to be quiet, but it is hard to receive ‘live news’ that is accurate. What is clear to me is that the Church needs to be where people suffer and even if there are fewer Covid-19 cases in Ethiopia than in the UK, the situation of the poor people that we cared for there has been made even more precarious. The jobs they had managed to find, such as washing people’s clothes or cooking for wealthier families, have all been ‘shut down.’
I received a ‘WhatsApp’ message from Chu Chu, a young woman who had her child with us in Gode and followed the training scheme to learn to make purses and bags. She had found a job cleaning in a house and was attending a course in Awassa, to be able to work in one of the local hotels, in the south of the country. The onslaught of Covid-19 has shut down all the hotels. With no work and a small child to care for she contacted me and I was able, together with those I know in Ethiopia, to help her pay rent for the small accommodation she had. Chu Chu was able to pay for food for both her and for her child, by sewing the purses she had learnt to make with us in Gode.
Unfortunately, ethnic conflicts suddenly erupted, and she was forced with violence to leave the town (home of the Sidama people) and return to Walayita which is her ethnic group. So, she needed to find money to start again. I am delighted to see she has used the few skills she learnt with us in Gode to avoid destitution and, as you can see from the photo, she has made some beautiful small bags.
Thank you again for all your support and prayer, I keep all of you in my prayers and will let you know as soon as I am able to buy my ticket to Ethiopia.
I realise that these are ‘unprecedented’ times and the uncertainty that comes with it is full of hardship for so many, especially for those who have had to shield or be separated from family and friends. I know that many of the Friends of our Mission have used their difficulties as opportunities to pray for others who have felt discouragement, bordering on despair. The ‘Mission of Hope’ is needed even more now in a world that seems so lacking in the security that previously marked our ‘normal’ lives. Whilst the suffering of those in Europe is different from that experienced amongst the people we work with in Ethiopia we cannot truly compare it. The need to attend to our neighbour however, whoever they are, is always the same. As Mother Teresa said, often a smile or warm greeting can make such a difference in a person’s life and can communicate hope.
God bless you,
Sr Mary Joachim