January-February 1992

By: Fr. Bobby Sagra, MSP

Two Months Old

Last November 14, 1990 I arrived here in Kerema, Gulf province, Papua New Guinea. I was only two months and seven days old as a missionary priest on the day of my arrival.

My first experienced of “missionary initiation” was walking four days four days from Putei the main parish where I am assistant parish priest, to Wanto, the outmission station located in a hidden valley in the remote mountains. On December 12, I started walking together with one guide and two local seminarians.

By: Sr. Jasmin Peralta, SSC

Jasmin Peralta is a young Columban Sister in Korea.

Here she describes some of her “teething” problems.

Humiliated and Frustrated

I never felt humiliated and frustrated in all my life until I came to study “hangu mal” Korean. Every time my teacher talked to me I heard nothing and understood nothing. All I could do was to keep guessing the meaning of the sounds and most of time I guessed wrong! Indeed, language study id draining. I would come home from school dead tired.

Maybe They’ll Laugh at Me

It was winter when I started the first level. I was shivering with cold because it was my first taste of winter. I learned very little then because I was anxious and preoccupied with difficulties of learning the language. I was scared to be with people for fear they’d laugh at my mistakes in speaking Korean. I kept tagging along my security blanket –the English dictionary.