By Rowena ‘Weng’ Dato Cuanico

Rowena Dato Cuanico is a Columban Lay Missionary from the Philippines now on her second three-year term in Fiji. She is a frequent contributor to Columban magazines.

In Holy Family Parish, Labasa, I’ve been working particularly in the Indian Apostolate. The children of Naleba, Labasa, whereHoly Cross Church is located, have been a great source of inspiration, joy and hope for me. Most are Indo-Fijians, two of mixed heritage and one an indigenous Fijian. They are mostly children of sugarcane workers whose incomes are seasonal and meager. Their mothers, who stay at home taking care of them, occasionally take jobs as household workers. Mondays to Fridays, the children, with their Muslim and Hindu friends, walk to Naleba Primary School. Some have to walk for an hour and a half or so while the luckier ones are only 15 minutes away. The five luckiest live in town.

Joyful believers

On Sundays, they walk the same distance to Holy Cross Church, the heart of the parish’s Indian Apostolate. One thing that struck me while working in Naleba is that our children always come to church joyfully, with big smiles and hardly any trace of fatigue on their faces.

I remember clearly our first ‘Church Clean-Up.’ The cleaning brigade was an unusual bunch of young and enthusiastic members of our community, three youths and about seven children. For about six hours, with Beth Briones, also a Filipino Columban Lay Missionary, we cleaned the church, planted flowers and cleaned the statue of the Blessed Mother. Taking a break, the youngsters ran around the church compound, playing ‘hide-and-seek’ and other games and. Then I’d see them working again. It seems that work is fun for them and perhaps that’s how it should be. After the clean-up, we shared a meal in the community shed and had so much fun. Since then, the children with their small hands and big hearts are always present at every ‘Church Clean-Up.’

Taking responsibility

But these children don’t just help clean the church compound. They’re so much a part of our community and are our young ‘liturgists.’ The different mandalis (prayer groups) take turns in preparing the Sunday Liturgy. When it is their mandali’s turn to prepare the liturgy, they come to church early. They arrange the flowers, change the linens, select the hymns, distribute the hymn books, and do the ‘welcoming of the priest.’ This includes washing the priest’s hands, then the blessing of the water and putting a garland on the priest. Some do the readings, play the dholak (a kind of an Indian drum) and other musical instruments and sing to their hearts’ content.

A community of children

Each of them has a unique story to tell. Let me tell you some. Emmanuel is one of the youths of our community. He plays thedholak beautifully. When the Nagigi and Khriist Jyoti mandalis were being revived in 2001, Emmanuel would come with Master Mul Deo Sahayam and his wife, Ester, and myself, to play the dholak, allowing us to sing beautiful music to the Lord. His only sister, Jiji, holds the distinction of having put the garland on Fr Diego Cabrera Rojas, a Peruvian Columban priest who served in the Indian Apostolate, more times than any other girl in the community. Emmanuel and his brother Edwin are both altar boys.

Two Mariams

We have two Mariams in the community. One has to walk about thirty minutes to church. Despite the distance, she comes regularly and always helps prepare for the liturgy. She sweeps the church, picks some flowers and arranges them on the altar. Her sister Christine is a very responsible young woman who works very quietly, always with a smile on her face as she makes beautiful garlands. The other Mariam lives next to the church. She’s a very reliable messenger, gladly running errands for me. As she’s my closest neighbor, I always call Mariam when I need help, including rush orders for mallaa or leis.

A voice of inspiration

Sonam put the garland on me during our welcome party. She’s from Nagigi, about nine kilometers from church. Most of the time, she and her family walk to church. She’s quiet and very sweet. I’ve always been touched at the way she prays during themandali. One Sunday, during the Nagigi mandali’s turn to prepare the Mass, she surprised everybody when she did the Second Reading clearly and, perhaps, courageously. All readings and prayers are in Hindi. She’s the youngest member of our community to have ever done so and has been a great source of inspiration for all.

Their part in the mission

Vandana is another lovely girl whose family are very responsible members of our community, taking an active part in the Khriist Jyoti mandali and in other church functions. During the ‘Church Clean-up’ before Holy Week, Vandana, her older sister Lynette, along with Sheryn and Mariam, were in charge of cleaning all brass items, from flower vases to candle holders, a job they did very well.

Joel, his sister Doreen and older brother Michael, have to walk more than an hour to church. They bring roti, a kind of unleavened bread, and some curry, fruit or fish for us. Joel is also an altar boy, very responsible for his age. Once, we were joking with him that perhaps in ten years he’d be a father. He replied quickly, ‘nahiiñ,’ ‘no,’ because he wants to be a priest.

Rex is an ethnic Fijian. He walks for over an hour to come to church with his grandparents. They live in a Fijian village close to Naleba. Whenever we have Fijian ceremonies, we involve Rex.

Then there are Daniel, Paul and Vishal whom I always ask to collect the garbage around the church. They walk in a leisurely manner around the compound, black garbage bags in their hands, collecting plastic, paper, bottles and tins. Paul and Daniel are altar boys who take their duties seriously. We also have Richard, Rahul, Michelle, Archanna, Vinod, Pat, Alvin, Sonil, another Emmanuel, Freddie, Rodney, Dennis, Michelle, Vicki, Ron, Christopher and the pre-school generation of Puuja, Christina and Alfred and the babies, Jay and Samantha. When Christina sees me from their veranda, she calls out, ‘Weng, aao, chhaa pio,’‘Weng, come and drink tea.’ Puuja dances very well. We also have a child who needs special care. Another passed away two years ago.

The future of Naleba

It seems to me that the Church is an important part of the lives of the children of Naleba. I always feel happy when I see them playing and praying together. I love to hear them pray so sincerely during their mandalis. During the school holidays, almost all of them, with their friends who are Hindus, Muslims or from other Christian churches, neighbors and classmates attend theColonias, a summer camp for children, started by Claudia and Nancy, Columban lay missionaries from Chile who were here some years ago.

And yes, praying with them can be an enjoyable and, surprisingly, funny experience. I remember how we prayed the Stations of the Cross in church on the Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent. About three adults and 15 children and youths came. While we were praying, I could hear bursts of laughter from the children when the prayer leader would forget a line. It was the most ‘enjoyable,’ if there can be such, Stations of the Cross I ever had.

The children of Naleba are also my language teachers. Learning with them can be enjoyable because they love to laugh whenever I mispronounce or misread a word.

These are the children of Naleba, the future of the Indo-Fijian Catholic community. These say a lot to me when I see them in a church clean-up, helping their mandali set the altar and the whole church for Holy Mass on Sunday mornings, and singing hymns perhaps the way angels do with so much innocence and joy. The children of Naleba give me and the community much joy, hope, life and happiness, perhaps because they feel part of the community. Or perhaps because our community, especially their parents, is acknowledging their presence and the contribution they make to every one of us.

Today,I can see the children of Naleba learning how to set the altar for Mass, how to prepare the water for the Washing of the Feet, and how to clean the Church. Someday in the future, they might be leading a mandali or serve as lay missionaries in another country. They’ve planted trees with Father Diego around the church compound. Hopefully, one day, just like Father Diego, they’ll be planting the Word of God in the hearts of people as Columban priests, sisters or lay missionaries. Today, we give them support and encouragement. Someday, they too will be bearers of hope and life to others. These children of Naleba, with their joyful and bubbly spirits, their loving and generous hearts, their sweet smiling faces - I thank God for them.