By Bro. Elie Sangco, MSP

“Mission in the mud is challenging. Sometimes you feel mad because of the mud. But we are called to serve the people, to experience God in the midst of this awful mud.”

Elie Sangco is now back in the seminary preparing to be a Fil-Mission priest after overseas training in Papua New Guinea. He is the youngest of seven and comes from Poblacion. Pres. Roxas, Cotabato.

Our Mission Station

St. Michael’s Parish is located in Lower Bamu of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. This one of the most isolated mission stations in the diocese.

This station covers fourteen dispersed villages. Three villages are situated on an island. The rest are on the mainriver. The place is swampy and below sea level. Besides, this place is situated in the mouth of the Papua New Guinea Gulf. That is why during the highest tide the villages are under water which causes the deep mud.

The river is colored clayish-black due to the frightful mud. You cannot find a single stone in the river. It has been observed that the water is slowly eating away the islands. In fact one island has already disappeared from the map. The small creek is becoming bigger. This is caused by the big tide that hits the island.

No Source of Water

None of the villages has a source of clean water. The missionaries depend on the water from heaven – rain water. If there’s no rain, then we have to fetch unpotable water from the bush. The people here used to fetch the drinking water from the creek in the bush. We cannot make a deep well or use a water pump due to the muddy soil below, which is swampy and salty water.

Sago is the villagers’ staple food. Sometimes they mix it with coconut, banana, prawn, or fish. They cook the sago by roasting it. We are slowly adjusting to eating sago.

At present, only two villages have a community school. The teacher, however, have given up teaching due to some problems. Three villages have started pre-schools. The women’s organizations have initiated a literacy program in their villages.

The Women’s Plight

Most of the women remain in the village. Most of them have not gone to school. They have poor health practices. Others are suffering from malnutrition and overwork. Compared to men, women do the hard work. They look for food and firewood in the bush for the family. During the village feasts, they are obliged to look for food and cook it for the men.

The missionaries initiated programs to help the women: women’s organization in the villages, community sewing and nutrition projects. The women have learned and discovered new things. Now they can work and pray together and enjoy each other’s company. They only need a leader to guide them so that they appreciate new things.

Conclusion

Mission life in the mud is very challenging. It needs a lot of patience to wade through the deep mud, double courage to travel over the rough seas to meet the people, and a lot of sacrifice to work with the villagers. It is only faith in God that sustains us in living and staying in this muddy mission in this foreign land.