13.04.2011
Easter Magazine
We are distributing the Easter magazine "A well for life", the periodical of the Missionary Group Merano. Here, in advance, we present the Easter letter from Alpidio Balbo to the GMM supporters.
Dear friends,
Forty years ago I went for the first time to Africa: I was there as a tourist, therefore I was totally unprepared for the impact, with the reality of suffering, pain and privation.
Anniversaries prompt us to reconsider the past, and I am tempted to measure these four decades of missionary engagement as the business man I once was. On one side I put the failures, the mistakes, the undone things. On the other there is the huge amount of work done with your help and that of many other supporters: hundreds of wells, medical dispensaries, hospitals, schools and professional training centers.
Do the failures or the successes prevail? This question makes little sense: there's no way to measure this sort of work. What we did, and will go on doing, will always be inadequate in the face of Africa's immense problems, but it will never be useless.
A few days ago I received a publication from the Salesian sisters of Cotonou in which they have collected some testimonies of the many girls who have been victims of trade. After being welcomed into professional training centers, they have rediscovered the joy of living.
Their stories reminded me of the many faces and names of children, young people and adults who I have encountered in these 40 years. Through what we have done they have obtained an opportunity: they have gained control of their lives and started to face life with hope.
This is a good result, one that no balance sheet could ever predict, but one that encourages us to go on, together with your friendship and help.
We wish you all a happy Easter,
Alpidio Balbo
and the Missionary Group
A Well for Life – Merano
Forty years ago I went for the first time to Africa: I was there as a tourist, therefore I was totally unprepared for the impact, with the reality of suffering, pain and privation.
Anniversaries prompt us to reconsider the past, and I am tempted to measure these four decades of missionary engagement as the business man I once was. On one side I put the failures, the mistakes, the undone things. On the other there is the huge amount of work done with your help and that of many other supporters: hundreds of wells, medical dispensaries, hospitals, schools and professional training centers.
Do the failures or the successes prevail? This question makes little sense: there's no way to measure this sort of work. What we did, and will go on doing, will always be inadequate in the face of Africa's immense problems, but it will never be useless.
A few days ago I received a publication from the Salesian sisters of Cotonou in which they have collected some testimonies of the many girls who have been victims of trade. After being welcomed into professional training centers, they have rediscovered the joy of living.
Their stories reminded me of the many faces and names of children, young people and adults who I have encountered in these 40 years. Through what we have done they have obtained an opportunity: they have gained control of their lives and started to face life with hope.
This is a good result, one that no balance sheet could ever predict, but one that encourages us to go on, together with your friendship and help.
We wish you all a happy Easter,
Alpidio Balbo
and the Missionary Group
A Well for Life – Merano
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