Towards The Liberation

The last day of March. A month that brought a lot of mixed emotions and turned out to be a hectic time for me... The dominating agenda was, obviously, the final stages of the construction and finishing works on St. Gemma Galgani convent in my mission...


Just two-three more days and I will be able to hand the keys to the convent over to sisters, so they can move in there as soon as possible. On 10th of April, the Bishop of Musoma will come to bless the convent, put the Eucharist in the tabernacle of the convent chapel and open the house officially...

It will be a day of great relief to me. The day of the fulfilled pledge I made to Saint Gemma herself, as I did not built this convent to please bishop or sisters or anyone, but I promised Saint Gemma years ago that the convent in Kiabakari will be dedicated to her. She was rejected when she wanted to join religious congregation, so at least now she can become a Patroness of the religious community in the new house which I tried to do as beautifully and professionally as it was possible under circumstances.

Blessed Pier Giorgio has his health center where he continues to take care of the sick as he did in his lifetime. Saint Gemma will take care of the religious so they live up to the vows they made and set an example by their holy lives for other girls and women to follow, as I want the convent to expand as soon as possible with a formation facilities for girls from Kiabakari and elsewhere - the shower/toilets complex is ready, we need to build a service building with recreation room, classroom, dining room and kitchen; and dormitories, stores, laundry facilities and recreation area for common activities with sisters. The plot we have allows us for nice expansion, I drew a plan already, what we need is substantial support to make it happen.

Once the sisters move to their convent, my house will be liberated and I will get back my freedom in the rectory. I was not aware how much I can become vulnerable and put off balance when my privacy is violated and the living space denied along with a lifestyle, serenity and habits I grew up to love and be comfortable with...  My house is a place I like to come back to recharge my inner batteries, to restore my composure and focus to be able to continue discharge my duties and undertake challenges with full power of my person. Once I was denied this upon the arrival of sisters to my house, I had nowhere to go and hide, and my house was no longer a place I could rest and put myself back into shape.

So, as I put final touches to the convent and its surrounding, I count down hours to the day of the liberation of my house, when it will become again a place where I feel great, where I rest and restore myself fully to be able to get out in the morning and throw myself into the thick of challenges of a new day...