AN EXPERIENCE OF MINISTRY IN THE THIRD WORLD: THE FRANCISCAN COMMUNITY SERVICES AND THE INBREAKING OF GOD'S KINGDOM.
A PASTORAL REFLECTION PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE WASHINGTON
THEOLOGICAL UNION IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
DEGREE OF MASTER OF DIVINITY, BY TIMOTHY PATRICK DORE, OFM CONV., APRIL
1992
CHAPTER TWO
Description of Pastoral Internship Placement
A Brief History
Early unsuccessful Mission Efforts in the Gold Coast
The first Roman Catholic presence came to the West African country known as the Gold Coast (modern day Ghana) with Portuguese traders in 1471. (1) The Portuguese soon established a trade center at Elmina, a coastal city located approximately 150 kilometres to the west of Accra (the present day capital of Ghana). These traders, more interested in expanding their own wealth than in bringing Christianity to the indigenous populations, did little to stimulate the limited Christian missionary efforts in the area. Between the late fifteenth and early nineteenth centuries, missionary efforts in the region were further frustrated by the competition among the Portuguese, Dutch, Danes and English over the West Africa trade (including the slave trade).
The history of Christianity in the Gold Coast between 1471 and 1880 shows that there were numerous briefly successful, but ultimately fruitless, Roman Catholic missionary endeavors. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries there were spirited, although highly limited, missionary efforts in the Gold Coast. (2) Evangelically minded religious Orders that sent missionaries to the Gold Coast during that time included the Augustinians (circa 1572-76) and the Capuchins (circa 1637-84). At least three of the Augustinians were eventually martyred and the Capuchins ultimately abandoned their efforts demoralized and without success. In addition to the problems created because of rivalries among European powers in West Africa, there were many reasons for the lack of missionary success during that time. The efforts of the early missionaries had been thwarted by local suspicion as well as by religious, political and economic turmoil generated in West Africa by European powers. The slave trade, a moral problem in itself, served to inhibit evangelization as well.
Two other significant reasons for the failure of European missionaries was their lack of sensitivity to African culture and to their haughty assumption that European culture was the most refined on earth. Thus, the limited work of missionaries during that time was ultimately ineffective. Commenting on the Church's historical approach to missionary activity, Peter Kwasi Sarpong, the current Roman Catholic bishop of Kumasi (Ghana), notes that early missionary activity in the Gold Coast was adversely affected by the then common European sense of superiority over different cultures. Sarpong notes that such a stance "makes nonsense of evangelization." (3)
The First Successful Mission Efforts in the Gold Coast
Although Protestants had made successful missionary efforts in the Gold Coast after 1828, (4) it was not until 1880 that serious and sustained Roman Catholic missionary efforts took root. In 1856 the Society of African Missions (SMA) (5) was founded in Lyons, France with the specific purpose of bringing the Gospel to the people of Africa. Because West Africa became a specific focus of the SMA effort, the Gold Coast consequently was entrusted to its apostolic efforts in 1880. On 18 May, 1880 August Moreau and Eugene Murat, both SMA priests, arrived at historic Elmina to begin what would be the first successful Roman Catholic mission to Ghana. (6)
Throughout the history of missionary activity in the Gold Coast, many missioners have fallen ill and/or died. In spite of these grim facts, the efforts of Protestants after 1828 and Roman Catholics after 1880 have been highly successful. The threat of illness and death has not kept away those desiring to bring the Gospel to the Gold Coast. About the courage of the first successful missionaries to the Gold Coast, F.M. Bourret notes that "hundreds of men volunteered for work in a land best known in England as the 'white man's grave'." (7) About their efforts and achievements, Bourret adds that they "left behind them a record of what was often heroic devotion and zeal in their work of evangelization." (8) These efforts, especially after 1880, bore fruit in the eventual establishment of a permanent Roman Catholic presence in the Gold Coast.
The Establishment of the Roman Catholic Church in the Gold Coast
By the turn of the century, it was necessary to establish an official Roman Catholic administrative church body in the Gold Coast. In 1901, the Gold Coast Vicariate was established at Cape Coast. (9) The first bishop given the responsibility of overseeing the vicariate was Maximilian Albert. Albert, a German SMA priest, was installed at Cape Coast on 12 May, 1901. (10) The Gold Coast Vicariate was forerunner of the Archdiocese of Cape Coast established in 1950. In present day Ghana there are two archdioceses and seven dioceses all of which have native bishops. The Roman Catholic population of modern day Ghana is over one and a half million. (11) As in other parts of Africa, the Ghanaian Catholic and Protestant churches continue to grow. In 1990 there were almost 50,000 Ghanaians baptized into the Roman Catholic faith. (12)
The Conventual Franciscan Mission to Ghana
At the present time, the Archdiocese of Cape Coast is an important center of the Roman Catholic Church in the country. It was to this Archdiocese that American members of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (13) came as missionaries in early March of 1977. (14) These Conventual Franciscan friars came to the Archdiocese of Cape Coast on the official invitation of Archbishop John Kodwo Amissah (d. September 1991). Describing the key motive for this mission endeavor, Roger Haas, an American Conventual historian notes that "the primary task of the Conventuals. . .was the establishment of the presence of the Order in Ghana." (15) While this motive may have been the initial reason for the beginning of the Conventual mission it was not long before the friars became involved in ministries of direct service to the poor.
Brother Vincent's Ministry to Victims of Leprosy
One of the original Conventual Franciscan missionaries, Brother Vincent Vivian (b. 22 March, 1948), soon began a ministry as a chaplain among victims of leprosy (16) at the Ankaful Leprosarium (17) --a state run leprosy hospital located near the village of Ankaful (for a map of the area, see Appendix A). What began as a ministry to leprosy patients at the Ankaful Leprosarium soon included an outreach to the unfortunate residents of the nearby Ankaful leprosy camp (a settlement located away from the leprosarium and just outside of the village of Ankaful). It was because of Brother Vincent's initial work with these people, the unfortunate victims of a misunderstood disease, that an energetic ministry to people with leprosy was founded within the Archdiocese of Cape Coast. Eventually, this ministry included the efforts of additional friars, including Ghanaians who had been received into the Order.
Brother Vincent's Early Accomplishments
The work that Brother Vincent did with victims of leprosy between 1977 and 1982 was aggressive and highly productive. During those years he established an infirmary, a children's home, a day nursery, a sewing school, a farming unit and various outreach programs. In 1980, Brother Vincent founded Ahotokurom, a small service oriented "village" located in a rural area and about nine kilometres away from Ankaful (see map, Appendix A). Many of the endeavors that Brother Vincent had begun at the Ankaful leprosy camp, were gradually moved to the Ahotokurom location.
Key Locations of Ministerial Activity
Ankaful
Ankaful, a small village with a population of about one thousand is located a few kilometres from historic Elmina (see map, Appendix A). In the immediate vicinity of Ankaful there is a contagious disease prison, a minimum security prison, a psychiatric hospital, a leprosarium and a leprosy camp. In the village, a typical family dwelling is a one-room, mud brick (18) and tin roof house with no electricity or plumbing. There are three public standpipes (i.e., spigots) where for a small fee, villagers can draw "city water" (which is piped from Cape Coast). By materialistic Western standards, the poverty of Ankaful is tremendous, however the standard of living there is typical for Ghana (and for West Africa in general).
Located in the midst of the Muslim community of Ankaful is a small compound centered around a friary (19) known as "Kolbe House." (20) The friary, which houses Conventual Franciscan Friars, has four bedrooms, a community room, a dining room, a kitchen, a washroom and a small inner courtyard; adjacent to the friary is a chapel, a guesthouse and two small storage buildings. The buildings situated within this compound were constructed with sturdy concrete blocks and have electricity and indoor plumbing.
The Ankaful Leprosy Camp
The Ankaful leprosy camp, home to approximately two hundred people, is located a short distance outside of Ankaful Village. The leprosy camp is on government property near the leprosarium but is not actually sponsored by the government. Those who reside in the leprosy camp are former patients (and their families) of the leprosarium. Many of these former leprosy patients have suffered the advanced stages of the disease and are now disabled and/or disfigured. For various reasons these people are not able to return to their own villages. These reasons include the following: the great amount of time that these people have been away from their home-villages, the prohibitive expense of travelling and the age-old superstitions about the disease of leprosy. The leprosy camp, which likely resembles isolation settlements typical in ancient times, is a highly impoverished place. Although there is a standpipe providing water for the residents, there are no permanent structures in the leprosy camp. Most of the houses in the leprosy camp have been constructed according to the most primitive methods. The leprosy camp is a pitiful place, not unlike a refugee camp, where human beings have been reduced to living in the most despicable squalor.
Ahotokurom
In 1980, Brother Vincent desired to remove some of his programs from the Ankaful leprosy camp to a different location. The leprosy camp is congested and affords limited space for the construction of new buildings. It was also feared that, because the camp is on government property, any housing facilities built with plumbing and electricity might later be seized by the government (and consequently, the people forced out). Brother Vincent also hoped to move to a site that would not be seen by the former leprosy patients as an extension of the leprosarium.
After some searching, land was acquired and a service oriented "village" was established. The name given to this village was Ahotokurom which means "serenity village". Ahotokurom, located between the villages of Koful and Attrankwa (see map, Appendix A), is situated on two neighboring tracts of land which together equal thirty acres. The village was established on "stool land" (21) which technically belongs to the chief of the village of Attrankwa. Ahotokurom is the site of a children's home, a day nursery, a nursing home, a farming project, a corn mill, various workshops, and a number of houses--including a spacious convent which houses the Daughters of Mary and Joseph. All of the buildings constructed at Ahotokurom were built with concrete block and have electricity and indoor plumbing. Ahotokurom is an important center of the leprosy rehabilitation efforts of the friars, sisters and their co-workers.
The Daughters of Mary and Joseph
Early in his ministry to victims of leprosy, Brother Vincent desired the assistance of women religious. Brother Vincent believed that women religious could serve as additional spiritual role models for the people within the programs he had founded. The children, he believed, would especially benefit from the "mother image" that such women could provide. In 1980, Brother Vincent officially petitioned the General Chapter of the Daughters of Mary and Joseph (DMJ) to allow interested sisters to come to Ghana. Because of Brother Vincent's request, the first of the DMJ's (22) came from England to work with him in 1982.
The Franciscan Community Services
Brother Vincent founded a ministry which today is called the "Franciscan Community Services" (hereafter, "the FCS"). The FCS is the umbrella organization of various ministerial activities of the Conventual Franciscn Friars, the Daughters of Mary and Joseph and their co-workers. The FCS reaches out to countless peoples in many villages of southern Ghana and its objectives are varied. However, it is fundamentally concerned with ministry to victims of leprosy, to their families, and to the people of the villages surrounding Ankaful. In its service to the community, the FCS does not discriminate against those who are not Roman Catholic. Like other missionary endeavors throughout the world, this ministry, founded by Brother Vincent, has been aided by charitable organizations. This ministry is acutely dependent on foreign aid for its continued success. (23)
The ministries of the FCS includes the following: (A) spiritual guidance for the village of Ankaful, the Ankaful leprosy camp, the village of Ahotokurom, the leprosarium and two prisons; (B) the endeavors of the Padre Pio Rehabilitation Centre (also know as "the project") which include St. Clare's Home for elderly leprosy patients, St. Joseph's Children's Home, St. Elizabeth's Day Care Centre, Pio Clothiers, the Leprosy Camp Welfare Program (including an infirmary and various social services), the Ongoing Education Program, the Corn Mills in Ankaful and Ahotokurom and the St. Francis Animal Husbandry and Crop Farms, and (C) outreach and development efforts based at the community centre in Ankaful.
Spiritual Guidance
In offering spiritual guidance for the village of Ankaful, the Ankaful leprosy camp, the village of Ahotokurom, the leprosy hospital and the two prisons, the friars and sisters give a visible witness of their faith to those to whom they minister. It is hoped that the people will see Christian faith as the center and driving force of all of their activities. These efforts include the celebration of Masses (when possible), communion services, scripture studies, pastoral counseling, prayer groups, general spiritual leadership and "presence" to these communities.
The Padre Pio Rehabilitation Centre
As one component of the FCS, the many ventures of the Padre Pio Rehabilitation Centre (i.e., the project) are far-reaching. The project is fundamentally geared toward service to people who have suffered the effects of the terrible disease of leprosy. In a report written for the 1988 Provincial Chapter of St. Anthony of Padua Province, Brother Vincent described the objectives of the project as follows:
"The primary purpose of the project is to prepare former leprosy patients and their dependents to feel accepted by their families and to be absorbed into the normal society without being regarded as marginalized." (24)
The endeavors of the project are described below.
St. Clare's Home
The St. Clare's Home for the disabled elderly was established at Ahotokurom in 1987. St. Clare's was founded as a service to those victims of leprosy who are disabled and destitute. A person will not be accepted into the program at St. Clare's if care can be provided by the person's family. Many of the patients at St. Clare's have come directly from the leprosy camp or from the leprosarium. While not all of the patients suffer from leprosy, the home is operated primarily for such victims. Between June and August of 1991 there were twenty residents of St. Clare's home.
St. Joseph's Children's Home
St. Joseph's Children's Home (also known as "the child care centre"), began as a venture within the leprosy camp in 1980. The present children's home was constructed at Ahotokurom in 1982. The children's home can house as many as twenty residents (ages birth-15) and cares for young people who are physically or emotionally handicapped, children of disabled leprosy patients or children who are victims of leprosy themselves. Often, the young people who are placed in the children's home have no where else to go--they have been abandoned by their families or have no one who is able to properly care for them. Under some circumstances, children are accepted into the program at St. Joseph's on a short-term basis. Between June and August of 1991 there were eighteen residents of the St. Joseph's home.
St. Elizabeth's Day Nursery
St. Elizabeth's Day Care Centre (also known as "the day nursery"), began as a venture within the leprosy camp in 1980. Since 1982 it has been located at Ahotokurom. The present day nursery building, built in 1984, is the largest building at Ahotokurom. The day nursery serves as a pre-school for children, ages three to five, from at least five neighboring villages. The day nursery is in recess during most of the time between June and August but annually serves nearly two hundred children.
Pio Clothiers
Pio Clothiers (also known as "the Dress Making Centre" or "the DMC") was founded in 1981 as a sewing school for young women from Ankaful and the leprosy camp. (25) Today the school continues to operate in Ankaful and has an enrollment of seventy-eight. The highly successful school, which serves students from at least twenty villages, offers training in sewing and other basic skills (such as English, basic business math and religious education). Those who enroll in the program at the Dress Making Centre are expected to pay a fee of two thousand cedis per term. (26) An important goal of the Dress Making Centre is that of offering its students expertise in this practical trade. The Dress Making Centre is an accredited school which awards certification to graduates of its three year program. Upon graduation, each graduate is given his or her own sewing machine. It is hoped that the graduates of the Dress Making Centre will become productive members of society as well as share their sewing knowledge with people in their own villages.
The Leprosy Camp Welfare Program
The Leprosy Camp Welfare Program is an effort of direct service to the residents of the leprosy camp. In 1980 an infirmary (27) was established in the leprosy camp to serve those who could not care for themselves. The infirmary (which includes "the dressing station," a kitchen, and a number of small houses), was initially begun to care for the sick. The infirmary also provides a means by which the residents are taught proper hygiene and sanitation methods.
The dressing station, a small pavilion-like structure, is the infirmary's first aid station. The dressing station serves all the residents of the leprosy camp without distinction. Each morning, those leprosy patients who have suffered some kind of "breakdown" (28) come to have their wounds dressed and their bandages changed.
The residents of the leprosy camp are also served by various social welfare ministries of the friars and sisters. This includes efforts to pay rents and school fees, construct homes, provide food and material supplies, encourage social and religious activities, provide activities for the youth and countless other services.
The Ongoing Education Program
The Ongoing Education Program is the successor of a housing program for young men (ages 14-21) that had been operated at Kolbe House between 1984 and 1987. Although the young men are no longer housed at Kolbe House, school fees and material needs continue to be provided for those who had lived there. (29) Housing has been found for these former residents in Ankaful Village and a kitchen has been constructed for their use. Many of these young men have been hired as employees of the leprosy project, but the long range goal is to help them to become self-sufficient individuals and productive members of the community.
The Corn Mills
The project sponsors the Eburow Mills at Ankaful and the St. Mark's Corn Mills at Ahotokurom. For a small fee, these mills grind corn and cassava and crush palm nuts for people of the nearby villages and the Ankaful Leprosarium. Because corn, cassava and palm nuts are staple food items in every Ghanaian home, the mills provide a great service to the local populations.
The St. Francis Animal Husbandry and Crop Farms
The St. Francis Animal Husbandry and Crop Farms in Ahotokurom aims to provide food for the various kitchens of the project. (30) When it was founded in 1980 it was hoped that it would provide practical training in modern farming techniques, however this venture has not been as successful as other endeavors of the project. The St. Francis Animal Husbandry and Crop Farms continues to experiment with various farming strategies with the goal of becoming a more successful and productive aspect of the project.
Outreach and Development Efforts of the Community Centre at Ankaful
The community centre at Ankaful and all of its related programs aims to serve the people of Ankaful and the leprosy camp. The community centre includes shops for tailoring, shoemaking, carpentry and weaving, a library, a first-aid station, a chapel, a stage and pavilion for community events and an open park-like area for the enjoyment of the people of the village.
The community centre was created in 1986 at a time when there were great tensions between the residents of Ankaful and the residents of the leprosy camp. When Nana Obora Asankumah III, became the chief of Ankaful in September of 1986, he proclaimed that all leprosy patients had to leave the village and the leprosy camp (which was considered to be part of Ankaful). Nana Asankumah and others believed that the presence of leprosy patients posed a health threat to the village.
Brother Vincent, recognizing that this situation represented a conflict between age-old superstitions about leprosy and modern scientific wisdom about the disease, found himself in the middle of the controversy. He believed that, as followers of St. Francis, the friars were obligated to take a stand; as a result, a decision was made to establish in Ankaful the community centre as well as a friary. (31)
It has always been a basic goal of the community centre to bring together the people of the village with the people of the leprosy camp in a peaceful and Christian environment. Eventually, because of the work of the friars, and because the attitude of Nana Asankumah changed, the tensions between the villagers and the leprosy patients ceased. The endeavors of the community centre have been very successful.
FOOTNOTES:
(1) "The first incontrovertible evidence of European presence in Ghana dates from January 1471. In that year two captains working for the Lisbon merchant Fernao Gomes landed at Shama on the coast. . ." Lamin Sanneh, West African Christianity: The Religious Impact (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1983) 21.
(2) For an overview of these early unsuccessful missionary ventures see Sanneh, West African Christianity 20-34.
(3) Peter K. Sarpong, Evangelization in the Year 2000: First Marshall-Moreau-Murat Memorial Lectures (Accra: The Noble Order of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall, 2-5 May, 1989) 7.
(4) The earliest Protestant mission ventures in the Gold Coast were made by the Swiss based Evangelical Missionary Society of Basel (1828) and by the British based Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (1835). For an overview of these Protestant missionary efforts see Peter B. Clarke, West Africa and Christianity (London: Edward Arnold, 1986) 41-43, 57-60.
(5) The Societas Missionum ad Afros (SMA) was founded by Bishop Melchior de Marion-Bresillac (1813-1859) at Lyons, France on 8 December, 1856.
(6) Ralph M. Wiltgen, Gold Coast Mission History 1471-1880 (Techny, Illinois: Divine Word Publications, 1956) 142.
(7) F.M. Bourret, Ghana, the Road to Independence: 1919-1957 (Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1960) 19.
(8) Ibid, 19.
(9) Cape Coast, a coastal town located approximately ten kilometres to the east of historic Elmina, was the colonial headquarters of the British from 1664 until 1877. Today, Cape Coast is the government seat of Ghana's Central Region (a "Region" is a juridical area similar to a "State" in the U.S.).
(10) Helen Pfann, A Short History of the Catholic Church in Ghana (Cape Coast, Ghana: Catholic Mission Press, 1965) 45-46.
(11) In 1990 there were 1,795,000 Roman Catholics in a population of 14,700,000 (i.e., 12.2% of the total population). See Felician A. Foy, ed. 1990 Catholic Almanac (Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 1990) 344.
(12) Ibid, 344.
(13) The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv.), also known as "Conventual Franciscans," was founded by St. Francis of Assisi in 1209 and established as a distinct branch of the Franciscan First Order in 1517. Today there are over four thousand Conventual Franciscans throughout the world.
(14) At the same time, Italian members of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual established a mission presence in the neighboring Diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi.
(15) Roger Haas, A History of the American Province of Saint Anthony of Padua of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, 1906-1982 (Baltimore, Maryland: St. Anthony of Padua Province, 1984) 179.
(16) "Victims of leprosy" are those who have suffered from the disease. Although the disease is curable, many people do not get treatment and consequently suffer the terrible effects of the disease--such as loss of feeling, disfigurement, recurring topical ulcers, loss of bodily appendages, blindness and a host of other maladies. Although those suffering the visible effects of advanced leprosy may later receive treatment and be cured of the bacteria, they are typically still presumed by most people to have leprosy. Most of the people associated with Brother Vincent's ministry no longer have the disease, but because of cultural prejudices continue to be classified as "lepers," "leprosy patients," or "former leprosy patients."
(17) The Ankaful Leprosarium was built in the early 1950s with funds provided by the Italian government. When it first opened, the leprosarium was known throughout West Africa as an important center for leprosy treatment. When Brother Vincent arrived in 1977, the leprosarium was overcrowded and had fallen into disrepair. Although the leprosarium continued to treat people with the disease, many leprosy patients who were no longer receiving critical care, and who for various reasons did not return to their home villages, continued to occupy its wards. Today, particularly through the efforts of the International Anti-leprosy Organization, the leprosarium is once again a exemplary center for leprosy treatment.
(18) These sun-dried bricks are a common building material used throughout much of West Africa. Typically, a mud brick house is thinly coated with a cement-like substance to protect it from adverse weather conditions.
(19) A friary is a residence for members of a mendicant order (i.e., Franciscan, Dominican, Carmelite or Augustinian). The friary in Ankaful is the home of Brother Vincent and has housed as many as three other Conventual Franciscan Friars. This friary, which has been placed under the patronage of St. Maximilian Kolbe, is actually a "filial house" juridically attached to Our Lady of the Angels Portiuncula Friary located at "The Fourth Ridge" near Cape Coast (see map, Appendix A). The friary in Ankaful was officially blessed on 1 July, 1987.
(20) Kolbe House, was originally built in 1984 as a shelter for young men (age 14-21) from the Ankaful leprosy camp. This particular housing program ceased operating in 1987.
(21) "Stool land" belongs to the family of a particular chief (i.e., it is under the authority of the stool or seat of that chief). Stool land cannot actually be sold. A ninety-nine-year renewable lease for thirty acres of land at Ahotokurom was contracted 1980. The lease, registered under the name of the Archdiocese of Cape Coast, was arranged at a cost of two-thousand U.S. dollars.
(22) The Daughters of Mary and Joseph (also known as the "Ladies of Mary") are an international Roman Catholic congregation of sisters founded in Belgium in 1817 (by Constant G. Van Crombrugghe). Their 1980 General Chapter met in Rome. Since 1982 five sisters have, at various times, been involved in the FCS. They are: Srs. Kate Creeden, Inez Baryankanka, Pat Pearson, Monica Smyth and Susan Cugan.
(23) The Franciscan Community Services has been the beneficiary of aid from the following foreign organizations: American--Catholic Medical Mission Bureau, CODEL, Catholic Relief Services, Franciscan Mission Association (Granby, Massachusetts), Friends of Leprosy Patients, Hackett Foundation, Heifer Project International, J. Homer Butler Foundation, U.S.A.I.D., The United Presbyterian Church, and World Mercy Fund; British--Little Way; Canadian--Institut Fame Pereo; Dutch--Bisschoppelijke Vastenaktie Nederland, Holland Veghel, Stichting Help Ghana, Stichting Kinderpostzegels Nederland, Stichting Lilliane Funds and Tilapia International Foundation; Irish--Marie Raleigh Leper Fund and Tullamore Leper Appeal Fund and Italian--Amici di Lebbrosi. Countless individuals have also donated funds. This information provided by
Fr. Placid Kaczorek, OFM Conv., director of the Franciscan Mission Association, Granby, Massachusetts, 01033 (on 6 January, 1992).
(24) Brother Vincent Vivian, "Report to the 1988 Provincial Chapter of the St. Anthony of Padua Province, USA," 8 March 1988, St. Anthony of Padua Provincial Archives, Ellicott City, Maryland. In the United States, we might call the goal that Brother Vincent expresses "mainstreaming" of people who are handicapped.
(25) In 1988 the Dress Making Centre became a coeducational school. However, the male population has remained relatively low--in 1991 there were only two male students.
(26) The cedi is the official monetary unit of Ghana. In June of 1991 two thousand cedis was roughly equivalent to five U.S. dollars. The Dress Making Centre has three terms during one calendar year.
(27) This "infirmary" is not an in-care facility located on a specific site. The "infirmary" is roughly equivalent to an American style "hospice" or "home health care" program.
(28) "Breakdown" occurs on these people when they get some sort of wound on their body but do not, or are unable to, get suitable treatment. Breakdown is common among people who have suffered the effects of leprosy for many years and who are without constant and proper medical attention. It is important to note that breakdown is not evidence of self neglect--the lack of proper medical attention is not always the fault of the leprosy patient.
(29) About the program, Brother Vincent noted that "I think [the present program] gives the students a better preparation for their future independence to be living in separate rooms instead of one larger house, which could be more institutional" (in a letter to the author, dated 14 January, 1992).
(30) The project sponsors kitchens at St. Clare's home, the Children's home, the camp infirmary and one located in Ankaful Village associated with the Ongoing Education Program.
(31) Concerning the establishment of the friary in Ankaful, Brother Vincent wrote: "If we as Franciscans were to do something about this (i.e., the tensions between the villagers and the leprosy patients), then we had to go and live there" (in a letter to the author, dated 14 January, 1992).
-- Today, the friary (i.e., Kolbe House) serves as a beacon within the community centre and provides the heartbeat for many of its activities. Although located within the vicinity of the Muslim community (the friary is situated next to a mosque), there are friendly relations between the Christians, Muslims and those who follow traditional African religions.
