Fr. Albert’s News

July 2015: Report from Wembo Nyama

Wembo Nyama is a Congolese village in the Catholic Diocese of Tshumbe.  It is the village where Father Albert Shuyaka was ordained on July 17, 2011.  Father Albert is now back in the USA, studying at the Catholic University of America.  But in July of 2015 he received some news from Wembo Nyama.

Thanks to a donation from some of Father Albert’s American friends, about 110 women in Wembo Nyama received a gift.  The gift was a six-yard bolt of cloth, each worth about $25.00.  Such cloth is not easily available in the African interior, because it must be transported from the factory in Kinshasa.  Air transportation is prohibitively expensive, but the Diocese of Tshumbe (which encompasses Wembo Nyama) was able to bring the cloth to the interior and distribute it free of charge.

A recent video shows Father Michel, the pastor of St. Louis of Gonzaga Church, speaking to the women of the parish.  He calls them one by one to receive the bolt of cloth.  One older woman, Mama Ashinba, can barely walk.  The priest’s assistant brings the bolt of cloth to her.  The pastor expresses his gratitude to those who made the gift possible and promises the prayers of the community.  Father Michel not only distributed the cloth to the women of St. Louis Church, but also to the women of the local Methodist Church as well (4456).

Five kilometers from Wembo Nyama is Dikungu, another rural village.  Dikungu has a hospital for people with Hodgkins Disease (leprosy).  The hospital is staffed by a congregation of Catholic nuns.  Father Albert’s aunt, Sister Helene, belongs to the order.  In another video, the nuns distribute bolts of cloth to eight women who visited the hospital for care.  Other patients were not able to come to the distribution, said Father Albert, so the nuns brought the cloth to them.

Father Albert and his American friends made donations during Lent, the season just before Easter.  The photos and videos show what their generosity made possible.

 

Father Albert Shuyaka
1200 Varnum Street N.E.
Washington, DC  20017-2740

 

If you want to assist the Father Albert’s Congo ministry, please, send your donation to “Tshumbe Relief Fund” (tax deductible) with a special note “Father Albert’s ministry” at the following address:

Kelly Bartmann
Diocese of Sioux Falls
523 North Duluth Ave
Sioux Falls, SD 57104-2714

For previous stories from Father Albert, click on the links below:

• January 2013
• June 2012
• March 2012
• December 2011
• November 2011
• October 2011
• September 2011
• August 2011

Friends who want to help Father Albert can send a check to the Catholic Foundation of Eastern South Dakota.  Please indicate “Father Albert’s Congo ministry.”