Nairobi, Kenya
Now about the OWWWA which we will hold in Kenya. The Kenyan, Fr. Henry Opondo O.S.A., is directing the OWWWA here in our philosophy house in Southlands, Nairobi.
I will quote what he has told me:
"Our seminarians (see photo above) will finish their philosophy exams this Friday, 9th May 2008 and go on an annual holiday on Monday next.
So we have to schedule everything regarding the OWWWA a week early.
Already a talk and feedback was held with them last week. But the major parts of the celebration are scheduled for the rest of this week.
This evening (Wednesday, 7th May), tomorrow and Friday we will have a triduum, preparing ourselves for the celebration, which will climax on Saturday 10th May.
Each evening there will be relevant talks and reflections on 'Augustine and Friendship' giving concrete examples to our own situation and that of the current world, within the context of a Holy Hour.
Today we will buy a goat, which we hope to fatten over the next days. Also we hope to get some T Shirts printed with the Augustinian logo and Augustinian Friendship day printed on the front of them.
Saturday we will celebrate in a Kenyan and African way. The focus will be on the meaning and why we are celebrating. As a background, we realise that we come from various parts of the world, having different dialects and languages but the key Augustinian bond holding us together is to be of 'One mind and heart, intent upon God.'
On Saturday we will invite ten other young men to join us for the day. They are undergoing an O.S.A. orientation course in vocation discernment elsewhere and will arrive here to join us for the Eucharist at 7.30 a.m. This will be celebrated in Swahili language and will involve various African aspects of inculturation.
Later we will have the sacrificial killing of the goat, by some students who are adept at it.
By 11 a.m. we will have our Friendship football tournament. We have a small football field adjoining us and we will form four teams of seven or eight per team. Each team will play the other with some prize for the winning team.
By 4 p.m. we will have a quiz on Augustine and Friendship (we are working out the questions at present and will send you the questions - and answers – in the next day, if somebody else might like to use them). We hope they will be pertinent and relevant.
By 6 p.m. we will have evening prayer, which will be very Augustinian in its content. Immediately after that will begin the roasting of the meat (nyama choma).
By 7.30 we shall share that and eat ugali (made from maize flour), chapati (a bit like a pancake), kachumbari (mixture of onions tomatoes and green pepper) and sukuma wiki (spinach) as we enjoy the outdoor night breeze.
There will be bit of singing and dancing (Lingala music from Congo will be the background).
After that, by about 9 p.m., we have night prayer.
We hope to be able to get some photos of the occasion and send them by e-mail.'” (See the Augnet photo gallery on One World Week with Augustine: click here.)
Francis Aherne O.S.A.
A Quiz on Augustine
For a quiz on Augustine produced for the OWWWA group of Augustinian postulants at Southlands, Nairobi, Kenya, click here.
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