Dear friends,

Today was another beautiful day.

It started with Mass in the city of Nnewi. While driving there, it was beautiful to see people going to Mass on Sunday. Obviously, it is unfortunately the NO Mass, but what was beautiful was to see people all dressed up for Sunday Mass in their African attire : beautiful dresses for women and multicolore suits for men. People walking in the streets towards a church, or on their scooters in their Sunday attire. Churches filled with people. A day of celebration everywhere.

It is more difficult for people here to see the damage of the Novus Ordo, because there is still Faith in many people. Father tells me that it is fading away. He was pointing at shops that were opened and said that this would have never existed ten years ago. He said also that there is a trend starting among young men who team up to not go to Mass on Sunday. In the meantime, this sight was beautiful to behold. What was the most surprising is that people were walking toward church in very muddy streets (it is rain season), with cars everywhere splashing mud, while having their clothes perfectly clean. They have developed skills to remain clean in such messy roads.

Driving in Nigeria is quite something. I am not a very nervous person. But I am sure many Canadians would be scared to death if they had to sit besides Father Mbadugha driving. Father drives very well, but here is the thing : there are giant holes everywhere in the streets, especially in the countryside. It is almost impossible to describe the chaos on the streets. But to give you an idea, it is not rare to have cars coming in the opposite direction on the highway. Nobody seems surprised. Everyone manages to move away from these cars even if sometimes it demands forming a third lane. Once in a while you find yourself behind a truck producing a massive amount of blue smoke. Or you see a truck stopped in the middle of the highway. A guy is under the truck, fixing something, with his feet sticking out. Another truck is moving ahead of you, transporting gravel, and it looses its load progressively. You wonder if there will be anything left when it reaches its destination. Today, there were slow moving trucks on the highway. Cars would pass them on both sides at the same time, while another truck was coming in the wrong direction on the highway. I told Father : many Canadians would have had a heart attack at this sight. There are scooters and minuscule cabs with only one wheel at the front everywhere. These scooters are sometimes loaded with 4 people, children standing on the scooter between their father and the wheel. The cabs are filled with people and some are standing outside the cab on the highway. People honk their horn all the time. This is their way to indicate their presence when they want to pass and in this universal chaos, there is some order that I am starting to pick up. In a one hour drive, I think that Father honks his horn at least two hundred times… And then he breaks suddenly. There is a giant hole. We go down very slowly and up again. He then pushes the gaz and after 30 seconds, we are back to 80kms/hour. He seems to know all the holes by heart. I have not seen a single accident yet and we have driven quite a bit. Something to admire, but not to imitate.

Regularly, we see men in military uniforms with shotguns in their hands. They stop the vehicles and speak to the drivers. When we arrive, they see our roman collar and either give us a sign to go ahead or even give us the military salute. Father says that they are asking tips to the drivers for their drinking, arguing that they are protecting the population. They seem quite good people besides this. Father says that there is not much criminal activity in this area of Nigeria. Everyone seems to be Christian, with rosaries on their mirrors, or mottos painted on their cars : Jesus saves / With God everything is possible, and so on.

We have had Confirmations in this Mass center of Nnewi. There were probably 80 people in attendance and about 50 received Confirmation. They picked beautiful names : Immaculata, Beata, Urbanus are some I remember. They then served the meal. They are quite impressive in that they don’t use tables very much. African women have an incredible ability to bend over and work on the ground while standing up straight on their legs. When it is time to wipe the floor, they use some sort of broom that has no handle and is made of hay. They bend over and wipe the floor perfectly. Our western women who practice yoga every day would be put to shame as far as ability to stretch is concerned. My legs hurt just at looking at them.

I bade farewell to the community today. This time I was the one who had to keep my tears. Nigerians are people you get attached to very easily. They are simple, poor and very pious. Sister told me that she would not be at peace until I am home again in Canada and that she would pray daily for a safe journey.

We are at the house of the parents of Father in Enugu. A beautiful house built by their son who is in the USA… It must be a common thing here. We are spending the night here. Beautiful place, but still no hot water here. I have not seen hot water since I arrived in Nigeria. This is a bit mortifying, especially when it is time to wash… It is tomorrow morning that we will fly to Abuja. We will spend the night again in a guest house of a NO religious order in the city of Jos.

That is it for today. Everyday is loaded with a lot of adventures… The Faith is alive in Father’s congregations. But what a different world!

God bless you!

Mgr Roy