Two Big Celebrations on the Same Day!
On Saturday, December 14, 2024, we had the Christmas party for SAMS, Kitiwum. Since the school is closed for the Christmas break on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, we decided we should celebrate Christmas or have the feel of Christmas as a SAMS Community before dispersing to our various destinations to meet family members. The other event was finishing the New Saint Martin de Porres Catholic Church roofing in Nkanchi village at 2:00 p.m. How would I be present for these celebrations on the same day and at different locations so far apart? The Lord gave me the energy to begin the Holy mass for the Christmas party and leave for Nkanchi village after I had delivered the homily.
We began the Holy Mass earlier than scheduled to enable me to attend the other event in Nkanchi…
Update on the New Saint Martin de Porres Church in Nkanchi
I lack the adequate vocabulary to report on the progress made on the New Saint Martin de Porres Catholic Church in Nkanchi village. The schedule shows that the roofing will be completed by next week. The carpenters are doing a marvelous job. Looking at how far we have gone, I can only render my immense and sincere gratitude to you and ask God to give you your heart’s desires, especially at Christmas.
After the roofing, a lot will still need to be done: the ceiling, the plastering, the painting, the pews, the windows, the doors, the surroundings, the acquisition of different statues, and the church bell. We will still need about $150,000 to complete the work on the Church.
The Challenges We Face with Tuition and Fees
A critical goal for KumboKids and the Community is to help children have equal access to education. The upsurge of the Cameroon Anglophone socio-political crisis has put many things at bay, but children's education has suffered the most tremendous blow since the rebels stopped public schools from operating in Anglophone Cameroon. We are thankful that the Catholic Church, through the help of the bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda, succeeded, through serious negotiations, in keeping Catholic schools functioning, although under serious difficulties of insecurity, lack of freedom of movement, kidnapping and asking for ransom, roadblocks, and killings. We are thankful to God that we can keep our schools running amidst these mishaps. Thus, due to the hardships brought by the crisis, many students cannot afford basic school needs like pens, pencils, rulers, and notebooks and cannot pay tuition and fees.
New Bedside Cupboards at SAMS, Kitiwum
This past year we made some improvements to help the students. I reported earlier this year that we refurbished the chairs on campus. I discovered that some iron and plywood chairs had been abandoned in one part of Fr. Wankuy’s Hostel for years. The phrase “Old-New” expresses the fact that the old chairs that were abandoned have now become new chairs.
The students carried chairs around when they moved from one activity to another. On Saturday evenings, they would bring their classroom chairs to the hall during recreation. This frequent carrying of chairs around led to the destruction of some of the chairs. Thus, I decided to fix the abandoned chairs. Initially, their seat covers were made of plywood. When the plywood got terrible, the chairs were packed and kept in one of the dormitories. I looked for a welder, and work began on August 3, 2023…
A Joyous Night Time Welcome of the Zinc Roofing Materials in Nkanchi Village
When I was growing up in the 1970s and early 1980s, it was rare to see a bishop—the then bishop of Bamenda who became the Archbishop of Bamenda, Mgr. Paul Verdzekov (RIP) used to come on a pastoral visit to Nkanchi once in three years. The type of huge, joyful welcome accorded the bishop was what I saw on Thursday, November 21, 2024, when the corrugated sheets (the “zinc”) for the roofing of the New Saint Martin de Porres Catholic Church, Nkanchi, were brought. Immediately, once they heard the truck; men, women, young boys and girls, and children came out in great numbers to celebrate in song and dance, prayers and meditation, the arrival of the material that would give a complete roof over the new church…
Remembering Nuh Desmond as We Celebrate The Solemnity of All Saints
In the Diocese of Kumbo and SAMS, the celebration of the Solemnity of All Saints begins on the eve, that is, on October 31. However, when this Solemnity occurs on a Weekday, it is transferred to the Sunday closer to November 1. This year, the bishop wrote a letter postponing the Solemnity to Sunday, November 3, 2024, and the closer Sunday to Friday, November 1, 2024. This transfer enables many people to join in the celebration and give a prominent place to the saints who intercede for us day and night…
The Kick-off of the Rector’s Cup Competition at SAMS, Kitiwum
The Rector’s Cup (also known as the Marguerite Bourgeoys’ Competition) for the 2024/2025 academic year here at SAMS, Kitiwum began on Sunday, October 20, 2024. The sports master, Rev. Fr. Keman Desmus, divided the students and teachers into five teams, each given a name from the European Champion League: FC Barcelona (Spiritual Director’s team), FC Dortmund, Manchester City (Rev. Ronald’s team), Real Madrid (Fr. Mbinkar’s team), and FC Bayern Munich…
The Passing of a Great Priest and Friend: Fr. James (Jim) Manning
In October 2018, one of my University of Dayton teachers, Dr. Gloria Dodd, connected me with Fr. James Manning, the then Pastor of Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish in Springboro, Ohio. Fr. Jim became not just a mentor to me but a great priest friend with a kind and generous heart. One of the reasons for the success of KumboKids and Community is Fr. Jim and his generous Parishioners. In addition to helping me, he encouraged his parishioners to reach out to me. Fr. Jim had the...
Update on Saint Martin de Porres Catholic Church
Amidst the commotion following the announcement by the rebels about a two-week lockdown beginning from September 9 to September 23, 2024, I rushed to Nkanchi on Friday, September 6, 2024, to see the progress on the Church and to greet my family and the rest of the people before returning to the school in Kitiwum for lockdown. The carpenters have finished working on the rafters and are working on reinforcing the rafters with the irons. They were also working on the fascia...
Saint Aloysius’ Minor Seminary: School News and Notes
On Thursday, August 29, 2024, the school reopened for the academic Year 2024/2025. On this first day, we recorded 150 students on campus - the highest number of students ever to turn out on day one of reopening since 2021. To prepare adequately for the academic year, they began with the annual retreat on Sunday, September 1, 2024. The retreat is to help them channel their joys and sorrows to God and ask for his guidance and protection, especially during this time of conflict in west Cameroon...
Refurbished Chairs for the Campus of SAMS, Kitiwum
Since last school year, we began fixing the iron chairs that were packed in one room. We saw that fixing them will enable us to distribute enough chairs to various places: the classrooms, the refectory, the library, the computer laboratory, the science laboratory, and the library hall where the students recreate. Instead of moving chairs around every now and then, there will be no need for that and the chairs can last longer. Last week the workers completed many of the chairs in anticipation of the new school year...
Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Dear friends, today we celebrate the Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This memorial was first instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1954. The Catholic Church teaches that “as Christ is King of the world and saves the people from their sins, Mary is queen over the earth because of her role in the story of divine redemption, serving as mother to the Savior.” The fifth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary speaks of the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This means that Mary is crowned Queen of heaven and earth...
A Big Thank You!
Dear friends,
I have been in the United States for a visit and I'm about to go back home to Cameroon. I am overwhelmed with the outpouring of hospitality, love, and generosity from all of you. Your faith is put into practice as an amazing witness to Christ and his Church.
Therefore, I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been helping me push forward the mission of KumboKids and Community. I thank of all my supporters from Maryland, the Cameroonian communities in Burtonsville, MD, Virginia, and Baltimore, the Laue family…
Roofing Construction Begins on the New Church in Nkanchi
Construction on the new Saint Martin De Porres Church in Nkanchi Village has begun! We began the work toward the roofing of the Church by, first, getting a carpenter to estimate the cost. We hired Mr. Yufenyuy Bertrand Setinyuy to be the main carpenter. We then bought trees in the forest and paid a sawyer to saw the planks into varied sizes as indicated by him. We bought poles to use for the scaffolding and on June 24, 2024, the scaffolding work began…
A Facebook Account for KumboKids and Community
Dear friends, for those of you who are already supporting KumboKids and Community, you already know my story. I am Diocesan priest for the Diocese of Kumbo, in Cameroon, Central West Africa. Read my story here: https://www.kumbokids.org/my-story.
My humble beginnings, the difficulties I went through trying to get an education, and the fact that God, through many people, helped me to become …
Scaffolding is up for the New Church in Nkanchi
Dear friends, the scaffolding is up at the new Saint Martin de Porres Church in Nkanchi Village! After the completion of the church building to the roof level, it took us a while to furnish the supply of the wood needed for the roofing. The rainy season was intense, making transporting materials impossible. And the rebels blocked the roads and forbade movement and circulation of vehicles for over three months…
Some Obstacles in Continuing with the Nkanchi Church Project
Dear friends of KumboKids and Community,
On June 17, 2023, I did a PowerPoint Presentation at Saint Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, Springboro, Ohio. I was glad to show the pictures of the new Saint Martin de Porres Catholic Church building that was almost getting to the roof level. By October 23, 2023, the building was completed to the roof level. We started sawing planks on November 10, 2023…
Thank You for the Spaghetti Dinner!
Dear Dave and Ann, dear friends,
Thank you for the annual spaghetti dinner to raise funds for KumboKids and Community. I have often wondered why we are being given this high-class treatment. All I can say is that God’s faithful people have a missionary spirit to touch lives across the ocean in answer to the question: “Who is my neighbor?” (Lk. 10:29-37). Dave and Ann, thank you for your initiative and generosity in organizing this annual event for KumboKids and Community. We render immense thank you to all of you…
Happy New Year 2024!
Dear friends,
We thank God for all that happened in 2023. There were good and bad moments, but despite all this, God let us through to another year 2024. On June 30, 2023, I lost my dad, and I know many of you also lost your loved ones. Those were moments of sadness, grief, and sorrow. Still, those moments were turned into joy as the Scripture says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy…
Wood planks for the Nkanchi Village church
Dear Friends,
On Monday, October 23, 2023, after the lockdown, the architect, Mr. Ambe Collins, was able to go to Nkambe to buy trees to saw planks in preparations for the roofing of the Church. The roads were still bad due to the heavy downpour of rain. However, Mr. Ambe was able to brave it. He got the workers to begin the work and on November 10, 2023, they began sawing the planks.
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