18/19th February 2023

Dear Parishioners,

Thank you for the opportunity to say a few words today. My name is Paul Tobias and I am here today to provide an update as the Chairperson of the St Bernard’s Mannya Advisory Committee. Our principal role is to provide advice and support to Fr Sang to assist him in working with his counterpart Fr Emma at St Luke’s Mannya.

There are probably a few disadvantages in being a Vietnamese priest in Australia but fortunately for us Fr Sang comes from a cultural and family background which means he understands the notion of poverty. He understands the challenges of the third world and has worked well with Fr Emma in addressing some of those issues.

My own background is quite different. During my working life I worked in Catholic Secondary Education for 40 years and I retried at the conclusion of the 2016 school year. The final 17 years of my working life were as the principal of St Joseph’s College Geelong. I was fortunate during my working life to visit East Africa on a number of occasions and at one stage I lived and worked as an acting principal of a large co ed boarding and day school in Tanzania.

It was a culture shock for me visiting East Africa for the first time when I was involved in a number of education and health initiatives. I can still remember visiting the sick with local first aid workers in the slums of Kenya in 2005 just as the HIV virus was ravaging the nation and before any effective medication was available. On returning from that first visit I was shocked that the toxic mix of HIV and poverty could be happening in the 21st Century and it galvanized me to try and increase my involvement.

I need to pay some tribute here to St Bernard’s parishioner David Butler who during his travels discovered this remote parish in Uganda and came to this community to spread the word about the needs that existed there. His work has been life changing for many of the local people.

The poor exist in every country including Australia. The history of sub sarahan Africa is well documented because much of the continent was carved up by the colonial powers who often took much and left very little. Uganda gained its independence in 1962 but the country has struggled since especially during the reign of the brutal military dictator Idi Armin between 1971 and 79.

The Tanzanians eventually engaged in warfare with Armin and many of the battles took place in and around Mannya. As often happens in war, women and children were brutalized and some of the villages in the Mannya parish have never really recovered.

St Bernard’s Parish have been instrumental in trying to change that history and along with a number of other Geelong entities including the Cotton On Foundation, St Joseph’s College and others, have made an incredible difference. Mannya as a district is primarily a subsistence farming community, a long way from the center of power in Kampala. Largely forgotten or ignored because of the poverty which existed there.

Our contribution has been well targeted and includes initiatives in the area of education, health. Economic development and helping to build the social capital of the parish. Many parishioners here support individual students to stay at school by helping pay their school fees. Others were involved in the building of the medical center and the development of the coffee project to help break that cycle of subsistence poverty.

About 12 months ago we were asked to assist with the building of a parish hall in Mannya. To date we have raised about $18,000 towards our target of $40,000. It has been a tough year for fundraising but we are nearly half way there and I am confident if we keep chipping away, we will get there.

I have been asked by the committee and particularly David Butler to say something about bequests or parishioners considering leaving some percentage of their estate to the work which is ongoing in Mannya. The pledge from the Mannya committee to anyone considering that, is that we will work to ensure that money is well spent on worthwhile projects. A little money can make a large difference to the lives of people in Mannya. Thank you to every one of you who has supported any of the projects the parish has undertaken.

We currently have 7 unsponsored students seeking sponsorship for this year. Of those two are primary school students, three secondary and two tertiary. The commitment for the school students is $77 AUD per term or $231 per annum. If you can assist either with a donation to the hall or with school fees could you please contact the parish office and one of our committee members will be in touch.

If we were to ask the question what are we doing in Mannya and why? In answering that question I am reminded of the writer Steve Biddolph who maintains in his book Manhood that the real work of men or mankind is, to protect life and to build towards a better world.

That is exactly what we are doing in human terms and within the context of our faith, we are helping to bring about the kingdom of God. What could be more important than that? Thank you Fr Sang for allowing me the opportunity to speak at this weekend’s masses.