April web

MISSION
he immediately fell in love with the
country. In 1969, Fr. George reached
Kasaala which was a new Comboni
Parish. This Parish had just been
handed to them by the Missionaries
of Africa. He was in Kasaala Parish for
five years, after which he returned to
Italy, to a seminary in Florence where
he worked as a formator. While in
the seminary, he got news that the
two priests in Kasaala were returning
to Italy because their permits would
not be renewed by the regime of
Idi Amin. Since he had a life permit
to work in Uganda, coupled with his
love for the country, he requested the
Superior General for permission to
return to Kasaala.
In 1976, Fr. George returned to
Uganda and immediately went to
Kasaala. However, he was dismayed
to find that the mission had been
closed, as the priests had left before
he arrived. It was not easy work in
Kasaala after his return; the place had
been invaded by cockroaches and
dust. After seven months in Kasaala,
he was requested to serve in Mbuya
Parish in Kampala as the Parish Priest
from 1976- 1979. And, in 1979, he
was posted back to Kasaala Parish.
Fr. George is a missionary who loves
helping the young people achieve an
education. This is seen in the many
schools he has helped build during
his time in Kasaala Parish. He said
that the parish has 22 outstations and
he has made sure all the outstations
have got a school and a church. He
noted that his love to see the young
get an education without difficulty
came from his experience as a child.
Coming from a poor family, Fr. George
said he walked for long distances to
get to his school. He would take off
his shoes so that they don’t get dirty,
and when he was about to reach
school, he would wash his feet in the
streams near school then wear the
shoes. Fr. George said that he knows
what it means to suffer, a reason he
has chosen to build schools in all the
outstations to help children of Kasaala
get easy access to education.
A number of children in Kasaala have
got education through his help and
have achieved big in their lives. The
fact that the children are successful in
their lives makes Fr. George a happy
man.
Out of the 22 schools, he has also
built two technical schools for boys
and girls to help skill the children and
youth of Kasaala in different fields.
He noted that despite his contribution
in building schools and churches, the
people of Kasaala also contributed by
laying bricks which were used to build
the churches.
Besides building schools in Kasaala,
Fr. George also aided build St. Kizito
Primary School Bugolobi when he
was the Parish Priest of Mbuya Parish.
The biggest challenge he remembers
from his days as a new young priest
“ One thing he
enjoys about his
missionary work is his
stay and service in
Uganda particularly,
in Kasaala and
Mbuya. He added
that the people of
these two parishes
were very kind
to him...
“
in Uganda was when he had to
learn Luganda, the language he was
supposed to use for evangelisation.
He said it was not easy learning the
language but as soon as he learnt it,
he visited one family in the parish,
who inspired him to begin a savings
group to help the people of Kasaala
develop.
Unfortunately, when the family got
paid, they decided to buy alcohol with
the money and when he asked them
why they did that, they told him they
were keeping their money safe from
thieves. That is when he opened up
the Agaali Awamu savings group to
help people save money and support
one another. He has also opened up a
St. Vicent De Paul Kateyamba elders
home where the elderly people in
Kasaala without relatives stay and are
taken care of.
One thing he enjoys about his
missionary work is his stay and service
in Uganda, particularly, in Kasaala and
Mbuya. He added that the people
of these two parishes were very
kind to him. Besides, his father also
contributed to his missionary work.
Fr. George says the last gift he
received from his father in the
2000 before his death was financial
assistance, which funded the building
of the schools. He added that after
his father returned from the mines
in Germany, he concentrated on his
dairy farm and saved money from
milk which accumulated with interest.
Before his death, he divided his
savings amongst all the six of them.
Fr. George said he donated his share
to the Comboni missionaries.
After that, his father would give
interest of his money accrued every
year to Uganda, to help build churches
and schools. Fr. George said that one
thing he was taught by his father is
being grateful to God all the time.
APRIL 2020
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