Parish Ministry Website

Description of Ministries:

St. Bridget has had a very active sister-parish relationship with the people of Namitembo parish in Malawi since 1997. Namitembo has a main church for the mission parish, plus 7 "outchurches" for the mission. The mission is administered by Fr. Owen O'Donnell, who is a Montfort ordered priest, another elderly Montfort, and a diocesan priest. Each of these churches has an elementary school connected with it, all but one of which is sponsored by the mission. The government of Malawi supplies teachers to a school if the community provides housing for the teachers.

Our involvement began when Fr. Owen and Fr. Harold Quigg, our pastor at the time, met while both were on sabbatical in Ireland. Both parties were somewhat careful at first, and St. Bridget invited Fr. Owen to visit Seattle so that the Pastoral Council could speak directly with him. This resulted in a signed agreement between the two Pastoral Councils, with a commitment on the part of St. Bridget to provide funds for building five teachers' houses. The arrangement with the community was that the community would mold the bricks and that our funds would provide all other materials plus cost of construction. This arrangement thus would involve the community in its school in a very practical way. The bricks would be made from scratch by the community and fired right at the site. Our other original commitment was to provide funds to help fix the main church. The total cost of these was estimated at $25,000.

This project captured the imagination of St. Bridget parishioners. It was a very tangible work that was within the means of the parish -- a couple of parishioners themselves covered the cost of a house, which the community named after those individual donors.

Early on, St. Bridget came up with the idea of a walk/run in late summer, as its annual fundraiser for Namitembo. The relationship grew. We exchanged visitors every year, including sending Fr. Quigg and our Pastoral Council president on our first return visit. With the success of the fundraising, St. Bridget built more housing for more of the schools, then built new classroom blocks and rehabbed deteriorating school buildings. We fixed the other churches. We built a youth center and a community center. There was new construction of rooms for guests, which has further opened up new visitors from St. Bridget. We purchased a new car and van. We expanded the Namitembo high school, tripling it in size. We began construction of a completely new high school (St. Bridget Community Secondary School) near one of the outchurches, building three double-classroom sized blocks, and are now building the Mike Foy Hall at the school, in memory of our own former grade school principal, who visited Namitembo the summer before he died.

A few years ago we also began construction of the Namitembo Agricultural and Trade School, located at the main Namitembo site, to provide skills in carpentry, masonry, tailoring, and computer skills, plus a water tower and teacher housing. This project is being done in partnership with the diocese of Zomba, which oversees the administration of the Trade School, with Fr. Owen as the on-site representative. The NATS has several teachers' houses, and several classrooms/workshops, along with a computer lab with up-to-date technology.

Our parish effort within our relationship originally focused on education, but is diversifying over time. One such example is irrigation. Two years ago, though an individual donor, we began a pilot project in irrigation, providing 45 pumps to individual farmers who lived near water sources, in order to increase the farmable acreage and mitigate or eliminate the uncertainty of weather, and possibly even allow for a second crop. This project is overseen by the nearby small Christian communities of the Namitembo area, of which there are seventy-six. The project has been highly successful to date. We have begun a seed project recently, and are exploring the possibility of an anti-malarial mosquito net project. Of course, there are still a large number of pen pals,

Of course, lots of other spinoffs have occurred. A teacher from Seattle visited for a few months last year, and worked in the schools. A second volunteer is currently at Namitembo, for a year's commitment, and another couple is considering going there to volunteer next fall. The computer lab was recently outfitted with a satellite dish to provide broadband access to the Internet. There is a film project in the works, to develop a documentary on Namitembo and everything that has happened there.

Much of the above is detailed on our parish website, at www.stbridgetchurch.org, under the Namitembo button. There is a periodic newsletter produced, and you can subscribe by contacting Denny Duffell at denny@stbridgetchurch.org.

Description of fundraising efforts (if any): St.

Virtually all these projects were made possible through the Elephant Stampede, along with additional donations from individual donors.

The Elephant Stampede is a 5K walk/run and picnic, held in mid-September. The charge to individuals and families for the run covers just a bit more than the cost of the picnic, t-shirt, and putting on the run; the real fundraising takes place because the event provides the opportunity to ask for donations for our sister parish. Nearly everyone participating makes some extra contribution to Namitembo. A couple of larger donors have occasionally provided "challenge grants" to the Stampede, with varying incentive challenges. Attendance usually numbers 600-700.

Collaboration with individuals or groups outside of the parish/community:

A number of donors from outside of the community have contributed significantly to Namitembo. One parishioner had contacts with an organization that provided funding for the community center that was built. Another family made a significant initial grant to the Trade School to get the project started well. Still another outside family has visited Namitembo and provided targeted funding. The teacher that volunteered last year was from outside the parish, "recruited" by another parishioner that visited Namitembo.

A great number of individuals have found out about this relationship, and have developed small fundraising projects on their own. Several young people have been inspired to turn their birthday parties into "bring a donation to Namitembo instead of a present" parties. A class at Holy Names Academy sponsored a Namitembo student to further his education in the city of Zomba.

An effort has been made to link up with Catholic Relief Services and/or with FINCA (Foundation for International Community Assistance) to develop micro-credit lending, especially in connection with graduates of the Trade School, but this has not yet been fruitful.

Describe visits (if any) between your parish/community and your African Partners:

Our exchanges have usually been trade; one year Fr. Owen or other (diocesan) clergy will visit us, and another year a delegation from St. Bridget will visit Namitembo. The visits usually take place from St. Bridget during our summer, which is Malawi's dry season (winter). The visits from Namitembo usually take place around the times of the Elephant Stampede.

The first visit from St. Bridget was a delegation of three, including our pastor. Our second visit was from two individuals interested in youth. Our third visit was from nine individuals -- two staff members, five youth, and two other parish adults. Our fourth visit was again from nine individuals, including one family of four with two youth, a couple, and a family of three that included a staff member. Our fifth visit included a family of six, our school principal, and another staff member and his son. More recently there have been two other visits, one from a retired couple and another on the occasion of two parishioners and a couple of other family members getting married at Namitembo! We are currently planning visits for this summer, including at least a staff member, a family of five, and another couple.

It has also been discussed to fund the visit of a small delegation from Namitembo that would include members of the Namitembo community that were not clergy. This will be discussed at our visit to Namitembo this summer.

How is your ministry organized and run:

The Elephant Stampede is organized by a parish volunteer or group of volunteers, in conjunction with a professional company that puts on runs -- i.e., provides timing equipment, a measured course, etc. The picnic is run solely by volunteers.

Communication during the first few years of our relationship was difficult, but with the advent of cell-phone communication it has provided improving accessibility by telephone and over the internet. This past summer, with the installation of a satellite dish, there is little difficulty in communicating with Namitembo. The parish office provides frequent newsletters to parishioner; many supplied by the parish volunteer currently teaching there. There is also a Friends of Namitembo group, and a wider Namitembo News Network that receives frequent updates. Parishioners also supply news items from a variety of sources, which are shared with our friends in Namitembo.

We now have language tapes in Chichewa, which is the national language along with English (English is far less common in the rural areas of Malawi, where Namitembo is).

Describe Youth Involvement (if any):

Our Youth have been very instrumental In the success of this project, and have profited immensely from the sharing of the "broader world" that this relationship has brought us. The visit of 5 youth to Namitembo in 2002, and their enthusiastic response, shared with the wider parish, broadened the parish's response to Namitembo. After that visit, families with children have been regularly involved in visiting Namitembo.

Whenever our youth have visited Namitembo, there has always been a lot of interaction with the Malawian youth. The fact that the Youth Center is located right at the main Mission center has made it easy for these associations to take place.

Whenever Fr. Owen or one of the priests visits from Namitembo, we always make sure that they have at least a day in both the Villa and Assumption - St. Bridget school, to visit and answer questions about life in rural Malawi.

Youth are omnipresent at the Stampede -- usually some kind of competition is part of the event. Our youth have been the most frequent "pen-pals," with their counterparts in Malawi. And the 2006 visit of Mike Foy brought another whole new level to our relationship. School children from ASB used pictures that Mike brought back to develop a "calendar project" to raise money for our friends. And finally, one of our young adults is currently volunteering in Namitembo.

Describe areas of expertise that exist in your mission work:

The central missionary, Fr. Owen O'Donnell, has a keen insight into what works and what doesn't work. He has years of experience in managing construction projects. He also has a disarming sense of humor, with a balanced mixture of both rock-steady common sense and simple, easy-mannered pastoral skill.

The elderly Montfort priest is over ninety years old, and has been in Malawi for 65 years. He still maintains a regular pastoral schedule of Mass/sacraments and home visitation, and has a wealth of knowledge of Malawi.

The Montforts in Malawi, over the last 50 or 60 years, have developed the network of small Christian communities that is the heart and life of the Church. Namitembo has perhaps 10,000 people in the parish area, with three priests, a couple of catechists, and a couple of religious sisters. The "neighborhood Church" of 76 small faith communities makes it all work.

What other information would be helpful for others or your community to know/learn from:

The expertise/structure to provide micro-credit loans.

The expertise to help provide the agricultural component for the Trade School.

What would you like to see or experience at future conferences

*Continued sharing of our experiences with one another

*Ways for us to work together.

*Ways for us to share our experiences with parishes and groups that might want to establish an African connection.

*Ways of identifying and sharing our "best practices" with each other.