Herbs & Plants: Bridelia micrantha, a robust medicinal plant
It has been identified as one of the few plant species that should be integrated in the domestication process in farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa to support the medicinal, nutritional and income security of local communities. Bridelia micrantha (Hochst.) Baill. is a small to medium semi-deciduous to deciduous tree up to 20m in height with […]
Hakuna Movement
Hakuna is setting the lives of many young people ablaze, inside and outside the confines of the Church, through prayer, music, formation and service to those in need. The name Hakuna which means ‘there is not’, in Swahili, came as a shortened form of Hakuna matata (no problem). Chosen by chance, it ended up embodying […]
Mission diary: Giving meaning to life
The Mexican Comboni Sister Lilia Karina Navarrete Solís, talks to us about her vocational and missionary journey. When I was small, my mother and aunt often took me to a Salesian chapel near our house. I was part of the choir and on one occasion a lady came to tell us about an African country […]
Bible & Mission. We become Christian
“In Antioch, the disciples were for the first time, railed Christians.” (Read Acts of the Apostles 11: 19-30) In the beginning, the Apostles were addressing Jews and proselytes of Jerusalem. Later, some Hellenists (emigrant Jews) who had converted to Christianity, brought the Gospel to Judea and Samaria. Very soon, the persecution made them move to […]
Oral Literature. Chameleon Wins a Wife
One day ‘Frog’ swam to the surface of a little pond and glanced around him for a place to rest: “The water is cold today”, he complained, “it would do me good to bask in the sun for a little while.” And so, he left the water and crouched on a warm, flat stone at […]
Peru. The Time to the Asheninka
What is the importance of time to the Asheninka, an Amazonian people of western Peru? Let’s find out. In the Amazonian world, time is marked by elements that can be stars, plants, animals, and others. The day is marked by the sun. The sun is what largely determines the conception of time and consequently the […]
Mission Diary. Comboni missionaries among the Karimojong in northern Uganda
For over a hundred years, the Comboni Missionaries have been working in north-eastern Uganda. “Being a missionary here means living side by side with the people, knowing their language and culture, and, if necessary, giving one’s life for them”. This is what Father Longinos López Fernández, from Spain, and Father Germano Joaquim dos Santos Serra, […]
Mission Diary. “At the Service of the Bedouin Communities”
Sister Lourdes García, a Mexican Comboni missionary, works in the Bedouin communities of Jahalin, in the Judean desert. This is her testimony. Assalamu Alaikum (‘Peace be upon you’) is the greeting with which we are greeted every time we visit the Bedouin communities in Palestine. Although the word ‘peace’ is part of the daily encounter, […]
Bible & Mission. At the service of a “Labourer” God
The harvest is ripe wheat. It is necessary and urgent to harvest it in time so that it may become bread. You cannot harvest it ahead of time or behind time. In the first case, it is unripe and useless; afterward, it rots, and you must throw it away. Like the harvest, every person is […]
Oral Literature. Kalulu and the Great Spirit of the Forest
Vusi was an honest man and a hard worker. He had cleared a large piece of moorland and turned it into a beautiful fertile field. He had married Duduzile and a beautiful child was born, to whom they gave the name Thembelihle. For some years they lived happily. They wished to have a son, […]
