Newly appointed Provincial Secretary is learning Portuguese in Mozambique
Brother Stephen Finye lands at the Noviciate. As we all know he is the new Provincial Secretary. But before getting into the full time work, he decided to learn some basic Portuguese here in Mozambique. Being a big country, you do not expect the arrangements to be done within an hour after arrival. Besides our Brothers here are very far away from the city and relatively few in number. In the first arrangements, Brother Gerald Medida had accepted the challenge to look for a place for him with the Salesians. It was not easy for him to get in touch with them on time as he is busy with school business as the headmaster. This meant that the arrival of our dear Brother had to involve us all. The noviciate community looked an ideal while hunting for a place for him. We hear some good news slowly coming up after identifying a Brazilian teacher who pledged to offer him a 2 hour class period each day. Being at zero level in the language, we asked him to follow CD programme by using the computer. As you see him on the picture he is busy familiarizing himself into the language. He looks confident and determined like the founder when learning Latin. I hope this determination will help him to learn quickly. Br. Pisco teases him from time to time at table during meals with some new Portuguese words. The English- Portuguese dictionary too helps him a lot. We will help him too with the little we know.
The other day l took him in the city. He was puzzled to see how big Maputo is. He confessed that Lilongwe is nothing as far as buildings and street lights are concerned.
He had expressed a wish to see the Indian ocean too and taste the salty water which he had a hearsay knowledge while teaching geography at Likuni Boys Secondary a year ago. Of course we arrived when the water was filling the beach. However, he had chance to taste it all the same.
Today our Superior, Brother Norbert invited him to join him at the Salesian novices profession at Namaacha, near the Swaziland border. As a geography teacher he will be a amazed with the range of mountains in the waterless side of Mozambique.
Welcome Stephen to the Portuguese speaking country. The secret some of us use to learn quickly is not to be shy to make mistakes. Although people learn quickly with kids but l would advise you not to get too familiar with them. When a stranger is accused in here, they make a big case. Keep your good distance- Market places are the best places too. You can ask anything not necessarily with the intention to buy but to hear how they name things they sell. The method that can delay you learning Portuguese is staying in-doors and talking to noone. You can stay months here and return as empty as you came. It is my wish that once everything is in place, you will take the course seriously. As they say in Portuguese, ? Boa sorte!? meaning good luck and God bless.
Simeon, fms , Matola