November 24th, 2007 The Beginning of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations

I hope most of you are aware that 50 years ago this December 2nd three Brothers got off of a boat from the U.S. in Takoradi Harbor in the newly independent Ghana. Since then they have devoted all of their lives to educating the hearts and minds of young men in Ghana. They have made an incredible contribution to the Ghanaian society as well as to the entire world. All who come to Ghana and work with the Brothers, or even just experience their hospitality, experience something truly wonderful, something great, something that will change them forever.
There are only three American Holy Cross brothers left in Ghana now and one American Holy Cross priest. The community of Brothers has grown and the Congregation is now more fully represented by the presence of the Sisters of Holy Cross. The work of the Brothers has spread and I snow changing more lives than ever before.
So in the 50th year of independence in Ghana we celebrate 50 years of tireless service provided by the Brothers of Holy Cross. During this week we come together to celebrate just one wonderful part of the joyful and awesome whole that is the Congregation of Holy Cross.
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Ah, November 24th, 2007, yet another day that I will never forget. Another day that I will remember forever…a memory that will only strengthen my commitment to and my love for the Congregation of Holy Cross.
Today was the first day of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations for Holy Cross in Ghana. I wasn’t exactly sure what would come of this day, but I knew it would be something big…and oh how it was!
We all got ready and spruced up this morning for Mass at St. John’s School with Bishop John Martin Darko, Bishop of the Arch-diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi. After cleaning myself up and ironing my shirt I came downstairs to collect the pre-novices so that we could prepare to leave.
We had to move these giant bags of Holy Cross Jubilee polos and silk scarves, all in blue and gold the official colors of the congregation. When we came outside to load the things into the car Br. Tony Dadzie pulled up having just arrived from Cape Coast with a car full of American brothers. I was quite excited to meet all of them.
So the first Brother that I met introduced himself…I am Br. John Paige. O WOW! The Vicar-General of the Congregation. This is the man that Griff and Brenda had a meeting about HCSC all those months ago. He didn’t remember my name, but he knew why I was here. I didn’t expect seeing him so soon…I was taken aback. Then next Brother I met was Br. Donald Allen. Br. Donald was one of the pioneering Brothers who actually left the Holy Cross Mission in Bangladesh to come to the mission in Ghana. He is 83 years old and is in very good health. Next was Br. Lawrence ( ) another pioneering Brother who was one of the first three to step on Ghanaian soil. He spent his time teaching science at St. John’s School. And last but not least was Br. Richard Johnson who spent a number of years teaching in Ghana and will actually be staying a few months with us into the new year. Fr. Bob seemed very happy to see some of his close friends of old back in Ghana where so many of the fond memories they both share were birthed.
After many warm greetings and introductions we piled into the van and hurtled down the hill towards Sekondi and St. John’s. We blasted the A/C since we were all sweating profusely all ready since it was turning out to be a tough day under the relentless African sun.
We pulled into the visitors lot at St. John’s and right next to us was Br. Paul Mensah, District Superior, who also just arrived. So we unloaded our things and carried everything into St. Joe Hall where we found Br. William, Br. Matthew, Br. Steven(Arthur and Aidoo) and all of the candidates hard at work preparing for the luncheon to be held there after the Mass.
Many smiles, many laughs, and much work to be done. People bustling about and chatting about all the things that needed to be done before all the “big people” meaning all the founding Brothers and leaders of the Congregation show up. Indeed, there was plenty to do, but nobody was really worried that things would go wrong…a great thing about Ghana.
Eventually, I made my way over to the other residence for the Professed Brothers on the St. John’s Campus where many visitors, who are all staying in Cape Coast, had been arriving. The first people that I met were the visitors from the District of East Africa. Fr. David(Overseer of pre-novices and candidacy program), Fr. William(post-novitiate director), Br. Kaganga(Novice Master), and the District Superior Fr. James Burasa were all there. The men from the District of East Africa represent Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda even though most everything is based in Uganda. It wasn’t long after that when I was reunited with Br. Raymond Papenfuss(Assistant Provincial of the Midwest Province of Brothers). It had been a long time since I had seen him last in a meeting at Holy Cross College.
At last the greetings came to an end and we all gathered together to celebrate Mass in the giant dining hall. In all there were about 400 people gathered for Mass. Most of them were students from St. John’s, St. Augustine’s College in Cape Coast, and of course my beloved Holy Cross Skills boys. Also, in attendance were the many friends of Holy Cross in Ghana.
This was my first experience with Bishop John Martin Darko after having had experiences with Cardinal Turkson of the Archdiocese of Cape Coast, the Papal Nucio Kochery of the Archdiocese of Accra, and the beloved Bishop Sarpong of the Archdiocese of Kumasi. His homily focused mainly on the importance of active moral development in the classroom and thanking the Brothers, young and old, for doing exactly that. Educating the mind and the heart of their young students.
The Mass was being recorded by the local TV station(Skyy TV) to be shown later this week. It was a great opportunity for the Bishop to speak against the new reform issued to all Ghana schools by the Ghana Education Service. The new reform does not include Religious and Moral Education in the curriculum at all and is saying that ALL schools must adhere to their directives. Well, Catholic schools in Ghana don’t like being told what to teach. So there is a big conflict arising and the fundamental problem is the how much autonomy should the Church have over its schools. More on this next week!!!!!!!
After Mass we took some time to eat, drink, and relax. The calm before the storm. Our next event for the day was going to be a parade through downtown Takoradi and through Sekondi and back to St. John’s school. The parade would consist of a couple vans carrying the visiting and pioneering Brothers, two flat bed trucks carrying small brass bands, and a huge crowd of 300 rowdy young high school boys ready to dance their heads off under a scorching sun! An odd recipe for excitement!
When it came time for us to leave St. John’s and head to the beginning of the parade route I adorned my blue HC jubilee polo, tied my gold scarf around my head, jumped in the back of the Skills pickup truck with four other Brothers and we zoomed off towards the Takoradi Harbor singing, yelling, and waving at all the people we passes: “Rise up! Rise up! Rise up! Be quiet and don’t be silly, we are the famous Holy Cross, we never say die!” We made a lot of noise.
We arrived at the parade starting point to find an enormous crowd of students from all the schools save the Skills Centre…the whereabouts of my beloved Skills boys were unknown. So we began singing songs, dancing, and causing commotion while we waited for the brass bands and the vans to arrive.
Eventually we were ready to begin and the boys nearly killed each other as they stormed onto the back of the flat beds…not all of them made it on. So right when the trucks started moving and the bands began playing I turned to see about 100 rough looking boys shouting and sprinting towards me like a charging Calvary who forgot their horses at home. It was the beloved Skills boys making an entrance that put all the other schools to shame! The parade could now begin...and boy did it!
For the next three miles or so we put the activity of Takoradi to a standstill thanks to our Police escorts. The climax was when we arrived at Market Circle where our joyful riot collided with the congested mess that is Market Circle. The result? Lots of staring, shouting, singing, dancing, and tons of laughter and confusion since our parade doubled in size…1/2 the people being strangers on the street who felt like participating in a parade at that moment.
When the brass band started playing “you are the most high God” which is a very popular song here in Ghana among well everyone..I thought the world would come to an end! Everyone! I mean everyone was singing at the top of their lungs and twirling their scarves in the traditional Ghanaian way, all while dancing furiously. It was an amazing sight to behold. One that only deepens my love for the people of Ghana. One that only strengthens my love for the Congregation of Holy Cross.
The second leg of the parade, through Sekondi and back to St. John’s, I spent in an A/C’d van. I had been sweating so hard and for so long it was like I had been sweating constantly since birth. I was scorched. So I relaxed and watched the parade through my window.
The students pretty much wore themselves out in the first leg but some were still going strong. Over all the parade was a complete success and no one was injured thank God! It was an excellent beginning to the Jubilee Celebrations!