Dear readers and friends near and far,

I hope that this year our quarterly news letters will not only strengthen international partnerships between the global communities, but that we will also be able to hear your personal comments and feelings, dear readers. We believe that a concept of exchange between the north community and the south community will help eradicate corruption and the many trials us Africans face on a daily basis.

But let us start this letter on a lighter note: Imagine a place, a sticky, sandy, soily foot path leading past a beautiful shady tree towards a simple colonial home. Welcome to our MCOP office! As you watch your every step – careful not to slip in the mud! –, the ripe smell of guavas on our fence rapidly attracts your attention. Yes, Choma is a fruitful region in the utmost literal sense. December-January was mango season, now guavas bloom until the end of March when the paw-paw shall start to ripen. Why won’t you drop by our office for a cup of tea with a splash of local lemon? We grow them in our backyard. But take good care in picking them: the trees are full of thorns.

The cool office walls are cream with a white ceiling. Above the typical colonial fire place hang colourful drawings done by our youth. The MCOP banner with the old logo decorates the front wall. There is little furniture: two wooden tables crafted by our volunteers, a door-less cupboard for file keeping, three plastic chairs (two blue and one white), a wooden bench, three desktop computers and a laptop. During meetings and training sessions you will find most people sitting on the floor. This is not an African custom; it is simply a lack of chairs.

This season there has been even more rain than expected. The youth come to spend their free time on the porch playing chess and chatting about issues such as local politics, global warming and faith. This friendly bustle between youth and staff members has the potential to shock any traditional bureaucratic office environments so common to NGOs. Through our work, we believe to live the value of being a “community”.

It is in community that we collaborate in decision-making on issues affecting our environment. It is in community that we carry out these decisions together, even if at times they are difficult to accept. It is in community that we grow in the art of dialogue, through daily struggles and misunderstandings; that we discover the joy of forgiving and being forgiven. It is in community that we can learn from others the path of humility, the path that was first traced out to us by Jesus in his experience of community. It is in community that we learn increasingly to love tenderly “the sisters and brothers” God has given us. It is in community that that we discover progressively to give and receive, to be enriched by the value system of various cultures and backgrounds. In community we grow in faith. In community revelation continues.

I hope that this small insight into our community here in Choma will bring “water to your milling”. In this first newsletter of 2010, the article on school might cast new light on the famous lyric “We don’t need no education”. Maybe you will find joy in hearing that more and more people are getting involved in the project. Or maybe the Feeding Program will be on your heart. Let yourselves be touched!

We wish you a good reading and God bless you all.

Many thanks,

Patrick

MCOP Choma