Fr. Tarcisio has been the forerunner, not of Jesus in this case, but of our rector Fr. Cassiano and Fr. Trabucco. He is credited for having given a new look to this new house. He did furnish the house, and he did it to the best of his ability. His anthem, ‘Ora et Labora’ has been his driving force and guiding principle.
The house is located in the posh region of Merrivale, formerly known as the ‘White Area’ having derived its name from the skin colour of those who dominated and in fact who still dominate this region. However, ours was a different reality. Formerly a Jesuit’s house, it was later rented by a female Vet who reared 49 dogs and 2 cats. Save for her room, all the others were inhabited by the pets; not even the chapel was spared. The compound itself became a forgotten zone with flowers, grass and weeds growing to oversize. It was through the efforts of Fr. Tarcisio that the bushy compound got a new look.
While he was still preparing the ground, the first four ‘seeds’ dropped from Kenya in the name of Anthony, Kisitu, Mwanake and Francis. In normal circumstances, the rector/formators are always there to welcome the students. However, in our case and due to unavoidable circumstances, the reverse was true. In spite of their absence and with the presence of our interim superior, we chanted the Obama creed each morning; ‘Yes we can!!!’
Two week after our arrival, Kidane arrived from Ethiopia. Unlike ours, his was a different story. First, it was the problem of the visa, then on the day of his travel, the Ethiopia airline arrived late in Johannesburg. For this reason, he missed his flight to Durban and was left with no other option but to book for another flight. Aware that he would be landing in Durban 2hours after the initial time, he became disturbed and nervous. But when he set his eyes on us, he regained his calm.
Our rector Fr. Cassiano, arrived on Wednesday 25th, three days after Kidane. Fr. Trabucco came on the 29th Novembre. That brought our number to seven. We still look forward for the arrival of Patrick who is yet to finish his year of novitiate in Maputo. When he finally joins the community, we will have made a complete octagon for a start.
On the day he left Merrivale, Fr. Tarcisio wrote a note on our diary. It reads: “When you have done everything that is commanded you, say: we are unworthy servants! We have done what was our duty.”
As he leaves for Pretoria, we sure will miss him not because we have lived together for a long time but because we have learnt a lot from him within a very short time. We say thank you to Fr. Tarcisio for like John the Baptist, he has prepared the way. With the same breath we welcome Fr. Cassiano and Fr. Trabucco to the Merrivale community.
