MADISON/STOUGHTON — On July 2 and 3, Bishop Lucas Abadamloora and Fr. Augustine Agaya from the Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga visited the Diocese of Madison.
The Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga is our Global Partnership diocese located in Ghana, West Africa.
A reception attended by former delegates to Ghana and friends was hosted by Maryann Slater, principal of Blessed Sacrament School, Madison, on Thursday evening.
On Friday Bishop Lucas traveled to St. Ann Parish in Stoughton to concelebrate Mass along with Vicar General Msgr. Daniel Ganshert, Pastor Msgr. Gerard Healy, and Father Ayaga.
Many attendees from Mass joined in a warm welcoming breakfast in the parish hall to greet Bishop Lucas and Father Augustine.
Since 2002 delegations from both Madison and Navrongo-Bolgatanga have visited one another developing lasting and spiritual friendships.
Partnership projects
A partnership project since 2005 has been the purchasing of donkeys, plows, and carts for women farmers in Navrongo-Bolgatanga. Using these donkeys to plow their fields eases the burden of farming by hand and allows larger fields to be cultivated, therefore bringing greater harvests. Also, the difficulty of hauling heavy items to markets is made considerably easier with the donkey carts.
A new partnership project is being developed to establish a donkey breeding farm and to purchase breeding donkeys. The offspring from the breeding donkeys will provide an annual supply of young donkeys for the needy farm women in the Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga.
The funds for this project are being provided from donations to the Donkey Project and from the sale of Divine Chocolate bars in parishes in the Diocese of Madison. Divine Chocolate is made from fair trade chocolate beans grown on Ghanaian chocolate cooperative farms.
At Mass on July 3, Msgr. Daniel Ganshert presented Bishop Lucas Abadamloora with a $20,000 check to buy the breeding donkeys and for the capital expenditures needed to house these donkeys.
Blessing and gratitude
As Bishop Lucas Abadamloora traveled from Madison, he left his blessing for the people of the Diocese of Madison. He was very encouraged about the success for a donkey farm and the hope it will bring to the poor and needy of his diocese in their efforts to feed their families. He said it is difficult to express the joy and hope the donkeys bring to needy women.
Donations can be sent to: Diocese of Madison Donkey Project, c/o Eric Schiedermayer, P.O. Box 44983, Madison, Wisconsin 53744.
Clarence Mougin is the Global Solidarity Partnership lay coordinator.