Arrival in Rwanda

Asher Kaufman, age 18, set out on June 28 for a yearlong trip to help spread the Children's Rosary in Europe and Africa. He spent the months of July, August and the first two weeks in September in France. He arrived in Uganda on September 15. He grew up helping the Children's Rosary and participating in it. He now is helping to spread the Children's Rosary to more parishes and schools. He is also discerning a vocation to the priesthood and has applied to the seminary through the Archdiocese of Hartford. Please keep both his trip and his vocation in your prayers. He has been sharing dispatches from the trip. 

"On Sunday, September 28, Br. Henry, Fr. Alex, our driver, a kind parishioner named Kizito, and I set out from Fr. Alex’s parish in Mutukula to go to Rwanda. This was set to be quite a long trip but nevertheless an exciting one because its goal was to spread the Children’s Rosary in Rwanda, where we had previously had no groups.

I had been told the trip from the parish to where we were staying that night in central Rwanda would be over ten hours by car. As it turned out, it was not nearly as long as anticipated and overall quite enjoyable. The quality of the roads in western Uganda and Rwanda was significantly better than where we had been, so the ride was rather smooth. We prayed for the upcoming mission and entrusted it to Our Lord.

It was hard for me to notice much about the country upon arrival since it was after dark when we began to traverse it. I of course did notice the increased prevalence of French once we arrived at the hotel. Actually, the Rwandan government in recent years has shifted emphasis to English in official communications and in education; however, French is very much still at home in Rwanda particularly among the older generations.

We stayed at the St. Andre Hotel in Kabgayi, which is a hotel run by a community of Franciscan sisters of the Reign of Christ; the hotel is right next to the diocesan cathedral and offices of the Diocese of Kabgayi. It is a very nice property, quiet but with beautiful views of the surrounding area and a small chapel available that we used to have a private Mass celebrated by Fr. Alex. After Mass, I spoke with Sr. Concessa Nyirabavakure of the congregation of sisters who run the hotel. Her order is responsible for catechesis and some schools as well, and she was very interested by the Children’s Rosary. We exchanged contact information.

After this, we met with the priest of the Cathedral parish, Fr. Celse Hakuzeyaremye.(The Cathedral is shown below and Fr. Celse Hakuzeyaremye is shown above in blue)

He was interested by the Children’s Rosary but wished to see the reaction of the bishop before moving forward. This is something I have noticed in Rwanda, that many times priests and laymen rely strongly on what the bishop advises, and thus it is often advisable to work directly through them as well as on the local level.

To that end, we set off the next day for Cyangugu, a diocese in western Rwanda, right on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. The bishop of this diocese, Mgr. Edouard SInayobye, had been at the FAFCE conference my mother and I attended in Rome in June. (photo directly above) We had contacted him, and since we were in Rwanda again, we arranged to meet. We met not only with him but with the priest in charge of children’s affairs for the diocese, Fr. Noel. (shown below in the bright blue shirt)

Another Rwandan particularity is that the dioceses there have an official post that is in charge of children’s programming and matters. The bishop and priest were open to the idea of beginning a few groups in schools and using them as pilot groups to judge the effects and efficacy. We are grateful for their willingness and interest.

A small side note is that as we were arriving at the bishop’s house, it began to rain torrentially, so hard that I feared even to leap from the car into the open door of the building even though the distance was no more than two or three steps. The rain drenched the whole area but quickly moved out, which enabled us to retrieve all of the materials from the car for the meeting. I only mention this because as we have said before, rain is considered a blessing here, and I seem to be pursued by it. It rained buckets at Fr. Jude Ssali's parish in Mityana, and the same happened in Masaka at more than one stop.Now again it has happened in Rwanda.

After coordinating further with Fr. Noel and making arrangements for him to come to Uganda to see how the movement is rolled out there, we hit the road once more, this time with the destination of Kibeho.

I will address the visit to Kibeho in another post, but before concluding this one, I want to take a moment to speak a bit about the landscapes in Rwanda.

Rwanda is a rather mountainous country, and most of the roads are winding and steep. The scenery is quite lush and beautiful, however, such as when we stopped by Lake Kivu on Monday on our way to Cyangugu. Another picturesque moment came the next day when we passed through Bwindi National Park where we had majestic views of the mountain ranges and countryside as well as numerous monkey sightings in the forest. At one point we stopped to admire one monkey who was sitting by the side of the road, and when he caught sight of some bananas we had in the car, he leaped up onto the partially open window next to me and attempted to climb in, which he very nearly did. These creatures are very smart, and one ought to believe that given the chance they will certainly climb in an open window, steal a phone out of an unsuspecting hand, or cause any amount of mischief.

It was nice to see the monkey, though, because in Uganda I had not seen any animal that was as exotic such as one might imagine seeing when going to East Africa. Despite what one might imagine, the lions, giraffes, and zebras are rare, even here."

To see all of Asher's dispatches from his journey click HERE

Children's Rosary Groups Around the World

 

We are grateful to Heidi Dümmling for creating this beautiful graphic of Children's Rosary groups around the world. As we enter the month of the Rosary it is beautiful to see how so many are connected in this tapestry of prayer through the Children's Rosary. Heidi is our Children's Rosary group leader with her husband Matthias in Dormitz, Germany. 

64,451 Handmade Rosaries Arrive in Uganda!

Asher Kaufman, age 18, set out on June 28 for a yearlong trip to help spread the Children's Rosary in Europe and Africa. He spent the months of July, August and the first two weeks in September in France. He arrived in Uganda on September 15. He grew up helping the Children's Rosary and participating in it. He now is helping to spread the Children's Rosary to more parishes and schools. He is also discerning a vocation to the priesthood and has applied to the seminary through the Archdiocese of Hartford. Please keep both his trip and his vocation in your prayers. He has been sharing dispatches from the trip. 

"On Thursday, September 25, was the day that the barrels of rosaries sent months before to this country were picked up in Kampala. It was quite an adventure for all involved. To give some context, the Children's Rosary sends barrels of handmade rosaries to Uganda every year for the children who are part of the Children's Rosary. I myself have seen just how much these children treasure their rosaries, and it is an essential part of their prayer. It is always a bit complicated when one sends them to know when they will be released from customs upon their arrival in country. The wait can be long and hard to estimate. We were informed about a day earlier that the rosaries had been released and available for pickup. Fr. Alex drove from the Tanzanian border to Uganda to pick up some rosaries, and Fr. Jude Ssali's brother, Joseph, came from Mityana. Initially, the company refused to release them because the name on the reservation did not match the names of those there to pick them up. After some nerve-wracking time of working to fix the miscommunication, they were allowed to pick up the barrels, and all went off smoothly. 

Fr. Alex took some of the rosaries to Masaka, and we both dropped them off at the diocesan education offices where groups will be able to pick them up for the children. After driving from Kampala in the rain, his car was so caked with mud (which is what the road is covered in when it rains instead of the dust) that it looked rather like a duck boat that had just come through a flood zone. 

He said he had gotten it washed just before. Fr. Alex then drove us that night to his parish in Mutukula, right on the border with Tanzania. It was a ride of a few hours, and we left at around 10:30. Somehow Br. Henry managed to stay awake with Fr. Alex, but I quickly fell fast asleep.

Fr. Alex has a number of schools he is in charge of here, and since he had a function to attend, the next day he sent Fr. Dick Lusembo, the Father in charge of schools for the parish, to bring us to some of the schools. We first visited St. Kizito Primary School; they were a bit busy with government officials to were present to register the children for national identity cards, but they spared the time to listen to us speak, and they will begin a Children's Rosary that will meet every week. 

We then paid a visit to St. Paul Kyalugaba Primary School and to St. Anthony Kyassimbi Primary School. Both of these also decided to start Children's Rosary groups every week. We distributed rosaries at all of these schools, to give encouragement and aid to the newly-formed groups, and the children were grateful to receive them. Fr. Lusembo was thoroughly behind our message, telling the schools he very much wished for them to become a part of this effort and to meet regularly. He also told us during the car rides between schools of the challenges that he and the teachers face, particularly with regular student attendance. Not all parents prioritize school attendance in the same way, and the local inhabitants of the region were historically more nomadic than stationary. It was more similar, Br. Henry told me, to the areas in Kenya we had visited with the Maasai tribe six years ago, and even the ecology of the landscape seemed more similar to Kenya. Gone were the large forests and lush vegetative life; these were replaced with straw fields and small bushes. 

Lastly, we spent some time with St. Steven school, which is the school right next to the parish where Fr. Lusembo lives. They too, wished to begin a Children's Rosary, and they too decided to meet weekly. 

Fr. Lusembo and I had lunch together following this. He is a very nice and humble priest who was only ordained last year. He has a very gentle demeanor, and I can see that the children under his care like him a lot.

Afterward, Fr. Lusembo stayed to watch the students campaign for elected student government positions. As far as I could see, they take this campaigning quite seriously; there were two very official-looking posters in the classroom where I spoke that read "Vote" and had the picture of one of the primary school students who was running for office. I thought it very professionally done. 

The rest of the afternoon I spent catching up on work and in prayer. There is an adoration chapel at the parish that I availed myself of. I did not realize until I went in how much I had missed going to regular adoration since the schedule had become as it is. It is important for anyone looking to spread a mission to never forget time for prayer. It can be tempting, especially if the schedule is long, to cut back on the prayer routine, but in doing so, it will destroy the effort faster than cutting back on the schedule of active work. This mission is the Lord's, and we must continually entrust it back to Him."

To see all of Asher's dispatches from his journey click HERE

The Journey Continues in the Masaka Diocese

Asher Kaufman, age 18, set out on June 28 for a yearlong trip to help spread the Children's Rosary in Europe and Africa. He spent the months of July, August and the first two weeks in September in France. He arrived in Uganda on September 15. He grew up helping the Children's Rosary and participating in it. He now is helping to spread the Children's Rosary to more parishes and schools. He is also discerning a vocation to the priesthood and has applied to the seminary through the Archdiocese of Hartford. Please keep both his trip and his vocation in your prayers. He has been sharing dispatches from the trip. 

"On September 24, we went back to the Lukaya parish to visit St. Jude's School there. We arrived early for the 8:00 am Mass with the whole school, and then we proceeded into an open area behind the school to recite the rosary. The children knelt down, and we prayed a very well-led rosary together. The coordinator, Teacher Nalukumbi Jane Frances, was very enthusiastic about starting up the Children's Rosary again. We then hit the road again, this time in the direction of Kyamulibwa. Before I speak about our visit there, I want to say a few words about the roads we have spent so much time traveling on. I must say I was not prepared for the kind of ride one receives, especially on country lanes in rural areas. Even in the centers of many towns, the roads are often dirt roads with large gaps and potholes that necessitate slow driving and quick avoidance. Many times, not only are you bumping up and down vertically but swerving side to side often into the oncoming traffic to avoid some of the bigger holes. Even when roads are paved, they often have large holes that necessitate evasive action. In the case of the road to Kyamulibwa, it was a dirt road the whole way. On such roads, there is often a thick layer of dust particularly when it has not rained in a few days. When you are the only car on the road, it is easy to miss how much dust the car kicks up, but when a large truck passes you going the other direction, one has the impression of being in a small sandstorm. For a few moments, you lose all bearings like a ship in the fog. Sometimes, in villages or cities on such roads, there are so many cars and bodabodas (small motorcycles that are much more numerous than cars here that people hire like taxis) that there lies a pall of dust over the road like smog over an industrial zone. In such cases, even this can become so thick as to impede driving; I remember once when we were looking for a certain address on the side of the road, both Br. Henry and the driver were struggling to see anything to the sides of us. They rolled down the windows and peered futilely into the dense cloud. Upon arriving at Kyamulibwa, the old parish of Fr. Alex Musoke. Fr. Musoke had done much good work in bringing the Children's Rosary there as well as Fr. Musinzi, who is now deceased. The priest there now, Fr. Noah, very kindly took us to see three different schools in his parish. 

Two of them, St. Leonard school (uniforms in yellow) and St. Kizito school, had active Children's Rosary groups already. 

St. Kizito's group was particularly active, with an elected group of students who run it and different teams of children (such as St. Ann's or St. Joseph's team) who take turns leading the prayers. They had a prayer space and an intention box prepared, and all in all it was quite well run. The third school, St. Aloysius, had previously had a Children's Rosary group but had stopped due to the pandemic and other factors. We met with the teachers in charge and with those students in P7 and P6 grades who still remembered the group from when they were younger. They were the pioneers of the group originally, and they will help with starting it up again. The head teacher remained impressed with the Children's Rosary, telling us that in her experience these students who were part of the Children's Rosary group were not like other ones in her school. At the end of the day, we returned to Masaka to visit one more school, St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Primary School.

This school is run by the nuns of the Daughters of Mary congregation. There was something very special about this community and their school. 

I felt a great joy coming from the sisters that we met and from the children that were under their care. It was as if they knew they were doing the Lord's work every day and took strength from it. 

The strong relationship between the nuns and the children was evident. The children listened quite eagerly to what we had to say. This school already had a daily rosary, so it will not be difficult at all to officialize the Children's Rosary. Ironically, though Br. Henry and I were both quite exhausted by this point in the day (it was well into the evening), we really hit it off with these students, being extra dynamic in our talks and establishing a good rapport. As I was reflecting on this day, I could not help but be so thankful for the people we had met, not just the new schools wanting to start or restart groups but the ones with groups already. It does happen in this mission that one begins to worry whether many of the groups that have been formed will continue to meet or gradually become abandoned and cease to exist. One can be tempted to try to think one's efforts are largely futile. However, on this day, I saw vibrant groups, groups that loved the Rosary and were transformed by it. For example, at St. Kizito's School, the children took their group so seriously and were so faithful to it that I myself was inspired by their conduct. It was a powerful testament to me that these children and their teachers and animators and the many, many others like them are the ones who feed the movement, and they do so through a love of the Rosary and a commitment to their regular prayer of it. It is God's work ultimately, not mine or anyone else's, and He will guide it in just the way He wishes."

To see all of Asher's dispatches from his journey click HERE

Cathedral of St Joseph Begins the Children's Rosary

 

We are excited to share that the Cathedral of St Joseph in Hartford, Connecticut held their first Children's Rosary today. This was initiated as part of the faith formation program. Once a month the children will gather in the Cathedral to hold a Children's Rosary. Today was their first meeting and 57 children attended. 

Arrival in the Diocese of Masaka, Uganda

Asher Kaufman, age 18, set out on June 28 for a yearlong trip to help spread the Children's Rosary in Europe and Africa. He spent the months of July, August and the first two weeks in September in France. He arrived in Uganda on September 15. He grew up helping the Children's Rosary and participating in it. He now is helping to spread the Children's Rosary to more parishes and schools. He is also discerning a vocation to the priesthood and has applied to the seminary through the Archdiocese of Hartford. Please keep both his trip and his vocation in your prayers. He has been sharing dispatches from the trip. 

"On Monday, September 22, Br. Henry Bukenya and I left the Mityana diocese where we had been to come to the Diocese of Masaka in Uganda. We had visited this diocese in 2019 and had had a very positive experience there, so we were hoping to re-invigorate some of the Children's Rosary groups that had been started and begin new ones.

We stayed with a family not far from the city. They are friends of Br. Bukenya's and very generous to welcome us into their home, which was situated down a quiet road in the woods, secluded and peaceful.

On Tuesday, September 23, we went to the Parish of St. Jude in Lukaya. We had visited that parish in 2019 when Fr. Paul Mukasa was the parish priest. he had done much good work in establishing the Children's Rosary there but was transferred not long after. We met with the current priest, Fr. Henry Kiganda, who was very enthusiastic about re-starting the Children's Rosary groups there that had suffered during the pandemic. We decided to come back a day later to visit the children of that school so that they could prepare a reception for us. Instead, that afternoon, we went with Rose, a longtime animator for the Children's Rosary, to a few nearby schools. 

First, we paid a visit to the Vision Park Primary School. The children all gathered together in a courtyard with their bright red uniforms to hear some short addresses that Br. Bukenya and I gave them, and then we worked out the details for how the Children's Rosary would start up again at their school; the name decided upon for the group was Seat of Wisdom Children's Rosary group. 

On a humorous side note, I have noticed as we have made more and more of these school visits that Br. Henry is far more dynamic and energizing for the children than I am. With my accent and way of speaking English, many of the children either have not had most of their English language education yet or find it difficult to understand me. Usually, either Br. Henry or someone else translates or they provide a short summary at the end of what I said. Sometimes the priest asks a child to stand up and give a summary of what they understood, which reminds me a bit of my days in Latin class when students would be called at random to translate sentences of Anselm or Aquinas, much to the dread of everyone present. 

After Vision Park, we stopped at Mustard Seed primary school, where the children were wearing (rather unsurprisingly) yellow and green uniforms. The head teacher was very nice and incredibly obliging since he gathered the children briefly for us to talk to them in the middle of the school day. This Children's Rosary group is to be called Cause of our Joy Children's Rosary group. 

Earlier in the day, Br. Henry had told me that I had an appointment in the afternoon with the education secretary for the diocese. Being unable to take me there, he asked Fr. Alex Musoke to do so. Fr. Musoke is another old friend of the Children's Rosary, someone we had visited in 2019 when he was parish priest at Kyamulibwa. It was very good to see him again. He took me to see Fr. Elia Tuwesige, the education secretary, and Fr. Simeo Makaayi, who also works in the education department. They were very supportive of our efforts with the Children's Rosary in the diocese, and we look forwards to working with them further.

As soon as we had finished, Fr. Musoke told me I was going to meet with Fr. Kasule Mbaaga Tuzinde, in charge of the diocesan radio station, Centenary radio. My mother and I had met Fr. Tuzinde back in 2019 not in Africa but at EWTN in August of that year. He was in Irondale for an internship, and my mother and I were there for an interview with Jim and Joy Pinto. 

Fr. Tuzinde remembered our meeting in Alabama quite well, and he pulled it up on his phone immediately. He introduced me to the staff who were assembled for a routine staff meeting, and then he invited me to record a short radio spot that would air periodically with information about the Children's Rosary. 

Just at the end of our meeting, Fr. Musoke informed me that he had asked if the bishop would be available to meet with me that evening and that bishop had said yes. Thus, immediately afterward, we rushed over to the episcopal residence where Fr. Musoke and I met with Bishop Severus Jjumba. We had also met Bishop Jjumba in 2019, and I remembered him as being very kind and supportive of the movement, something that was reaffirmed in this second meeting. I updated him on what had happened with the Children's Rosary since our last visit and of our renewed efforts in the dicoese, and he reiterated the support we had received at the education department.

At the end of the day, I was exhausted. This had been a particularly full day that was originally supposed to wrap up after the Mustard Seed visit. Nevertheless, I was really quite astonished at how God's providence managed to resolve the potential difficulties in our schedule. We had not been certain whether we would be able to meet the bishop or when that would be. I had not even realized the potential of recording the radio spot at the station, but due to the hard work of both Br. Henry and Fr. Alex, the Lord was able to tie together three very important developments almost before I realized what was happening.

In thinking back over the day we had spent, one moment that stood out to me was when we were visiting the Mustard Seed group and Br. Henry asked the students if they remembered when I came by the last time in 2019. Some of the older students did. For some reason, that hit me in a particular way. These children and all the children in the Children's Rosary are linked to us and to each other in very ways that we should not forget. The children at this school I had met before, but there are many groups out there I have never met, yet they are all connected to us through the bonds of prayer; we pray for them, and they pray for us. What a powerful grace that is."

To see all of Asher's dispatches from his journey click HERE

First Children's Rosary in the Bahamas

We are excited to share that the first Children's Rosary in the Bahamas will hold their first meeting on October 4 at St. Anselm's Parish in Nassau, Bahamas. We welcome this Children's Rosary group!

photo credit: wiki commons