By CMI SOCCOM
KIULU — ‘This visit is not a coincidence but it is already in God’s plan,’ said Friar Gerald Saimel to the students of San Damiano Girls’ Hostel, Kiulu and participants of the recent Lenten Visit by Church of Mary Immaculate (CMI), Mar 25, 2023.
The Lenten Visit was an annual event organised by CMI Social sub-committee of Parish Pastoral Council (PPC), and this year it was co-organised with the CMI Senior Parishioners Ministry (SPM). They were joined by Friar Gerald as the spiritual director of the visit.
It gave an opportunity for CMI parishioners to do their part of almsgiving during the Lenten season, one of the three pillars of Lent. It was a significant and blessed day as the church celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.
The journey up to Kiulu by 79 participants took about an hour, upon arrival and after everyone have settled down, more than 70 students presented their welcome song to the visitors.
Sr Jane Sandalun who is the sister in charge of the hostel gave her opening address, she said, it was not just the donated goods they were grateful for but most importantly it was the people who cared to come that gave them strength and hope during these hard times.
She also related how tough it was for them during the pandemic but things have started to pick up in recent times. She informed that the hostel has now accepted students from Primary One to Primary Four on top of those from Form One to Form Six. Sr Jane is assisted by four caretakers.
Samson Malinggang, head of the CMI Social sub-committee, in his address thanked the participants for their support and donations towards the visit. A cash donation was presented to Sr Jane along with the other donation in the form of foodstuff and pre-loved items, and witnessed by the representatives from PPC and SPM. Henry Chua, PPC Secretary, handed a souvenir magazine, containing the history of CMI, to Sr Jane.
When it was Fr Gerald’s turn to speak, he jokingly said since he was appointed as the Spiritual Director for this event, he would then use this time to ‘spiritualise’ everyone with his address. He then continued to explain the origin of the name San Damiano. This then followed with the blessing and distribution of donated rosaries to each student.
For lunch, packed food and buns prepared by CMI Catholic Women’s League were served to everyone. After lunch, participants took the opportunity to go about the hostel and its compound, chatting with Sr Jane and the students. A few of the participants bought from the hostel, plants, in a form of love offerings (no fixed price). Of course photographs were still the best souvenirs to capture the happiness and joy of the moments.
As all good things must come to an end, so did this meaningful visit. It would not have been complete without a group photo, a good-bye song and a ‘Sumazau’ dance thrown in by the students to express their joy which everyone mutually shared.
The CMI PPC and SPM would like to extend their gratitude to the organising team for their collaboration, effort and hard work in organising the visit. Utmost gratitude to the donors for their continuous support and generosity and deepest appreciation to the participants for their love and care as a community, for another community.
