….in the mission land of Dadra and Nagar Haveli

                                                                                                        Sem. Elvis Dias

The  Seminary  of  Rachol  has  formed  great  missionaries  down  the  centuries  and  she  continues  to  feed  her  beloved  seminarians  with  the  Theology  of  mission,  so that  the  seminarians  may  grow  with  the  zeal  and  enthusiasm  for  missionary work. The  Theology  of  mission  [Missiology]  occupies  a  prominent  place  in  the  course  of  theology. After  having  attended  the  course  of  Missiology  in  the  academic  year  2008-09, the  Second  Year  Theology  students  were  sent  for  a  week long mission tour in the mission land  of Dadra and Nagar Haveli (the Union Territory that comes under the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman).

As per the schedule, we the batch of twelve Seminarians along with our Prefect Fr. Romeu Godinho began our missionary  journey  on  20th April 2009. the Mission  Superior, Fr. Lyndon Rodrigues  prepared  the  way  for  our  smooth  journey  by  making  all  the  necessary  arrangements  in  advance . 
It was Tuesday in the morning and our actual missionary journey was scheduled for a start in the evening. How could we waste our few hours in the morning either by resting or watching television? Fr. Lyndon acted as our guide and unveiled to us the rich heritage of Daman. He took us to the Forts, Churches, Hotels and Beaches and also gave a brief history about the same. The land of Daman was a Portuguese colony and its heritage harmonises with our Goan heritage. The similarity in heritage gave us some sort of feeling that we were not in an alien land.
We visited four villages in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli viz. Dapadda, Vellugao Shelti and Dudhni. Our centre in each of the villages was the village church and every church had a boarding school. If the Parish Priest had made our stay comfortable, it was the children (boarders) who made us feel at home in the beginning through their welcome song and smiles on their faces. The Pilar Fathers working in those mission places had constructed these boarding schools as the first step in the process of evangelisation. Through their catechesis on the importance of education, the Pilar Fathers brought these children from the interior of the villages and taught them in these schools. The children live in a large dormitory and they have very little things of their own. Their food includes Canji, Bulgar and Vegetables. Very few of the children are Catholics, but all take part in the Eucharistic celebration and the Christian formulae have become part of their life. Almost at the end of their school career, most of them show the desire of becoming Catholics. It is through these children, that the Christian faith reached to their parents and thus many people have embraced Christianity. The Pilar Fathers along with the Sisters of various Congregations also educate people especially focussing on the girl child and work for the upliftment of the women.
           Most of the people live in houses constructed in an Adivasi style i.e. they have a place for their cattle on one side of their house. The walls of the houses are made up of bamboos with mud and cow dung paste on them. One room in the house is reserved to store the grains and they store them in barns. They eat rice and vegetables; Fish and chicken come rarely in their plate. The speciality of their food is the ‘Bakar’, which is made up of rice flour. We also tasted “Bakar” in one of the houses by squatting on the floor. Only few people have houses built of bricks.
The people have built small chapels in their villages and they gather in their chapel for prayers and for the Eucharistic celebration (they usually have the Eucharistic celebration as per the arrangement made by their Parish Priest). In villages where there are no chapels, the people gather in their houses (Small Christian community). The catechist and the leaders lead the prayer service and the people take part in a prayerful manner .In their prayer service they read the Word of God followed by Rosary and the prayers for various needs. People squat on the floor for prayers and for the Eucharistic celebration. In each of the villages, the catechist plays an important role in visiting and catechising people and he/she also acts as a mediator between the priest and the people.
We spent a day in each of the villages visiting the people and experiencing their lifestyle. It was like a relay. Our batch acted as a baton and the four Parish Priests in each of the villages were the runners who passed the baton from one to another. Fr. Florian Rodrigues, the Parish Priest of Dapadda took us to three of the interior villages. After visiting the families, the Parish Priest celebrated the Eucharist in the Chapel, which was followed by the cultural programme organised by the people. We were fortunate to witness their cultural dance “tarpa”. The group danced with the tune of an instrument made of vegetable skin and the bamboo. The language of the people was one of the Dialects of Gujarati, but they could understand something of Marathi. Our conversation with them evoked laughter among the people.
After spending a day in Dapadda, Fr. Florian passed the baton to Fr. Constantino Rebello, the Parish Priest of Vellugao. In Vellugao, our group was divided into four groups, and as groups we were sent to take part in the prayer service in the houses. In the evening, the boarders with the help of their in-charges organised a cultural programme for us. The “dandda dance”, which the children performed, was an excellent performance. To leave a mark, our group also staged a humorous play which made the children laugh to the fullest. It was time for Fr. Victor D’Souza, the Parish Priest of Sheltti to take the baton, and he too rushed through the villages leading us to encounter people and also their lifestyles. In the final lap Fr. Vitorino Fernandes the Parish Priest of Dudhni took us across the river in a small boat to one of the villages. After visiting the people there, the Parish Priest celebrated the Eucharist, which was followed by supper in an Adivasi style. The people in Vellugao, Shelti and Dudhni spoke Marathi and some of our brothers could easily get along with them.
The relay was over after four days and the baton was finally handed over to the Mission Superior, who led us to our final destination. The memories of the mission tour will remain ever fresh in our mind and they will certainly guide and boost us in our future ministry.