Emmanuel Catholic Church
149 Franklin Street,
Dayton, OHIO 45402
Dear friends in
Christ,
Subject: Help Needed for a School Plan and
Cost Estimate in the Diocese of Kumbo, Cameroon
I am Rev. Fr. Emmanuel
Fale Lon, a diocesan priest (SD) from the Diocese of Kumbo in Cameroon,
Central Africa. It is my hope and prayer that this letter finds
you in good health of mind and body, for I have never stopped praying for
you, for your enormous sacrifices and compassion in supporting missionary
work all over the world. With this letter, I hope to let you know of all
the good that has come about because of your generosity, and all the good I
hope to still accomplish with your continued support.
Most of
us met during my visit as a missionary speaker on behalf of the Diocese
of Kumbo, though some may remember me as a student of St. Mary’s
Seminary and University in Baltimore, Maryland, or from the Catholic
University of America in Washington, DC. Currently I am a doctoral
student at the International Marian Institute at the University of Dayton,
Ohio. I was able to visit your parish because the Kumbo Diocese is a
participant of the Missionary Cooperative Plan (MCP), USA. Through the program,
the United States’ Episcopal Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomes us to “make
an appeal for [our] missionary cause and ask for the parishioners’ prayers
and financial support. Through this program, parishioners also learn more about
the missionary work of the Church, which leads to a better understanding of our
baptismal calling to share in the mandate of Our Lord: ‘Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations…’ (Matthew 28:20). By Praying with the missionary and
by sharing in the celebration of the Mass, parishioners join their prayers with
those of the missionaries and the people they serve” (Mission Statement for the
MCP for the Archdiocese of St. Louis, MO).
Speaking on behalf
of the Diocese of Kumbo, I mostly have told my personal
story in order to relate it to the bigger picture of the diocese. I
grew up in a village with no roads, health care, clean drinking water
nor electricity. Worse still, we lacked education. Today’s uneducated
youth, especially girls, are left vulnerable for abduction, human trafficking,
and exploitation.
All this is not
because the country is so poor, but because bribery and corruption has
eaten into the marrow of the people. Thus, the Catholic Church
of the Diocese of Kumbo must aid these people in remote areas. When
money is donated it goes to the general fund of the diocese and the
Bishop decides which needs are most pressing. Praise God, a lot has
been happening. Because of you and others like you fifty villages can now
boast of clean drinking water, and health centers are being constructed in
several other villages. Thank you!
Today,
I would also like to tell you about what I am doing and plan to
do personally as an individual when I go back home: I started the Help Cameroon
School Kids initiative to help more underprivileged and vulnerable kids in
Kumbo get an education. The goal is to provide tuition, books, and
fees. It takes $200.00 to educate one child for a year in a Catholic
Kindergarten or Primary School, and this includes tuition, books, and
uniforms. Kindergarten education in Cameroon is 2 years and Primary is 6 years. Thus, with $1,600.00 a child can be put in school from Kindergarten through primary schools (8 years). Such a donation is welcome. Thank you in advance.
While in the US, with the personal help I get from people, I try
every year to support five to ten kids in Kindergarten or Primary School. My
vision continues to grow as I keep doing this.
I,
therefore, have a vision of building a standard, well-equipped Kindergarten and
Primary School that can take one thousand students in my diocese. Such a
sample, standard school will contain classrooms equipped with didactic
materials, ranging from pictures, Television Screens and laptops or computers;
offices for the different school administrators; play-ground for the kids, and
other necessary tools that would be seen with the eye of an expert architect.
For this reason, I write to solicit, within the shortest time possible, the
availability and kindness of any architect in building who will help me with a
plan of such a school and the cost estimate in dollars. I will use that plan
and the cost estimate to ask for donations. The cost in Cameroon will be far
less than the cost here. I, therefore, plead to anyone who is willing to help,
or anyone who knows someone who can help, to please, help me in this venture. I
cannot ask for funds without this plan. May God reward anyone who is willing to
help with an abundance of his grace.
While
waiting for a favorable response, accept my prayer best wishes.
Gratefully
yours,
Fr. Emmanuel Fale Lon
Doctoral Student at
the University of Dayton, OHIO
Cell Phone:
443-449-0193.
PS: An architect was met in Cameroon who drew the plan. It is a lot of money, but as the saying goes, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first stem." I shall be posting the cost estimates here, but, know that a $1.00 donation already reduces the amount. #Whatever you give will eventually add up. Thank you for your generosity.
