THE VIRUS OF HUNGER
BALLYDESMOND NATIVE FR MARTIN MCCORMACK MINISTERS IN SWAZILAND, SOUTHERN AFRICA, WHERE THE CORONA VIRUS HAS THREATENS TO DEVASTATE A PEOPLE ALREADY ON THE MARGINS
I checked several places over the past few days for masks and hand sanitizers and none are available ... One place I visited, the available hand sanitizers had been sold for triple the price The human spirit is indomitable, the little voice you hear whispers hope when the entire world is fearful. ‘Be not afraid’ is mentioned 365 times in the scriptures
AS Covid-19 wreaks havoc across the world, countless people are living in fear. While here in the western world health care systems have robust strategies in place to cope with the unprecedented influx of very sick people, in third world countries the weak health system may well be overwhelmed by a large scale outbreak which would have catastrophic consequences.
In Africa, malnutrition and disease means Covid 19 could be more deadly there than elsewhere in the world.
As the virus gained a strong foothold in eSwatini (Swaziland) this week, The Corkman spoke to Ballydesmond native Fr. Martin McCormack who has worked there for many years as a Salesian Missionary Priest. His ministry also takes him to neighboring countries such as Lesotho and South Africa.
“I’m continuing to minister as a priest, albeit in different circumstances at the moment. On March 17th, a state of emergency was declared here. This crisis has scared many and has people living in fear. Schools are closed and all church services and gatherings suspended” Fr. Martin said.
The day The Corkman spoke to him he had been out delivering food to the needy. “There’s very little food here, so I’m buying what I can and giving it out, people need reassurance and that is my ministry, to be the hope and light” he added.
“I spent today getting food to those who come to the mission on a regular basis for help. Now they are housebound, so I went to them with 10kgs of rice, mealie meal, cooking oil, sugar and the basics.
“With church doors closed to services I have a sense it’s a call for us to show that church was never about buildings. Sometimes our lights go out, but are blown again into an instant flame by an encounter with another human being. We can phone, send a text or a WhatsApp message so people won’t feel isolated. This is the church of the now” he added.
Fr. Martin noted that the panic buying which is prevalent throughout the western world hasn’t affected Swaziland as much, mainly because many things are not available anyway. “I checked several places over the past few days for masks and hand sanitizers and none are available” he said. “The contrast between our two worlds is quite startling from where I am. People will get rich on the backs of the needy and those who are panicking. One place I visited, the available hand sanitizers had been sold for triple the price. Suffering creating an opportunity to make fast money but many are lacking in compassion” he added.
“This Good Friday will be like none we have experienced in our lifetime. We will not be gathering in churches. We are journeying in our own homes across the world and joining our stories to a God who is reaching out to us” he said.
“Poverty in eSwatini is not a word - it is a person. It is a multitude of persons who knock on the mission door after the 8.30am Sunday mass looking for mealie meal, rice and cooking oil, some looking for some money for medicine. 300 came to me in January looking for school fees.
“There are days I walk out at 6 am and find people seeking help, some are students in my schools. The list goes on each week. It represents the harsh reality of a virus called hunger which the world could cure but chooses not to. It is the empty pot for too many mouths. The poor harvest because of the intensity of the heat. It is the gleanings and sweepings from dustbins and the never-ending struggle simply to survive. “I am a reflective person and the past days I’ve wondered how I might minister in these changing circumstances and be a voice of hope. I am using my Facebook page to put out a daily message of hope. People are looking for leadership and hope in their fears.
The earth has a moment to breathe now.
“The images across our world of empty streets, no traffic or people is startling. The earth is silent- we might all take a moment to breathe also and reflect on how life is lived in the modern world. We are now forced to slow down and it’s amazing how this can happen.
“When I was back in Ireland at Christmas many people had no time to meet me. Rushing from one place to another without enjoying the journey. Now that life is forced to slow down, we might reflect in the silence on what Henry Thoreau once said. ‘I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to confront only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived’.
“The human spirit is indomitable, the little voice you hear whispers hope when the entire world is fearful. ‘Be not afraid’ is mentioned 365 times in the scriptures.
‘From this distance I am watching how communities in Ireland are supporting each other and it’s quite heartening. I notice my own village of Ballydesmond is active in looking out for each other. The basic goodness in people will shine through in these times and we will become more human and aware of each other again. The world will rise and be different.
“I came across a quote yesterday which said when something bad happens to us, something that severely upsets our normal routines and knocks us off our normal course, the opportunity is there to question our assumptions and turn our lives around”.
Fr. Martin finished by sharing a poem composed about Covid 19 by Irish American Teacher Kitty O’ Meara:
‘And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still and listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.
‘And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.
‘And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.’