Chronicles and photos of the Visit of M. Wanilda Melo to the Province of Asia (May-June, 2019)

Chronicles of the visit of M.Wanilda Melo to the province of Asia (May-June, 2019)

From the Philippines

Before leaving these lands I want to send you my last communication from this other side of the ocean. As I know day 10 I left Nagoya to the Philippines. The time was not the best for the two communities, but thank God the plane left promptly, as well as the arrival in Manila. The suitcase takes a long time to go out and I was already sleeping. When I left the airport, no one saw, but I perceived that at Manila airport you have to cross two streets to get to the premises where people wait. It seemed half confusing and I was already thinking of taking a taxi and going home when I saw M. Mercedes. Upon arriving home they were almost 2 h in the morning on my watch and then I was resting.

On the next day I left the house only to go to Mass in the afternoon in the San José church, which is near our house. On the 13th I was to know Quezon City's child and see the children who sang and danced expressing their cheerful reception. The school is small, has just two kinds of 25 students each being one in the morning and one in the afternoon. It is very beautiful and functional with spaces to serve that group of children, who, like all, are beautiful and looks are happy.

On that day I went to know another church, that of San Pedro, because there was a celebration at 12 noon. I could see how the people participate and how the two churches I met are clear and ventilated. Despite the strong heat of the city, inside the Church if it is very good. The night we had a common moment with the community to present a bit of the story and some photos of the province of Brazil and answer them what they did. On the 14th I took advantage of the morning to work at home, and after lunch, I went with M. María to know the part of the city that remembers the time of Spanish colonization. We visited the cathedral, the Agustín Santo Church with the Museum and other nearby places there. I learned that the Augustinians sent more than 1500 religious to the Philippines during colonization, which certainly gave evangelization in the country.

After touring those strikes of Filipino history we join the other sisters of the community for dinner in a restaurant where we attend a presentation of typical dances.
On day 15, after the Mass we left in the direction of Cavite to know that new work. They were three hours of travel and a very strong transit. As the Sisters Estela and Mayra were going to prepare the classes we went to a town near Tagaytay to know the monastery of the contemplative nuns founded by PE. Jansen, from the congregation of the divine verb. We could not see much, because time was very fair, but it was possible to appreciate the wonder of the premises and the richness of nature during the journey.

In Cavite the sisters, Micaela and Magdalena are living in a small room, which serves them everything and that the goalkeeper's space will be futurely. They were preparing everything to start the course with the children enrolled, who at the time were just 3, but they had the mood as if it were a large group. The school is under construction, but they were concluding the part that will function as a children's school. 7 classrooms ended, well aerated and clear. The school project any sample that will certainly be very pretty. The area is privileged by its size and for being flat terrain and near many new residences. We had lunch in a restaurant and when the sisters concluded the ornamentation of the school we began our trip back to Quezon City, which takes almost four hours due to the intensity of the traffic.
On the 16th, after the Mass I went out with M. Ana Kang for the airport to take the plane to Bacolod. At the airport I met M. Esther, that I was returning on vacation and we traveled together.
In the Bacolod airport we were waiting for the regina and May Anne sisters. We went home and took advantage of that afternoon to do the outstanding works. Day 17, I had the opportunity to participate in the opening mass of the school year with all students, educators and some people in the community. It was very nice to see the participation and involvement of the students in the celebration. Then the celebration the students made a brief reception and placed a welcome band and immediately went to visit the classes and other dependencies of the school. Then lunch I went with M. Esther to meet a little around the school. I liked to make that journey, because in school everything seems very nice and organized. I was able to perceive poverty around and I was admired to see that many of our students come from that reality. However, despite all difficulty, students are very well presented, not if you distinguish anything from each other. It was an important moment to know the proximity of the school and meet where the school is inserted.

On the 18th I went with the sisters to know the retirement house of the missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a wonderful place and invites silence and prayer. We also visit the Bacolod Cathedral. Notice that the constructions are quite affected by the humidity and heat of the town. In the afternoon, as it was a city party and there was no class we were all together to the premises where John Paul II celebrated in 1998. They built a memorial in the premises, which offers a wonderful panorama. As was the end of the afternoon, we attended the wonderful sunset. We went to dinner all together and return the house. On that day the M. Mary Rose community was joined in the Quezon City community, which was on vacation with the family and took the opportunity to get to Bacolod. I was happy because I could be in contact with all the sisters of the Philippines

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Day 19, day to return to Quezon City and prepare the suitcase for the return to Madrid. Despite the fatigue that involves going from one place to another, I thank God for the opportunity to know such diverse and rich realities. More and more perception of the importance of the small conceptionist plot, scattered throughout that world of God and the miracles that are carried out doing good to people needed the bread of faith, of culture, of the bread of hope. My thoughts if I return to Santa Carmen Sallés and certainly from heaven she blesses us and encourages us to move forward in the collaboration for the construction of the kingdom. I thank the congregation for this rich experience and the sisters of the province of Asia for the attention and dedication in providing me with the opportunity to expand the horizons of my vision about the reality of the Asian conceptionist world.

Photos of the visit to the Philippines

January 26, 2022

Photos and chronicle of the visit to Japan

Dear sisters

I am ending today that appealed by the conceptionist communities of Japan. The marathon here was a bit softer and today was a time, which I take to write to them, because tomorrow it will be in the rhythm of the Philippines. As planned on May 31, after Mass in the community of Ilsa we went directly to Seul airport. I left at 10h10 by the Korean Airlines towards the Nagoya. Arriving at Nagoya Airport, M. Juana Kim was waiting for me to take the fast train and go to Gifu. It was more 1 h travel to Gifu.

After greeting the sisters, organizing things a bit I went with M. Angez to go around school to meet, because there were no students and we could enter all the rooms without major problems. The school is very great and as they know in it, what corresponds to secondary and high school education works. The school is feminine and is well located at the foot of a mountain. The place is very nice, but a little distant and that is why there are buss that bring and carry the students. The school occupies a privileged space with an enviable infra structure, maintained by an association of which the sisters are also part. The school was built by a legal association that maintains school. Buses are maintained and administered by the Parent Association. On the morning of 01 I went to see the arrival of school buses, the entry of the students and the outside of the school with their leisure and sports area to cause envy. In the afternoon we went to Gifu Park and ascend to the mountain to learn about the small castle where the feudal man who dominated the region lived.

On day 02 we went to Mass in a small town called Minokano, where M. Clara Hyodo gives catechesis to the children. In that church there is a large group of Brazilians and after the Mass they have a coffee together and speak. I perceived a very close environment. Leaving there we were to meet a place where if you can participate in an office to make special role of those used in Japan for Origami and other typical crafts of Japanese art and went to a restaurant where we met the other sisters of the community and have lunch together.
June 3 in the morning, M. Angez Gaton accompanied me to Nagoya to do the transford for another train that went to Kobe.
Arriving at Kobe M. Elena Goicocheia I was waiting for me at the station. We took a taxi and went home. I was surprised later when it arrived, because it is a very small house and I thought it was like the other houses, along with the school. The very cozy sisters as in all other communities. In Kobe there are 4 sisters - M. Mariane Inoue, M. Monica Park, M. Elena Goicocheia and M. Rosa Konagaya.
The sisters had already scheduled my stay and the activities to be carried out, therefore, on the morning of 04, after the prayers and Mass we went out to the station, M. Rosa Konagaya and I headed to Hiroshima and the island of Itukushima.

After 1 hour of train travel we arrived in Hiroshima and went to the square where the monument and the Museum of the Peace Memorial is. We visited the space and the museum and then we were lunch.
(The museum contains photographs of the damage caused by the atomic bomb launched on Hiroshima during World War II and a collection of objects of people who were reached by the bomb. The museum uses those collections to remind people of the horrors of nuclear bombs and to appeal for a future where there are no nuclear bombs).
There were many groups of students in the place, who watched everything and made annotations of what they saw. The atmosphere was silent and very emotion. Each group brought a tsurus chain, which left in the monument in the square. Many groups sang a singing for peace.

Then the lunch went to the premises where we took a ship that would take us to the island of Fukushima. The island of Itukushima is one of the many islands of the inner sea and that is where the highest mountain in the region is located, Lo Monte Misen (530m). Due to the xintoist custom of mountain worship the premises was considered sacred - and as such veiled to human presence, since ancient times. Thus, the sanctuary was built on the water, next to the island, which is today considered a natural park. Xintoist sanctuaries delimit a certain sacred space and usually have a ban taking them away from profane outer space. In the immediate vicinity and in its entrance there are usually ritual gates or torii setting the entrance to a sacred space. Inside this space there are several buildings with specific ritual functions). We visited the Xintoist sanctuary and finished the visit we begin our return to the station to take the train back to Kobe. We arrive home for prayer with the community.

On day 05 I went with M. Marianne Inoue to meet parish. Modern construction was later made the great Kobe earthquake, which knocked down the previous church, of Gothic and older style.
(On the morning of January 17, 1995, an intensity earthquake 7.3 on the Richter scale reached Japan. The epicenter was close to three cities - Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto. But the most affected was Kobe, an important economic center and the fifth city of the country with a million and a half inhabitants. In 20 seconds, houses and buildings were down, in addition to roads and subway stations. The electricity grid were destroyed.
After visiting the parish I went with M. Rosa Konagaya to meet the children's school, which has a director M. Monica Park, Korean who lives several years in Japan. The school is very beautiful and cheerful. It is a relatively new construction, as the great earthquake was then built. In the afternoon M. Elena Goicocheia accompanied me to the city of Osaka to know and visit the cathedral and the thirst for archbishopric of what belongs to the city of Kobe.

Day 06 in the morning, after Café Sali de Casa to take the destination to the last community to visit in Japan - Nagoya. M. Teresa Ikari was waiting for me at the railway station. We went home and after lunch I went to know the Infant. The children of a class sang the Blue Band Anthem. In the same class there are children of various sizes and they told me that this is due to the method they use, the Montessori and that is why children are distributed in classes according to their development. The classrooms are more or less the same. The sisters said that at the time in which this school was built, it was considered a model and published in several magazines. The Nagoya community also had a plan to which I should continue and in 07 we left early to Kyoto to visit the city, which is very representative of Japanese culture with its various Buddhist temples. We visited two temples, because it rained a lot and it was not possible to visit those who stayed in the mountainous region. We also visited the Church of Our Lady of Los Angeles, where the Japanese martyrs came from heading to Nagazaki. There is a residence of sisters, a house of reception to young people who yearn to make an experience of prayer and discernment.
As it rained, we returned to Nagoya before the scheduled time, but it was good to put communications on day.

On the morning of 08 we visited the cemetery where 5 sisters are buried - Ana Maria de la Fuente, Rosa Sugimoto, M. Catalina Watanabi and M. Teresa Tamura. We pray for them and ask to intercede throughout the congregation. In the afternoon I went to see a little the activities they carry out with the alumni on Saturdays. There were 32 children and at least 9 adults to accompany them
At night, Vespers of Pentecost, we dedicate a time for a prayer vigil ready to receive the holy spirit. On day 09 I participated in the Mass in the parish. What I observed in all the churches is that as there are few Catholics, there is more a community environment in which everyone is known and related. After the Mass I went to see the activity they did at school with parents and children. This is an activity common to several schools, parents come with school children and all participate in diverse activities.

In the afternoon I had a small meeting with the sisters to know a little more about the activities they do and went to dinner at the restaurant that stays in front of our house.
And today 10, I dedicated myself to preparing suitcases and finish this chronicle that I send them so that they can participate in some form of this rich experience of knowing more closely the reality of each country.
In a short time, I do not intend to say that I met a lot about Japanese reality and culture, but without a doubt, a little more than I heard before coming.
I thank God and the Congregation for this opportunity. As I said before about Korea, the sisters helped me to experience the fraternity that unites us and made me feel in a house in Maria Immaculate, a conceptionist community. I thank all for the attention received. HNA Wanilda Melo Barbara, RCM
January 26, 2022
January 26, 2022

January 26, 2022

Chronicles from Korea

Dear sisters: On May 18 in the morning I started the trip to Asia. At the Seoul airport I was waiting for Clara and Agnes sisters. As was Sunday and they had no mass at home, we went directly to the parish to participate in the Eucharist. Arriving home I accompanied the activities of the sisters in Chongnum to lunch and then I was sleeping until the next day, because I was almost unable to stand. On the 20th in the morning I visited the Infant and the Alternative School of Zaona, which works in a part of the same building and in the afternoon I was to know the sanctuary of the Korean martyrs. To each situation or thing that I see I confirm for me that one thing is to hear and a very different one is to see.

At night we could go out with the whole community to the nearby mountain to contemplate the city with its lights. A real wonder! On day 21 we left to know the part of the Seul market. We walked a lot of time and in the afternoon they took me to attend a show of Korean theater and dances. It is beautiful to see the precision and dedication in that beautiful presentation. The theater had to see with the stories of the Korean tradition and was undoubtedly a shower of the rich culture of this town.

The morning of the 22nd I dedicate myself to going through the children's classes and the school of Zaona, because I would like to inform myself of its operation and talk to the sisters responsible for each sector. In the afternoon we visited a very beautiful Buddhist temple, because of its exuberant nature, an environment of recollection, of a lot of color, quite different from what our Christian temples are. I contemplated everything with admiration for all of everyone. Finishing the visit we were heading to Pulgangdon, through the cafeteria created to offer the young women of the school of Zaona a professional practice. It is to admire the conceptionist details present in this work.

Arriving to the community of Pulgangdon the sisters were waiting for me in the parking lot of the parish. After the sentence of eve and Rosario, the sisters prepared a tasty dinner. M. Agnes remained with us on that night since it was a bit late to return the house. In Pulgangdon, take advantage of the morning of the 23rd to learn about the star of the star of the sea, which has M. Ana Choi as general director.

On the 24th in the morning they took me to know the Children's School of Heaven, where the sisters work: María Kwon and Agnes Jang. The children, very happy and expansive presented songs and greetings in Spanish and Portuguese. The afternoon was with Ana Choi to know one of Seoul's castles in kings. In the castle we attended a Korean musical presentation and I found a marriage from Brazil, from the city of Sorocaba, near São Paulo.

On the 25th in the morning it was day to take the suitcase and leave for another community. Now, towards the Suwon community. M. Teresa Kim came to Pulgangdon to look for me and we went to Suwon arriving first to the offices where our sisters work at the service of the Diocese of Suwon: Teresa Kim, Tereza Woo and Veronica Lee. After going through those places we had lunch in a restaurant and went to a festival organized by the diocese, for children and young people about the subject of defense of life. Between one presentation and another made the raffle of a huge sack of popcorn. I also had one as a gift. Before returning home we spend to know Suwon's cathedral.

On the next day the three sisters of the community and I went to a typical town of Korea organized as a museum retracting a bit of the Korean culture. Care is admirable with the representation and with the interest of all who were in the town. It was undoubtedly another Korean culture shower.

On the morning of the 27th I took the opportunity to know the school. I perceived, once again, how contrasting our realities in the congregation are. Some places with so many students in little space and others with all spaces that favor pedagogical work and there are not so many students. The very large school, very well equipped, has classrooms and special materials for the different activities. Gives to perceive the importance they give to music and art in general. I had the opportunity to speak with people of the administrative and pedagogical team of the school to understand its functioning, accompanied by M. Micaela, a conceptionist who acts at school, which also belongs to the diocese. M. Teresa Woo also accompanied us this morning. In the afternoon M. Tereza Woo accompanied me to the city of Ilsa, my last community to visit in La Korea.

As I left the Suwon community, where each sister does a different job and are only in the morning and at night, in Ilsa I had the opportunity to accompany the rhythm of the community more. The school, although small is very beautiful, organized and perceived the children are very happy. An aspect that caught my attention among so many others, was the fact that some moms act as volunteers to accompany children, then lunch in the reading room. I saw the performance of some and I perceived the satisfaction they experience with that activity. In this community they took me to know Injingak, a space that marks the desire for unification of the two Koreas. It is a pretty place at the same time, full of meaning, but with sad marks of the history of separation and division in a geographical space that could be united. It is very emotional to see in posters the desire for news of the relatives separated by a wire fence, but intransponable and the desire for peace symbolized by the velets of various colors planted by the field taking Buenos Aires to North Korea.
To complete this day 28 we had a festive dinner and a walk through a magnificent park of roses and other flowers. On the 29th and 30th, take a little more to know the mission that takes place in Ilsa and the surroundings of our house and on the 31st in the morning again to take the suitcase to other lands, now from Japan.

I am very grateful to each of the Korean sisters for all attention they have had for me. I particularly appreciate M. Agnes who could accompany me. I carry of Korea the experience of belonging and closeness, of reception and of fraternity, of conceptionist life and of dedication to the kingdom of God. I also have a little more knowledge of the reality of the Catholics of the Korean parishes. I was impressed by the presence in the daily masses, with the Church full independent of the schedule. I was able to check this at three Mass schedules at 6, at 10 in the morning and in the afternoon. Gone to God to continue blessing the mission of Korea and sends new Korean vocations that can continue the missionary path made by conceptionists in this beautiful corner of Asia.

I have felt as a family and for everything I thank God.

January 26, 2022

Photos of Korea