Fr Ali Nnaemeka is a missionary Oblate of Mary
Immaculate. He is an Igbo, from the South-East of Nigeria.But since some years,
now, Ali is a member of a four men team of missionaries working in eight Innu
communities of the North-Coast of Quebec. The missionary team is composed of
Oblates from Quebec, Madagascar, Cameroon and Nigeria. I
had the opportunity of interviewing Ali recently.
An Interview realized
by José I. Sierra.
Fr
Ali is
in charge of two Christian communities situated in the North-Coast region: The
Community of Ekuanitshit (Mingan) qui is situated at about 10 hours drive from
Quebec City, and that of Matimekush–Lac John (Schefferville), situated at about
700KM far in the North.
“The particularity of
the community in Schefferville is that it takes little more than an hour to
arrive there and more than 12 hours of train to make the same journey, explains
Fr Ali. But as the flight ticket is very costly, I am obliged to frequently go
on train. And that is why I spend two weeks in each of the missions every time I
visit.”
This information on
transportation that Ali gives us bring to mind a vast, enclaved and relatively
hard to access territory. One can ask what pushes a Nigerian to leave his
country to do mission work in the Northern Canada. This is one of the questions
I will be asking the missionary in this
interview.
From Nigeria to Canada: Is it by chance that you are
here?
Ali – No,
it was neither by chance nor by hazard … not even an act of Providence. It was
wanted, asked for and planned. An oblate colleague arrived Canada two years
before me and I was asked to come and join here.
Already before that,
when I decided to become a missionary priest, I had the desire to go on a
mission far from my country. But during my formation years, I decided to stay in
Nigeria. And just one year before my priestly ordination, my congregation asked
if I would want to go to Canada. After considering the propositions, I accepted
it.
Why did you accept it?
Fr
Ali – Because
Native Mission in Canada was among the first mission of the oblates. But there
is another reason. I believe that Canadian Church gave a lot to the world in
terms of money, but also in terms missionary supports. Think of all these
Quebeckers or Canadian missionaries who went on a mission to different parts of
the world. To forget this Church that gave a lot to the world will be unjust and
ingrate.
So, how is your integration to the Native
Community?
Fr
Ali – At
the beginning, it was not so easy. To better integrate to a new milieu, it is
necessary to consider certain factors: it is important that the community be
assured of your love for their reality, that you are there for them; it is also
absolute to share their life, their vision of the world, etc. It must be a
pastoral of presence in its full sense: presence in joy and in pain; presence
in school, families, hospitals, etc.
I suppose you work mainly with Native
Believers…
Fr
Ali – In
Native communities, it is very difficult to distinguish between Christians and
non-Christians, for the simple reason that all members are believers. It is
certain that not all the community members that come to church. But we, the
missionaries, we are there for everybody. We are at the service of all our
community members. Our mission is not strictly to celebrate mass or sacraments.
We are called to be members of the community we are sent to. I often visit
schools to meet the youths and participate in their school activities; I visit
cultural centres to take part in community activities; I also participate in
Indigenous Youth Inter-band Games, etc.
You are then much solicited?
Ali – It
is really necessary that I am there. I feel it mainly when there is burial
ceremony. There is going to be one very these days. But here is the dilemma: I
have a program tomorrow, here in Montreal, and I cannot then be in
Schefferville. More still, my oblate brother who normally replaces me is in a
far distant area. But the community wants us to be there.
For example, each time
we are absent in the community, they show it. And even when I have a program in
another Church, there is always someone who comes to tell me that I am
abandoning them. As a matter of truth, that shows that they love us. They are
happy to have us among them.
Do you speak with them in Innu? Do you speak their
language?
Fr
Ali – No,
I do not yet speak the language. I have started understanding few words and that
permits me to celebrate mass in Innu. For homilies, there is always someone who
does the translation. My personal goal will be to speak Innu. But I must confess
that I find it a very hard language to learn, because it is totally different
from every other languages I knew. It is already three years I am here, and I
cannot yet speak Innu.
And Innu culture: Are there certain similarities with
your own?
Fr
Ali – Of
course! Native communities – even though we are from different regions of the
world – have certain similar realities with what is observed among the Igbos of
Nigeria. Native universe is more or less the same with the universe of my
people. The place of the family in the life of an individual, for example, is as
important to the Innu nation as it is to the Igbo people. The existence of an
individual is always in relationship with the group the individual originates
from.
There are also some
similarities on spiritual level. Among the Igbo, there exist a spirit link
between the individual and the cosmos. With the Innu nation, the universe is
sacred.
When arrived in Quebec
and mainly in these communities, I discovered that I was among people who had
similar values with my people, even if they are expressed differently. Having
said that, I am conscious that one should be very careful not to assume to have
understood the other, just because there are some similarities with one’s
culture.
À part from the similarities in your cultures, how do
you live with the differences?
Fr
Ali – Cultural
differences intrigue me. And the more it intrigues me the more I question them
and that pushes me to go beyond the known. I am someone who does not like
comfort zone because it prevents me from growing. So when I receive an
assignment, that present some difficulties, I do not relent. On the contrary, it
motivates me to face it and overcome it.
You do not feel discouraged?
Fr
Ali – It
does not mean that it is easy, but it is nevertheless a stimulating challenge. I
am not easily discouraged because I take time to observe. Each time I arrive to
the mission, I take a very important moment to observe, to learn and to ask
questions to people.
My missionary program
is base on the principle that I am sent to a people I am to walk alongside. If
we observe the life of Christ, we discover that he was not spending all his time
with the disciples, just to teach. He walked alongside them, and he observed
them live. And when the disciples were hungry, he was hungry too. He was not
detached from their reality even though he was the Christ.
Just like Christ, I
walk alongside my community, here, as the community leader. But the leader is
not more important than those he or she leads. The priest and his community must
complement each other.
What sense do you give to your mission?
Fr
Ali – There
are two. As I mentioned at the beginning, it is first to maintain the Native
ministry. Allow it to die away will be allowing a part of our missionary
heritage to dissolve into the thin air. Secondly, to refuse to come and help
this North Coast Mission will amount to being ingrate to the Church of Quebec
after all she did and continue to do in the world. For me, it is not like paying
back. It is instead like a collaboration between Churches. The Church is like a
family, and in the family, people help one another. All the members of the
Church should not concentrate their effort in one place when there are other
areas that need helping hands.
Going away from my
country was not very easy for me. In Nigeria, I was in a mission I liked, in a
parish that I adored. We had a school and we created a project for this school.
I was dreaming to help this people that needed it.
The idea of leaving
was almost like dying, for I had to leave behind me my former mission. But I
thought that there was more possibility of me being replaced in Nigeria than
here in Canada. I then decided to come here … and I do not regret doing that!
Because Canadian mission is essentially Native mission, among the innus. If I
must start over, I would do the same over and over.
The interview was first published in
october-november-december 2017 Univers Magazine, p.16-19.
