Formation House at Wailoku, Fiji

 

Within the next week (weekend of  July  11-12, 2009) , celebrations will be held in Fiji to mark 50 years of Vincentian presence there.  Rather than thinking that Vincentians have brought the spirit of Vincent de Paul to Fiji, perhaps we should consider that the spirit of Vincent was already alive and well there, but the Vincentians have helped to articulate and focus that spirit.  The same would apply to the presence of Vincentians in Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

The Vincentian Formation House at Wailoku on the outskirts of Suva  now houses young men fromFiji, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, and Papua-New Guinea.   A number of these young men are currently in their  Spiritual Year, a year of intense spiritual formation..  Through Fr Alan Gibson CM, some of those in their spiritual Year share with us their backgrounds and some brief  reflections on Vincent de Paul.  These reflections are available through the links given below and are posted to this site without any alterations.

It is great to have  students at Wailoku sharing with us their interpretation of Vincent de Paul and his spirit.  

 

Vincent Manehoua

Mr Vincent Manehoua is 34 years of age and is originally from Rohinari Parish, South Malaita in the Auki Diocese of Solomon Islands. After completing secondary schooling he moved to Honiara and spent most of his youth ministry with the St Vincent De Paul Society in the Holy Cross Cathedral Parish. It is during this time that Vincent began his association with the CMSI (Congregation of the Mission Solomon Islands). Also at this time, Vincent expressed interest in joining the CMs’ but it was not in the Vincentians'  mandate at that time to recruit  vocations in the Solomons. So he commenced his seminary training with the Auki Diocese and completed two years of formation with them. He then completed the Nazareth Apostolic Centers’ Pre-Seminary Program which is accredited with the Maryvale Catechetical Institute—England for one year in 2007. It was in this year he made application to join the Congregation of the Mission. He subsequently joined the Vincentian Formation Programme at Wailoku in Fiji in 2008 and completed one year of studies at the Pacific Regional Seminary prior to commencing his Spiritual Year this year.

Vincent's paper is titled   A brief history of St. Vincent De Paul

 

Benjamin Paka

Benjamin Paka is 29 years of age and originally applied to join the community on 27 February 2006. He comes from a strong catholic family where 3 of the family are catechists. Benjamin has a brother, Patrick Gari who knew of the Vincentians and was also a former student here at Nazareth Apostolic Center in Solomon Islands.   Benjamin comes from Tarnami Village in West Guadacanal   diocesan-run St Joseph the Worker Parish. In his schooling he attended Pawa Provincial Secondary School from 1990-1992, St Stephens Pamna in 1993-1994 where he attended Grade Six in Tangarare,  and later after some time in the village went to do a Pastoral Certificate from 1998-1999 at the SMSM Sisters administered Tangarare Pastoral Center under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Honiara. In his efforts to assist his father in the village in catechetical works Benjamin went further and attended NAC for the Diploma Pastoral Program which 2000-2002. From 2002-2005, Benjamin undertook part-time studies at the USP Extension Center to do English Forms 6-7 here in Honiara and also assisted his Dad with catechetical works in their home parish. Since being with Nazareth Apostolic Center(2007), Benjamin has completed a one year program on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In addition he has participated in the different activities of the school under the Pre-Seminary. Benjamin subsequently joined the Vincentian Formation Programme at Wailoku and completed one year of study at Pacific Regional Seminary prior to commencing his Spiritual Year at Wailoku this year.

Benjamin has written on St Vincent de Paul's Work 

 

Romano Pesira

Mr. Romano Pesira is 35 years of age and first made contact with the community in 2006. Romano comes from a Catholic Family from Wanahata Village in North Star Harbor at his home Province of Makira Ulawa. In his secondary schooling,  Romano attended Pawa Provincial Sec School from 1990-1992, St Stephens Pamna 1993-1994 where he did his Form 5. After schooling, Romano was employed as an Agriculture Instructor for the untrained teacher program in 1999 with the Makira Education Authority. This led him to apply to be trained as a primary school teacher certificate with Solomon Island College Higher Education (SICHE) from 2000-2003. After completing his SICHE certificate, Romano taught as a trained teacher with the civil service for two years (2004-2006) Since being with Nazareth Apostolic Center (2007), Romano has completed a one year program on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In addition he has participated in the different activities of the school under the Pre-Seminary program. Romano subsequently commenced his formation at Wailoku and completed one year of studies last year at Pacific regional Seminary prior to commencing his Spiritual Year this year.

Romano has called his reflection The Man He Was - St Vincent de Paul

 

Gideon Tahunieti

Gideon is 31 years of age and comes from the Malaita Province in the Solomon Islands. Gideon attended Primary School and completed Class Six. He then worked on a family farm for a number of years. He then worked for Habitat International in the Solomon Islands for three years. The work there was mainly building houses for poor people. He also studied for two yeas in St. Dominic Rural Training Centre. He then did three years in Nazareth Apostolic Centre. In that time he spent two years doing a Diploma in Pastoral Study before doing one year of Pre-Seminary training. He came to Wailoku this year to commence his Spiritual Year as a Brother candidate for the Congregation.

Gideon's Reflection is on  LIfe of St Vincent - Witnessing Jesus Christ in the Poor

    

Sowani Raivuni

Sowani is thirty years of age. He is originally from Navunisole, Fiji,  but then lived in Lomeri for ten years prior to joining the community. He attended Primary School for six years at Namatalata District School and Secondary School at Tailevu College for six years. Both these schools are near Korovou town which is inside our parish boundaries of Natovi. After leaving school he attended Catering School for one year. Sowani worked a variety of jobs over a number of years prior to joining the community. He worked as a barman in two Hotel Resorts over a six year period. He then worked as a Barristra in a Coffee and Pastry Shop. He worked in two places for a couple of years as a Beverage Service Manager. Sowani joined our Come and See Program in 2007 .He entered the Vincentians last year and did one year of Academic study prior to commencing his Spiritual Year at Wailoku this year.

Sowani's reflection is on the Life of St Vincent de Paul