(ANS – Rome) – He has worked in various houses in the Barcelona, as Coordinator of Pastoral Work, the one responsible for vocational training and other things. Fr Manel Morancho Peris, and Electrical and Electronic Engineer is almost 62 years of age and speaks about his own experience in the work of formation, as a volunteer and now  a member of the 143rd Salesian Missionary Expedition. Cuba is his next destination.

How did you come to be part of the 143rd Expedition?
In the Province we have an NGO called VOLS (Voluntary Service) which each year sends young people to the missions, especially in America and Africa. In 2006 I had the opportunity to spend a month and a half of voluntary service in Bolivia, and in 2011 I was in Ecuador, with street children. It was there that the desire to become a missionary came to me, and then I asked the Superiors, but they did not want to let me go, because there is a lot of work to be done in the Province. Someone told me that I should write directly to the Rector Major. I did and just an hour later he replied that my request had been passed on to the Councillor for the Missions. He in his turn quickly replied, and from then on everything  was very easy. They called me and asked where I would like to go, and so as not to have any language problems I asked for a Latin American country. Cuba was offered to me and I accepted at once.

What are the differences and the similarities between young people from the vocational training centres or institutes and youngsters on the missions?
The youngsters I met during my missionary experience are more needy in certain areas::  from the economic point of view especially; they are youngsters  who are very open. In Spanish families they are short of nothing, “they have everything”, but then they are business men and so on –but they are short of some things. When I was with the youngsters in Bolivia and Ecuador I saw that some were without families -  street  children – or they had no money. We can see that there is a difference in their values; and what struck me from  the missionary experience was that children are simple, welcoming; they like just being together and you with them. And all this helps to make you develop from a vocational point of view.

Why be a Missionary Ad Gentes?
It’s a vocation. I hear God’s call to work somewhere else; perhaps there I won’t be so comfortable, certainly things will be more difficult, but all  this will help me to overcome myself. In some ways, for quite some years now I have been thinking of doing this; for me it is an enriching and fulfilling experience, perhaps because in our country (Spain) we are  a bit too settled. So going out in some way  makes us respond to the real situation. I know that the experience I will have will be so enriching and I feel I have to do it.

What expectations have you about the missionary experience you will have in Cuba?
I am going there to sanctify myself through all the people I shall meet there. I have the highest hopes of everything I shall see, say, experience  - together with the people I shall encounter in Cuba, and that it will be good. I know that I am going to a place where there are young people, leaders, groups, activity, and with all this I believe  I shall be very much at home.

What would you like to say to Salesians in formation?
I should like to tell Salesians and young people that in order to have  a missionary experience I began with voluntary service, in which I learned a great deal, and through all the contacts I made., and since I did voluntary service there have been two periods in my life: the before and the after. I know that not everyone has  a missionary vocation, many don’t hear the call, but I can tell you with all my heart that it is a very enriching personal experience and not only from the religious point of view, where you think you are going to give what you have, but in truth you receive what you are lacking; this  is what makes it an enriching experience.

Published 24/09/2012