38 years of missionary service in Karamoja
May 30, 2004
FATHER Elvio Gostoli, an old and stout Italian missionary, paces about on the verandah of Regina Maundy at Comboni Mission in Moroto. He is visibly anxious.
FATHER Elvio Gostoli, an old and stout Italian missionary, paces about on the verandah of Regina Maundy at Comboni Mission in Moroto. He is visibly anxious.
Already, Gostoli is over two decades beyond retirement age, 48 years working in Africa, 38 among the Karimojong.
Gostoli, however is not worried about his age. His major worry is that if he retires, the mission will have no custodian.
“I cannot return to Italy now. The mission will close. It has happened to most of our missions elsewhere,†Gostoli says.
Karamoja is not an easy a region to work in. The wages of working there is often death. His Karimojong flock describes him as a ‘white Karimojong’ because of his dedicated works in the area. His endless efforts in promoting humanity and the ability to shape souls is evident across this region.
When drought and famine, which are perennial strike, missionaries represent the last hope. An evangelist and a teacher, Gostoli long gave his life for this region. He is a father to the fatherless.
“To overcome Karimojong habits, we need schools. It is their mentality to raid. Pure evangelism is not enough for Karamoja. It may shape souls, but it’s not enough. People lose out on self-reliance,†he adds.
According to Gostoli, human development involves imparting of skills. “I found very intelligent people among the Karimojong, people with clear minds and who are ready to learn.†His conscience tells him that building learning structures in Karamoja is easy, but getting a community of sisters to run them is a problem.
“I’ve finished building a big hall for mothers and children. Karimojong mothers only care about girls. Boys are left to die. The hall is for educating mothers and feeding children,†says Gostoli.
Originally, Gostoli’s plan was to build a girls’ school in Matheniko near Moroto town, but he failed.
However, he built a dispensary with a maternity ward and eight-roomed building for staff accommodation.
Women in Karamoja engage in a lot of activities. For one to reach out to a Karimojong man, a woman must be involved. This is a big factor which restrains Gostolino from retiring. He fears that without him, even the little achievements so far made will be shattered.
He has built a network of people carrying out various activities, including mechanics, carpentry, education, health and small group of Christian women working for peace. These women link the mission to the needy community in times of famine.
“Or nigrizia or Death†translated as; “the situated one of the black world,†These were Bishop Daniel Comboni’s words, the founder of the Comboni Missionaries.
It was not by accident that Gostoli chose to accomplish what Comboni started. Against resistance at home, Comboni offered his life to save Africa, a continent equated to death.
Born to a humble family of retail food storeowners in Pesaro, Urbino in Italy 80 years ago, Gostoli joined a seminary at a tender age of 10. He continued to the major seminary before joining the Comboni Missionaries in September 1945.
Between 1949 and 1955 Gostoli, was fully in priesthood, teaching in his hometown of Urbino. But his passion for Africa had overgrown.
He set foot in Africa in 1955, making his first appearance among the Madi in Southern Sudan.
Although Gostoli had learnt the local language within seven months, he was asked to replace another Father in the nearby Mundari region, a different ethnic Bari speaking people. “We were only two there. Visiting the whole area needed one and half years. A single safari took three weeks.
Water was a problem. We had to carry containers when traveling along River Nile to fetch smelly swamp water,†says Gostoli.
It could have been a region stretching about 10,000sq. km east and west of the Nile. Mundari takes a special space in Gostoli’s heart. “Mundari tribesmen are peaceful shepherds who live in large villages without fences.
During dry seasons, I slept under trees. Hyenas even come near my bed,†he adds. Paradise yes, but he had to leave it by force in 1964.
While on routine activities, he was dragged out of prayers before a congregation, bundled up and taken to Khartoum, where deportation awaited.
The Khartoum government under Islamic fundamentalists had resolved to round up all Christian missionaries in the south.
Six hundred of them, including sisters, were picked up. Unlike others, Gostoli was the last to be picked because he was the furthest. Three lorryfuls of soldiers were dispatched.
“The Khartoum government had decided to harass Africans, but did not want witnesses. We were forced to pay for our deportation costs,†he remembers.
But deportation did not close Gostoli’s doors. Only months at home, his office allowed him to go to Uganda. Before Karamoja, he had to assist 27,000 Sudanese refuges in Agago and Acholipii.
“They were camped in the bush and were being helped by Patongo parish priest. I remember going to Kalongo hospital every time. The vehicle full of sick people,†Gostoli says.
Pakele in Adjuman and Padibe refugee camps on the border with Sudan, were his next destination.
Arising from assisting Democratic Republic of Congolese refugees, Gostoli ended up learning French.
“Nakapiripirit was born out of Sudanese refugees. There was another Father in Amudat-Lorengdwat where I was sent later.†He was given an abandoned hut and a tent without any water source. Water sources were 30-50 km away.
It’s here that Gostoli learnt the difference between the Mundari hospitality and Karimojong hostility.
Like any other Ugandan at the time, 1970s were a line between life and death.
The Karimojong replaced spears with guns following the fall of Idi Amin’s regime. Living by the grace of God followed. Marauding fleeing soldiers panted to loot the mission. Between 1985-86 is Gostoli’s most infamous year.
As Kampala fell into ululation to welcome the new regime under President Yoweri Museveni, in Karamoja, warriors were assuming the rule of law and order.
Already, Gostoli is over two decades beyond retirement age, 48 years working in Africa, 38 among the Karimojong.
Gostoli, however is not worried about his age. His major worry is that if he retires, the mission will have no custodian.
“I cannot return to Italy now. The mission will close. It has happened to most of our missions elsewhere,†Gostoli says.
Karamoja is not an easy a region to work in. The wages of working there is often death. His Karimojong flock describes him as a ‘white Karimojong’ because of his dedicated works in the area. His endless efforts in promoting humanity and the ability to shape souls is evident across this region.
When drought and famine, which are perennial strike, missionaries represent the last hope. An evangelist and a teacher, Gostoli long gave his life for this region. He is a father to the fatherless.
“To overcome Karimojong habits, we need schools. It is their mentality to raid. Pure evangelism is not enough for Karamoja. It may shape souls, but it’s not enough. People lose out on self-reliance,†he adds.
According to Gostoli, human development involves imparting of skills. “I found very intelligent people among the Karimojong, people with clear minds and who are ready to learn.†His conscience tells him that building learning structures in Karamoja is easy, but getting a community of sisters to run them is a problem.
“I’ve finished building a big hall for mothers and children. Karimojong mothers only care about girls. Boys are left to die. The hall is for educating mothers and feeding children,†says Gostoli.
Originally, Gostoli’s plan was to build a girls’ school in Matheniko near Moroto town, but he failed.
However, he built a dispensary with a maternity ward and eight-roomed building for staff accommodation.
Women in Karamoja engage in a lot of activities. For one to reach out to a Karimojong man, a woman must be involved. This is a big factor which restrains Gostolino from retiring. He fears that without him, even the little achievements so far made will be shattered.
He has built a network of people carrying out various activities, including mechanics, carpentry, education, health and small group of Christian women working for peace. These women link the mission to the needy community in times of famine.
“Or nigrizia or Death†translated as; “the situated one of the black world,†These were Bishop Daniel Comboni’s words, the founder of the Comboni Missionaries.
It was not by accident that Gostoli chose to accomplish what Comboni started. Against resistance at home, Comboni offered his life to save Africa, a continent equated to death.
Born to a humble family of retail food storeowners in Pesaro, Urbino in Italy 80 years ago, Gostoli joined a seminary at a tender age of 10. He continued to the major seminary before joining the Comboni Missionaries in September 1945.
Between 1949 and 1955 Gostoli, was fully in priesthood, teaching in his hometown of Urbino. But his passion for Africa had overgrown.
He set foot in Africa in 1955, making his first appearance among the Madi in Southern Sudan.
Although Gostoli had learnt the local language within seven months, he was asked to replace another Father in the nearby Mundari region, a different ethnic Bari speaking people. “We were only two there. Visiting the whole area needed one and half years. A single safari took three weeks.
Water was a problem. We had to carry containers when traveling along River Nile to fetch smelly swamp water,†says Gostoli.
It could have been a region stretching about 10,000sq. km east and west of the Nile. Mundari takes a special space in Gostoli’s heart. “Mundari tribesmen are peaceful shepherds who live in large villages without fences.
During dry seasons, I slept under trees. Hyenas even come near my bed,†he adds. Paradise yes, but he had to leave it by force in 1964.
While on routine activities, he was dragged out of prayers before a congregation, bundled up and taken to Khartoum, where deportation awaited.
The Khartoum government under Islamic fundamentalists had resolved to round up all Christian missionaries in the south.
Six hundred of them, including sisters, were picked up. Unlike others, Gostoli was the last to be picked because he was the furthest. Three lorryfuls of soldiers were dispatched.
“The Khartoum government had decided to harass Africans, but did not want witnesses. We were forced to pay for our deportation costs,†he remembers.
But deportation did not close Gostoli’s doors. Only months at home, his office allowed him to go to Uganda. Before Karamoja, he had to assist 27,000 Sudanese refuges in Agago and Acholipii.
“They were camped in the bush and were being helped by Patongo parish priest. I remember going to Kalongo hospital every time. The vehicle full of sick people,†Gostoli says.
Pakele in Adjuman and Padibe refugee camps on the border with Sudan, were his next destination.
Arising from assisting Democratic Republic of Congolese refugees, Gostoli ended up learning French.
“Nakapiripirit was born out of Sudanese refugees. There was another Father in Amudat-Lorengdwat where I was sent later.†He was given an abandoned hut and a tent without any water source. Water sources were 30-50 km away.
It’s here that Gostoli learnt the difference between the Mundari hospitality and Karimojong hostility.
Like any other Ugandan at the time, 1970s were a line between life and death.
The Karimojong replaced spears with guns following the fall of Idi Amin’s regime. Living by the grace of God followed. Marauding fleeing soldiers panted to loot the mission. Between 1985-86 is Gostoli’s most infamous year.
As Kampala fell into ululation to welcome the new regime under President Yoweri Museveni, in Karamoja, warriors were assuming the rule of law and order.