When we arrived on the river's edge of Narail town after a busy six and a half hours of riding, Comboni Father Jose Antonio Menves Rebeo, my Portuguese visitor from Manila, Philippines, asked me, "How far have we come from Dhaka?" When he heard it had been only 80 miles, he figured out that meant we had traveled a mere 12 miles an hour. We had been on four buses, one ferry, a motorized riverboat and a paddle riverboat before reaching our destination, at which time we rode again, on a tricycle van into the town about a half mile away. Variety is the spice of life, and of travel.

Robert McCahill, M.M.

Recently, on one of my weekly chaplain visits to a prison in Peru, I realized that I had left my identity pass at home. The officer, in an effort to assist me, called the sergeant to see if she could find a solution to my predicament.

As I stood in the foyer, I listened to the telephone conversation.

"Sergeant, could you please come down to the visiting room? There is a Father here who is a woman. She forgot her visiting pass."

In the end, I did not get in without my pass. However, the conversation made me smile, and the officer made my day.

Maureen Hanahoe, M.M.

When I served at the Coptic Catholic Seminary in Cairo, I was known as the defender of "black sheep" seminarians whom I thought would make good priests and I became their advocate before the seminary council. Ayman Awad was one of those unfortunate souls who struggled to survive the scrutiny of the annual review board. When he was finally ordained, his father ran up to me, threw his arms around me and said: "Congratulations!  Our son is a priest!" I may be celibate and not have a family of my own, but I have many sons and a few daughters in the Lord.

Douglas May, M.M.

As a token of appreciation, the jewelry-making group my husband Erik and I started as an income-generating project in the village where we live in El Salvador gave us two lovely coffee mugs with Salvadoran scenes. Painted in black on one side of the cup was "Erick" and on the other cup  "Margoth," as our names are commonly spelled in El Salvador. On the bottom of each cup was written, "In friendship and thanksgiving from the women in San Jacinto."  When we arrived home, I washed the mugs so we could begin using them. Much to our surprise, our names and the message washed away. They are still lovely scenic mugs!

Margaret Cambier, MKLM

Wanted: Missioner Tales
MARYKNOLL magazine publishes Missioner Tales from Maryknoll priests, priest associates, Sisters, Brothers, Lay Missioners and Affiliates about their experiences in mission. We welcome tales from volunteers who have done short-term mission trips and from missioners working in cooperation with Maryknoll or tales that convey the Maryknoll mission spirit.

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Missioner Tales
P.O. Box 302
Maryknoll, N.Y. 10545-0302

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