At that time there was a great fervour for missions. Bro. Bois tells us that "numerous missionaries told us about the activities they followed in mission lands. Many of my companions made the request to go, and it was possible to request where to go, but the final decision was made by the superiors, based on concrete needs on the ground. I was among the three who had chosen to go to Korea, but then no one called me, so I thought my mission would be in Italy. At the end of the year I received the letter from the Rector Major. They asked me if I was still available to go; I answered yes and went immediately to my church. The door was closed, but I still prayed before the church to thank the Lord who had opened the doors to the missions for me."
It was 1963 when Marino Bois packed his bags for Korea, but first made a stopover in Mumbai, India, where two of his aunts had left very young from the Aosta Valley – two people who gave their whole lives for missions. They looked after the education and instruction of young Indian girls. "From there I took my first plane. It still had propellers and was not fully pressurised. I remember that my ears hurt after a few hours. The aim of the mission was to manage a large vocational technical school, in a country that was still struggling to recover after the disaster of the war between North and South (1950-1953) and the military regime."
After several years in the Far East, his missionary path landed him in Africa, precisely in Guinea Conkary, in Kankan. After 20 years of communism and Maoism, the nation had reached absolute disaster. After the regime, the newly elected President of the country, a Muslim, asked the Pope to send back the missionaries who had been previously expelled and to found a vocational school. Bro. Bois was part of the first group of missionaries who started that mission.
From Turin they sent three containers full of machinery. In a month he managed to connect the machines and make them work, to then be able to welcome the first group of boys and start the first vocational training courses: the village organised great celebrations for that event.
All was going well when the Mission Councillor sent him a new obedience: Sudan. "I was very depressed" Bro. Bois continued. "I went o the rector, a holy person. He saw the letter and said to me, "This is obedience, you must go; Providence will think of us." And so it happened. ”
The superiors gave him more resources for Sudan. “Shopping and shipping worked well. Once the workbenches were done and the laboratory set up, we went to the refugee camp. It had never happened to me before to see such a poor place. We found 20 young people with a great desire to learn and we started school. The bishop of Khartoum also came for the inauguration. It felt like a dream. ”
After two years, according to the agreements, he returned to the mission in Korea, while another Brother, James Comino, proved to be the ideal man to take over the work in Sudan.
He then returned to South Korea and served for several years including in other Asian situations, always following Salesian Vocational Formation. So he was sent to Kenya, to Elobehid, and in recent years he has collaborated again with the Salesians in Sudan to repair many of the machines he brought so many years ago, now suffering from the passage of time. While he was back in Kenya for a break, war broke out in Sudan; now it is impossible for him to return, but as soon as conditions allow, he plans to return to that country to complete the work.
His is an extraordinary missionary vocation, which even today, at the age of 81, has not faded, on the contrary.
For more information about him and his missionary experiences, visit: www.missionidonbosco.it
