ARTICLES

Two authors write about their spiritual journeys

By Jean Denton
of The Catholic Virginian

As the holiday season approaches, two members of the western part of the Richmond Diocese have newly-published books that may be of interest to Catholics here.

Irma Silva-Barbeau’s “Isabel’s Gift” is a retelling of the Christmas message through the eyes and innocent faith of a 12-year-old girl in the Cape Verde Islands. This is the second short novel in Ms. Silva-Barbeau’s series that recollects the faith and Catholic traditions of her childhood in the islands off the coast of Senegal, Africa.

Her first novel, “Sweet Oblation,” was introduced in 2006 in a Catholic Virginian article about Ms. Silva-Barbeau, a former Virginia Tech professor of international nutrition and member of St. Mary’s Church in Blacksburg. “Isabel’s Gift” continues her young protagonist’s spiritual journey of discovery with a poignant story likely to inspire readers of all ages.

Salem physician Tom Fame has published “The Lambi’s Call,” a recollection of his experiences in Haiti’s Central Plateau during the last ten years as coordinator of a parish twinning program.

Dr. Fame’s lively storytelling brings to life the joys and difficulties of this act of faith called twinning that many others have experienced as well.

In “The Lambi’s Call” the reader will follow him on his personal journey leading Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in Salem and the Roanoke Valley in relationship with the people of Haiti’s Cabestor Valley from its beginning in 1996 to the present time.

The author pieced together the story from his personal journals and recollections. He said he wrote it as a way to make the experience come alive for others in the hope that more people will want to visit Haiti and become a part of twinning and the effort to improve the lives of the Haitian people.

“It’s not just my personal story,” he explained, “but it’s more of a look at Haiti and the Haitians through my eyes and my faith.”

He added that it includes accounts that address common efforts at problem solving in mission work.

The foreward was written by longtime diocesan twinning resource Adele DellaValle-Rauth and the book jacket suggests it is “a must read book for anyone who has begun to work or is considering working in Haiti.”

Theresa Patterson, director of the Parish Twinning Program of the Americas, wrote, “As Tom has so beautifully illustrated, the ultimate gift of twinning is that when we labor alongside those who suffer and are poor, we bring about our own mutual liberation.”

All proceeds from the sale of Dr. Fame’s book go to OLPH’s Haiti Project, currently building its third school. He will be available with his book after all Masses, November 15–16 at St. Andrew’s Church in Roanoke.

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