“I accepted this on behalf of the missionaries and more importantly on behalf of the tens of thousands of people that over these 40 years have contributed to us financially,” he said. “It attests to what we have accomplished that they recognized the good that we have done for their people and for development.”
Originally the award was to be presented at a ceremony last December but the passing of Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, caused a delay. Canterucci finally accepted the medal on April 27 during a celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the merging of Tanzania and Zanzibar.
“I was so happy it happened this way because I was part of these 50 years,” he said. “They honoured past government leaders and military officials who helped bring about this union and I was included in that. This was a very nice climax.”
A member of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood for 65 years, Canterucci has spent much of the past four decades working in Tanzania. When not serving in the African field, Canterucci returns to Toronto where he operates the fundraising arm of the ministry from St. Alphonsus Church in midtown Toronto.
He was first assigned to oversee a water development project, which dig wells in arid areas that now serve more than 1.5 million people, in Tanzania in 1976. Since then the project has expanded from just digging wells to include building hospitals and schools.
“Aid without education does not work,” he said. “When I first went there in the villages especially they were way behind, very primitive, they lacked everything. Today their health has been brought up by leaps and bounds, their lifespan is also raised, in many places their water situation has been taken care of.
“Progress has been made, bettered their lives because of this aid but then there a lot of things we need to do still.”
But after almost 40 years of helping Tanzanians, Canterucci said he’s preparing to hand over the reins on his order’s projects, although he won’t leave entirely.
“It is time for me to step aside (but) ... retirement is not a word in my vocabulary,” said the 85-yearold. “Hopefully somebody else will take over what I am doing and I can take over more personto- person fundraising. I hope this recognition and being able to talk to people about why we got it might bring some money because it is now difficult to even make salaries.”
He continued by saying that “fundraising is not what it used to be,” and that with about $40,000 a month in salaries the need for donations has never been greater. And although Canterucci hopes to leverage the award as a fundraising tactic, he said it truly belongs to everyone involved.
Before stepping aside Canterucci will make at least one more extended trip to Tanzania on June 20. He will spend about three months there allowing Fr. Timothy Cody a chance to get some rest as well as provide him with an opportunity to purchase goods from China for the high school they are building.
“Now we are stressing education,” said Canterucci. “We’ve helped the people over these 40 years physically, spiritually, clothed them, fed them and medically, and we’re still doing that, but they see now that for them to catch up to the 21st century, education is the liberator of the marginalized people. Without it they are going to be lost ... so I want to keep helping as long as I can in whatever way I can.”