07/02/2023
Mission News: December
God bless,
Some news from Kazembe. Here, December is often associated with the first rains, and this year there was a lot of rainfall in our area. Although they sometimes made life difficult for us, we tried to do our bit.
The construction work continues. Fr. Joseph is overseeing the construction of the Oratory building, which will accommodate 2 classrooms and a storage room. Before the first serious rainfall, we managed to complete the wooden roof supporting structure and have a tin roof installed. It was a good experience for the students of our school - learning by doing. We receive orders for making doors, tables, desks and beds relatively often, but we rarely get roofs.
The second construction project that is slowly coming to an end is the building of a fence surrounding part of our grounds. For the time being it will be an area for the rearing of goats or sheep. However, the plan is to build a Salesian Secondary School there, and before that a house for volunteers. Some corners are not easy to reach, but the construction workers are experienced and they have built a small bridge over the road so that the car could deliver the concrete blocks and sand there. All the work is done by ourselves: two workers make the blocks and two others build the concrete fence with them.
One important event for our mission here was a two-week day camp for children. Over a hundred children aged 7-14 took part. There was time for sports and games, but also for reading and catching up on schoolwork. The whole event was supervised by Fr. Joseph and the local young leaders and two volunteers from Poland were actively involved as tutors.
For several years now, our mission has been working with volunteers from different parts of the world. In recent years we have been greatly supported by the Polish Salesian organisations in Warsaw and Krakow. Basia joined us at the beginning of November for a 9-month volunteer service, and Krzysztof is here for a month. One of their main tasks is to work with children and young people, so the time of the day camp was very busy for them. Before the day camp, they organised one more event - a weekend meeting for young people aged 15-25. It was a time to have fun, but also a time for formation in the spirit of Don Bosco.
The carpentry school, that is a vocational school, has a slightly different schedule. There were also a holiday in December but it did not start until 16 December. Before that, three second-grade students had their vocational exams. Most of the students went on holiday but not all. Five students were involved in the production of two-storey beds for a boarding school in Mwense. We have to make 50 such beds and if the customer is satisfied, there is a good chance of getting an order for another 50 beds. This is always a great financial boost for the school and it’s also a great opportunity for the students who have already acquired basic carpentry skills to improve and, at the same time, earn some money.
The last month of the year also means spending hours in front of the computer to do financial accounts. In my case, it was accounting for the Distance Adoption outreach programme which enables the children and young people of the parish and the oratory to go to school. I also managed to settle a project of constructing the basketball court and the goat farm.
The end of the year is also a time for tidying. We decided to clean up our garages. We managed to sell two run-down pick-up trucks and an old motorbike that was damaged in an accident. In January, we are aiming to complete the application for a truck to serve our school and our mission. As you can see from the description above, the need for it is high and urgent: most importantly to transport boards and furniture and to transport building materials for the oratory, school and parish. Many times we have the experience here that when one project ends, a new one is immediately started. With 30 access chapels, the demands are numerous. This isn't just about constructing buildings to serve the parish, the chapels often don't have toilets, as well as a drilled well would also be useful.
The end of the month was a time to celebrate the Nativity of Jesus Christ. There were solemn Masses in the parish church but also in a few selected chapels. We also celebrated it by dining together with the Salesian Community of nearby (12 km) Lufubu. We could also meet the families virtually and wish them well.
Soon after Christmas I set off with the volunteer Krzysztof on a car journey to Lusaka. It's 1,000 km from here. Krzysztof had a moment in Lusaka to buy souvenirs, while I was arranging the car service and buying tools for our school. On Thursday, I drove him to the airport, and the very next day I was picking up another Guests from there. My Dad and a group of his friends came to visit us. We spent the last day of the year on the road to Kazembe. We managed to see several herds of antelope in the area of the so-called Chinese Bridge on the Luapula River.
There was sooo much happening, and that's not all. More to come soon in the next news.
Warm greetings and thank you for remembering and praying for us
Fr. Jacek Garus SDB