Don Bosco Carpentry School Kazembe

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

Mission news: November
For the community it was a month full of trips. Lusaka was calling. Fr Gabriel had a meeting of parish priests and directors, while Fr Joseph had a meeting of priests directly responsible for working with young people. So while I was home it was an intense time because for a week it was just the two of us - Joseph and I - and then for another week I was on my own. Our volunteer Basia, who will be with us for almost a year, arrived at the beginning of the month.
The first three weeks involved getting things done: settling the project of building a farm for US goats, dealing with issues with the local social insurance body, servicing a car in Kasama, almost 400 km away, completing the purchase of wooden planks for the school as well as collecting and unloading 30 tons of bags of cement. A hectic time.
I spent the fourth week of November travelling. For me, it was already a free and blissful time because there was no mobile network and no internet (mental silence). On Sunday evening we had a farewell dinner for Klara and Paweł, a married couple of volunteers from the Czech Republic. We were hosted by our Salesian neighbours in Lufubu (12 km away). I drove my fellow brothers home and spent all Monday in Lufubu resting. On Tuesday morning, Fr Antonio drove the three of us (Klara, Paweł and I) to Nakonde, a town on the border with Tanzania, almost 700 km away. On Wednesday we waited all day for th.e train because it was supposed to be at 9:05 a.m. and it arrived after 2 p.m. and left at 5 p.m. But it wasn't a nervous time, but one well spent because we got to eat together and had plenty of time to talk. The next 36 hours were spent on the train. We arrived in Dar-es-Salaam on Friday before 5 a.m. They persuaded me to go with them to Zanzibar and overall I'm glad we were there together. It's like a paradise there. It's a melting pot but I really liked it. A complete relaxation. On Saturday morning, we took the ferry back to the mainland and then travelled 180 km by bus to Morogoro, where the Polish Resurrectionists held their retreat in silence. A beautiful time.
The letter for today is "R". There is none at all in the Bemba language. So today a bit of history and the name Rhodesia, derived from Cecil Rhodes, a Briton who was the head of a coal company operating in the area. In 1911 it was officially named Northern Rhodesia and became a British protectorate. In 1964, the country gained independence and adopted the name Zambia after the longest river in the area, the Zambezi.
Best wishes
God bless
Fr Jacek

Mission news: October
God bless,
Also here, October is a month dedicated to Mary through the praying of the Rosary. During this month I was very encouraged by the children and teenagers of the Oratory who prayed together one decade at the end of each day's lessons while walking around the sports field. These same children, who are always so numerous and sometimes difficult to get around, easily understood that this was a serious time for prayer and just behaved well.
October is also a mission month. As for us, once again we will have with us very soon a volunteer who will devote almost a year of her life to working with children in the Oratory and in the Children's Home that is a friend of ours. Basia, who comes from Katowice and is already in Zambia, still has a long way to go to join us. I’m grateful to the Salesian Mission Centre in Warsaw for the trust they put in us. In the middle of the month, I had an online lesson on missions with the children belonging to the Missionary Circle at the Primary School in Świerklaniec - so many interesting questions and attentive listeners. It’s a beautiful thing that there are teachers who promote missions and themselves come up with different ways to bring them closer to the children.
And now the topic of wildlife. I've written about it more than once but it's something that continues to amaze me. I have the impression that the more time you spend here, the more you see. And so lately several owls and large blue-headed lizards have been seen in our area. The scorpions have started to move out of their hiding places as they tend to do at the beginning of each rainy season, and there are definitely more of them this year than in previous years. Instead of killing them as in previous years, we collect them in a bucket, and Fr. Joseph, who is from Vietnam, fries or grills them.
The goat farm project was successfully completed in October. The construction had been going on since the beginning of June. First, the concrete blocks had to be made and then the workers built a fence of more than two metres high with a total length of almost 100 metres. Then water was connected there from two different sources and a shed was built where the goats can shelter from the rain and spend the night. From the local people, we managed to buy up 28 goats, three of which will have cubs soon. The goats have their own green area where they can freely graze, and we also feed them with some waste from the maize milling. Here, maize flour is the number one product, so this waste is also plentiful and very cheap. With this breeding, we are taking another step towards being more financially self-sufficient. For the time being, we are rearing them for meat, for our own needs but also for the needs of those around us: children, teenagers, and students of the carpentry school.
The letter for today is P for 'pola' meaning 'to greet'. For Zambians, greeting each other is something very important. This can be seen in the language, which has a great deal of variety in this respect: Mwikaleni - the greeting of the one who is sitting, Mwaculeni - the greeting of the one who is suffering, Mwashibukeni - the greeting of the one who is awake, Mwabombeni - the greeting of the one who is working. The multitude of greetings shows that people are kind and friendly to each other. After several years of being here, I completely agree with this.
Kind regards and many thanks for your prayers,
Fr. Jacek Garus sdb

Good afternoon,
Friday afternoon is a different than other days. Instead of time inside the workshops we stay outside and play football. It is special time of competing against each other and building new friendships with the youth from the Oratory. Our games always attract supporters. Some are very creative and in order to see properly climb the trees (see the pictures) or use the building site. While we play football the children also have their games and sometimes there can be even four football games happening at the same time in the premises of the oratory. Football does not only make us fit but also gives joy to us and those who are around.

Friday news!
Today we would like to repeat our invitation for those who think to become carpenters. We are open for the new students who could join us from 2023. Three main things that we can offer are the following ones:
o 2 years training (theoretical and practical),
o possibility of taking the national TRADE TEST (Teveta 1/2/3),
o possibility of staying in the boarding (30 places available).
You will be most welcome during the Days of Interviews as they will be held at Don Bosco Carpentry Training School, next to Kazembe Catholic Church on Friday 18th November (13:00) and on Saturday 19th November (9:00 am)
Shall you need more information please do not hesitate to contacts us here: 077 216 86 00 or here: [email protected]

ENG here / PL poniżej

Friday news!

In recent weeks our students had a chance to have practical lessons on the construction of roofs. In our part of Zambia majority of the buildings have still wooden construction of the roof. They built from zero the roof on the shed for the goats and repaired broken pieces of metal sheets on the roof of the one of the workshops of the school. As Fr. Joseph is progressing with the building of the two classrooms for the Oratory our students hope to have a chance to work also there. Weather is already pushing us to finish the building works as soon as possible as the first rains came already. The rainy season has come.

Soon there will be post on the different kind of timber that our school is using. Today let us have a look at trees that are on premises of school. We are lucky to be surrounded by: palm trees, eucalyptus, mango and baobab. Though some of them are still small they attract birds, bees, lizards and chameleons. We feel to be privileged to be working in a such beautiful setting.

Piątkowe wieści!
W ostatnich tygodniach nasi uczniowie mieli okazję sprawdzić, jak wygląda stawianie konstrukcji dachu w praktyce. W naszej części Zambii większość budynków wciąż ma drewniane konstrukcje dachów. Uczniom udało się samodzielnie postawić dach na wiacie dla kóz, a także naprawić blaszane pokrycie dachu jednej z naszych szkolnych pracowni. Ks. Joseph czuwa nad postępem prac budowy dwóch sal lekcyjnych do oratorium, a nasi uczniowie są bardzo chętni do pomocy. Pogoda zmusza nas do jak najszybszego zakończenia prac budowlanych, ponieważ pojawiły się już pierwsze deszcze, co oznacza, że nastała już pora deszczowa.
Wkrótce pojawi się post o różnych rodzajach drewna, z których korzystamy. Ale dziś przyjrzyjmy się otaczającym nas drzewom. Wokół nas rosną palmy, eukaliptusy, mango i baobaby. Choć niektóre z nich są jeszcze małe, to już przyciągają ptaki, pszczoły, jaszczurki i kameleony. Jesteśmy zaszczyceni, że możemy pracować w tak pięknym otoczeniu.

Friday news!
The dry season is slowly coming to the end soon. On the 24th October we will be celebrating in the whole country Independence Day. Usually the first rains come here around this time. When it comes to the school issues the project that we managed to bring to completion is that one of the Goat Farm.

Next to school workshops we have had a piece of land that was neglected. Thank to the Salesian Missions from New Rochelle and private benefactors we managed to secure the land. Our work started in June with making blocks. Soon after we started to make more than 2 metres high walls surrounding the whole plot. Local welder made for us the gate. The last thing that was erected there was a shed protecting the goats from the sun and the rain. Already in September we started buying the animals. At the moment the group consists of 15 goats, but the plan is to have 30 by the end of the month. It is not easy to buy goats here as the local people usually have just 2 or 3 and usually are not happy to sell the small ones or the middle size ones, especially female ones.
In the pictures you can see that they can have various colours.

Thanks to Paulina, Emilia and Basia, the volunteers that were here in September, all of them have names, e.g. : Kawa, Ginger, Brownie, Palma, Ciongo. The plan is to make sure that they are happy there and multiply. The whole area and the building have the capacity to house 60 goats. Who knows, maybe we could put some guinea fowls there as well? Our heads are full of dreams.

Piątkowe wieści!
Pora sucha powoli dobiega końca. Już niedługo, czyli 24 października, będziemy obchodzić Narodowe
Święto Niepodległości i zwykle właśnie w tym czasie spada pierwszy deszcz. Jeśli chodzi o sprawy
szkolne, to udało nam się doprowadzić do końca projekt zagrody dla kóz.
Przy szkolnej pracowni znajdował się zaniedbany kawałek ziemi, który udało nam się zabezpieczyć
wraz z pomocą Misji Salezjańskich z New Rochelle oraz prywatnych dobroczyńców. W czerwcu
zaczęliśmy robić pustaki, a wkrótce po tym zbudowaliśmy ponad dwumetrowe ogrodzenie.
Miejscowy spawacz wykonał dla nas bramę, a na koniec postawiliśmy wiatę, by chroniła kozy przed
słońcem i deszczem. Już we wrześniu kupiliśmy pierwsze zwierzęta. W tej chwili w stadzie jest 15 kóz,
ale zakładamy, że do końca miesiąca będzie ich już 30. Niestety nie jest łatwo tutaj o zakup kóz.
Miejscowi mają przeważnie po 2 lub 3 sztuki i nie są zbyt chętni do sprzedawania młodych lub już
nieco większych kóz, a zwłaszcza samic.
Na zdjęciach można zauważyć, że są one w różnych kolorach. Dzięki Paulinie, Emilii i Basi, naszym
wolontariuszkom, które były tu we wrześniu, wszystkie kozy mają imiona, takie jak Kawa, Ginger,
Brownie, Palma, Ciongo. Chcemy, by kozy żyły sobie szczęśliwie i się rozmnażały. W naszej zagrodzie
możemy pomieścić do 60 kóz i kto wie, może w przyszłości zagości tam również kilka perliczek. Mamy
głowy pełne pomysłów i marzeń!

Good afternoon, we are already thinking about new school year. Please see our announcements in English and Bemba and get in touch with us if you are interested to become a student of our School.

Good morning everyone, We are starting Fanpage of our Carpentry School! Welcome!