(EDITOR’S NOTE: All during the month of July we will be re-posting blog entries and photos from the members of the Oblate Mission Experience in Zambia. Our “Special Correspondents” are: Oblate Prenovices Brian Bernhardt, Teko Teko-Agbo, future Oblate Prenovice, Pedro Verdugo, Oblate youth ministry director, Miguel Munoz, their leader, Fr. Jim Chambers, OMI, and John Wagner, of OMSI. (Newest Posts are at the Top of the Page)
By John Wagner Posted July 13
I spent Monday in Mongu, Zambia visiting the Oblate radio station “Radio Liseli”!
This station reaches far into remote areas of western Zambia with many types of spiritual and community programs. During the day I met many wonderful people that are part of this amazing team.
One of the Oblate’s goals with Radio Liseli is to provide a reliable source of electricity to the station using solar power panels. This will allow them to stay on the air more consistently when the station experiences blackout or brownout of electric power.
Posted July 11 by Brian Bernhardt
Oblate Prenovice, Brian Bernhardt
Today was a quieter day as we prepared to head to Kalabo tomorrow and for our longer experience in Shangombo. In the morning, though, we had the opportunity to visit the Oblate radio station (105.3 Liseli). We arrived, and firstly, participated in the Mass that was aired on the radio. It was inspiring to be in a celebration that could be experienced by so many people who were unable to go to Mass because of a lack of transportation. We also had the privilege to be interviewed on the radio, about our lives in America, our experiences with the Oblates, our experiences of Zambia so far, etc.
Upon going to the radio station and being interviewed, it forced me to reflect on this experience as a whole. We have already been in Zambia for almost a week, and it has been a quick week at that. We have traveled to various Oblate places, along different urban and rural centers, along Zambia. Yet, it dawned on me today, that we are almost a third of the way done, and our time here is going to continue to go fast.
However in the midst of my feeling of my limitations, I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here, to use my strengths and weaknesses for Jesus, and to be with the people and with my fellow journeyers: Fr. Jim, Miguel, Pedro, and Teko. It has been a real blessing to experience a new culture, with different languages, ways of being, and to experience the simple joy of the people.
Fr. Jim told us from the beginning that our main aim should be to receive from the people more than what we give. I hope and pray ,this evening in Zambia, that we will continue to be open to the seeds planted within us during our travels, and that God works through us to plant seeds in the people we encounter.
My words here barely covey what I have witnessed here today from the ongoing work of the Missionary Oblates and Fr. Lazerous. To help share my experience I have posted many photos for now and will add videos later to this page.
“Gladys”
Before the Oblates built this housing, people with leprosy had nowhere to go but the local hospital for a place to stay. This put the hospital in a difficult situation because there was no cure. When the Oblates built this special housing, it provided a lasting solution to for the hospital and local community. Today, leprosy has almost been eradicated and those afflicted with it are typically elderly. The Missionary Oblates care for them with love, respect and friendship! Here you can truly see God’s love in action.
Earlier in the day I danced with one lady with leprosy at church. At the end of mass, a lady named Gladys, who had lost both of her legs, crawled from the front pew all the way back down the aisle our of church and out the door. She attended mass with a huge smile on her face through the whole service!
In this picture, you see Fr. Lazerous and Gladys visiting. She has a husband at the colony. I met their son there too, who is not afflicted.
Fr. Lazerous visits with the husband of Gladys at the leper colony.
Fr. Lazerous visits the inhabitants of the Oblates leper colony on a regular basis. Today we met about 8 people and had a wonderful visit with them.
Weaving baskets is how many people in the leper colonies have made made money. One lady was making this basket when we stopped by to visit.
In this last picture you see me and the lady I danced with at mass early this day. I was standing about 6 feet from her in church and she started dancing (which honestly is hard NOT to do). Then she motioned me to come out on the floor with her and we danced in front of the children’s section and they loved it! Later in the day Fr. Lazerous, Billy Fuller and I visited her home and here we go again!
Posted July 11 by Fr. Jim Chambers, OMI
On Saturday, after the car was fixed we were off around 10:30 am. John and Bill had been picked up at around 9:30 as the bus drove by. Between me calling Shalom and Fr. Freeborn we were able to have the 2 seats reserved on the bus before it left the station in Lusaka. Cell phones have completely changed how we are able to deal with breakdowns. I remember in the past sleeping overnight before help came.
The trip was pretty uneventful up to Kafue Park. We ate lunch in the car with what we had packed. As we got close to the bridge over the Kafue we were seeing Impala’s, Puku’s and some Warthogs. The Park officials were burning the grass in the park. It was very close to the road and timed we felt extreme heat as we passed by. They do this every year to keep the growth down. But also after the burn then green sprouts come out that are good for the grazing animals. So we did not see elephants or Zebra’s in the area around the river on both sides where they are normally found. So I had told the guys it just was not our day, but as we were getting close to leaving the park we suddenly saw an Elephant right next to the road. Then we saw a giant herd of Kudu’s. I guess the burning of the grass moved some of the bigger animals to that end of the park. So it was a good drive.
Something we saw on the way to Mongu
But as soon as we got out of the park, the road to Kaoma (if you can find it) was in a terrible shape. The worst I ever seen. The pavement would just disappear now and then and there were major potholes in the road. We thought we were having another problem with the van. The front wheels were extremely hot and a burnt smell would periodically be sensed by a few of us. But the wheels cooled down and the smell disappeared, we still do not know what caused the problem, but the van has been working perfectly since.
We arrived in Kaoma, I had called Billy and John and they had taken off to Lukulu about 30 minutes before we arrived. We had a quarter tank of Gas and I needed to at last get 10 more liters to make it to Mongu. We went to the Puma gas station (formerly BP) on the crossroads to Kaoma. When we pulled in it we found it closed. They had run out of petrol and immediately we were rushed by some entrepreneurs trying to sell us petrol for twice the price. They had them in old vegetable oil containers and what else they could use. After taking to Fr. Gregory at the local parish, he confirmed that there was no petrol in town(the other gas station in town had closed) and that if I needed any petrol I would have pay to the price. We went back and I negotiated a slightly lower price (not much lower , but it made me feel better) and we brought 10 liters the minimum needed to get to Mongu. I mean the minimum. By the time we got to Mongu it was showing empty on the guage, the last few kilometers(or miles) were tense.
We arrived in Mongu at around 6:30 I found the Total gas station and filled up the Van. I did remember how to get to the Jack Joyce House (JJ House). It was dark and everything seemed different. There were new IP roads , traffic signals that were not there before and new businesses, so nothing seemed familiar. We called Fr. Barnabas and he met us further in town and we traveled paved roads almost to the house. Wow!
We arrived at the house and found Fr. Chibesa (Parish Priest of Kalabo) at the house. Fr. Barnabas and him were traveling the next day to Lusaka for meetings. It was good to be back in Mongu where I lived for 2 years. Inutu the great cook when I was there was still cooking at JJ House. The food was great and it was good to catch up with Chibesa and Barnabas.
There was not enough room at JJ house for us to stay and Fr. Barnabas had booked us into a lodge ran by the Presentation Sisters on the road to Limalunga( for those who know the area it is right after the Sepo convent) It is called Liseli Lodge. The rooms were great, but we found out in the morning that the geezers (a solar and electrical combination) were not connected to the electricity so the showers were cold. The winter months solar is not enough to get and keep the water warm.
We had a relax Sunday. We went to Mass at St. Agatha’s. I wanted to go there because the Church had dedicated a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe and thought itwould be good for Pedro and Miguel to see a little of Mexico in Zambia. I was also hoping to run into the Comboni Sisters who do ministry at the Parish. The sisters have a multi-cultural community, with sisters from Ethiopia, Spain, Italy and Mexico. I was lucky because one of the Ethiopian Sisters was at the Mass. I was able to get an invite to their house at 3 pm. We had a good visit with Sr. Marta (from Mexico) and the sisters from Ethiopia. Most of the conversation was in Spanish, which I think was good for Pedro and Miguel. Everyone but was able to understand. Teko who speaks excellent Spanish has been the major translator for the group (Miguel knows enough english and Pedro a little less).
We went back JJ house for Dinner, then back to Liseli lodge.
I awoke to hot water which was good, but the other guys did not. I hope they will have tomorrow. We went to Mass at Radio Liseli and the guys are getting the tour and being interviewed at the station. Billy and John are coming this afternoon on the bus. I will pick them up at the bus station.
Will post more about this tonight. We are heading to Kalabo tomorrow, I am looking forward to seeing the new road. It used to take up to 8 hours by boat to get to Kalabo but now only an 1 hour drive. This will be a day trip…more to come- we post more photos as we get better internet.
Broke down on the way to Mongu, Mechanic fixing now. Put John Wagner and Billy Fuller on Shalom bus to Kaoma. The rest of us will wait until the van is fixed.
Posted July 8, 2016 by John Wagner
John Wagner at the end of the trip to Lukulu
My day in Zambia on Friday, July 8 started at 4:30. Our team plus Bill Fuller left Lusaka in a van at 5 am to go to Kaoma. Bill, who is coming back to Lukulu for the first time in 6 years, will also be working on a solar panel project in Mongu this week. The team planned to drop Billy Fuller and I off with a driver in Kaoma (part way to Mongu) who would take us on in to Lukulu.
As we were traveling through Lusaka our transmission was brutally attacked by a rock in the middle of the road. It punctured a hole in the transmission pan and had to be welded and repaired. However, we did not know the extent of the damage until we were about 45 minutes west of Lusaka. We noticed trouble with the transmission, pulled over and called back to the office for help. The team then waited for repairs while Billy and I caught a bus on to Kaoma ahead of them. Bill and I will catch back up with the team on Monday when we leave Lukulu and travel 6 hours to Mongu.
We arrived late at about 7 pm and very hungry only to find out no one was at the mission to greet us…we were locked out. We finally found someone to let us in. We grabbed some delicious food instead that had been prepared just for us sitting on a table in the dining area. We where then shortly greeted by Fr. Lazarous and had supper together. How cool is that! Eventually we settled in for the night, ready to begin the next day.
One last minor factoid; the city of Lukulu turns off the electricity at night, so at 11 pm the building went pitch dark and I had to grab a flashlight to find my way around. So it sorta forced me to get some sleep LOL!
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate