A Buncha NunSense

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2010-03-26T20:02:00.001-05:00

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My return to Zambia!

2010-02-21T17:31:00.002-06:00

I finally received my work permit to return to Zambia...and will be flying out on March 30th. I will be returning to live in the small village of Kalomo in the Southern province. The plan is to begin posting to this blog again on a regular basis.

2009-01-19T11:50:00.003-06:00

The photos above are of Presentation Sister Numba's widow farm near Kalomo. Numba is a young Zambian Presentation Sister living with us in Kalomo. She is a teacher and teaches in one of the local schools. When she first arrived in Kalomo 4 years or so ago, she started a grief support group for widows in the parish. There were a good number of them. This grief support group gradually talked about their needs and one of them was how to get land to plant maize and vegetables so they could feed their children. Over the years Numba has purchased land to create a farm, and together the women work the land and then share the produce. They call it Numba's widow farm. It is amazing.

ST. THOMAS MORE PARISH, BROOKINGS, SD HELPS ZAMBIAN FARMERS

2008-12-19T15:15:00.002-06:00

THANK YOU ST. THOMAS MORE!!!!!!!

When I left my ministry as Youth Formation Director at St. Thomas More parish in Brookings, SD...the parish gifted me with a donation of several thousand dollars to help the people of Zambia. Right now the greatest need for the people is food. Everyday people tell us that they have nothing to eat, so a portion of the STM donation has been used to purchase maize (corn) seed and fertilizer for some of the local farmers in Kalomo, Zambia. The maize seed is ground into mealy-meal (flour) and from this they make nshima, which is the staple food of the Zambian people.

This is part of a sustainable farming project that was begun to help local farmers produce enough food to meet their needs. This group of farmers in a a small village near Kalomo have had poor crops the last two years because of drought the first year and floods the second year of the program. However, they still returned 100% of the seed they owed back to the project to keep the program going. I was saddened to discover that even though they returned their full share...there was no seed or fertilizer available for them. They had plowed their fields by hand and were waiting with much hope that some how they would get seed to plant. And thanks to the generous people of St. Thomas More the people of this small African village have planted their crops! The people were overjoyed when we went to them and announced that we brought seed and fertilizer for them.

All of the farmers benefiting from this donation of maize seed are living with aids. They are part of a support group that gathers regularly with Home Based Care workers. They support each other in their illness and in life survival skills. Sr. Teresa Malloy, PBVM is a nurse and gathers with several support groups each week to consult with them about their health and survival needs. I've been going with Sr. Teresa to meet with the support groups around Kalomo for several weeks.

A large portion of the STM donation will go to the village of Kaoma to build a mill for grinding maize seed. This will create a new business in the community and the people can grind their maize seed locally.

LIFE IN KALOMO

2008-12-08T03:39:00.003-06:00

I've been living in Kalomo for a couple of weeks and really like this spot in the world! I'm living with two Presentation Sisters. Sr. Teresa is an Irish nurse and works with homebased care. Sr. Numba is a Zambian in temporary vows. She teaches in a school and has helped some widows begin a farm project. Both sisters are involved in various projects to help the people become sustainable.

I've mostly been going around with Teresa to the huts of people living with aids, TB and various other illnesses. She checks on their health, gives out some meds, checks to see if they have something to eat. The hunger situation right now if very bad and many are struggling to find something to eat everyday. Some have plowed their fields by hand for the growing season, but have no seed to plant.

One of the women we visited in a compounds was so sick that she was unable to stand. She was on the dirt floor of her hut crawling to get around and she had two young children. Her husband abandoned her when she got sick.

We also had a young woman stay at our house for a few days. She traveled with her severely handicapped sister and her little girl from the home for disabled children in Mongu. She was so sick when she arrived that we couldn't take her out to the village. She slept on a mattress on the floor in our house for several days and Teresa treated her. When she was well enough to go to her family's village we drove them much of the way. At one point there was no more road so she had to walk the rest of the way a long way into the bush. She had bags, her four year old daughter, and her 10 year old physically disabled sister (who had to be carried the whole way). Some family members walked from the village to help her carry her load.

There are two Zambian priests in the parish and they have persuaded me to help out with some youth programing while I'm here, so I'm helping with advent retreats, etc. The youth are beginning to drop by the house now looking for me to visit with them. The ability of even the younger children to sing, harmonize, go into parts, dance, etc...is amazing!!!!! They lift the rafters off the roof!

NEW HOME IN KALOMO, ZAMBIA

2008-11-24T14:38:00.004-06:00

At 7:30 tomorrow morning I'm taking a bus about 5 hours south to Kalomo where I will be living for the next part of my stay. Kalomo is a small village in southern Zambia, situated on the main road between Lusaka and Livingstone. I'm looking forward to getting out from behind the walls of Lusaka and living a little village life again! Internet and other forms of communication will be harder to come by, but will work to keep the blog as up to date as possible!

VIDEO OF THE ZAMBEZI RIVER - ZAMBIA

2008-11-24T13:59:00.001-06:00

VIDEO OF THE ZAMBEZI

2008-11-24T13:12:00.001-06:00

THE ZAMBEZI RIVER - ZAMBIA

2008-11-23T18:46:00.004-06:00

You can see holes in the sides of the cliffs where birds make their nest.

Sunset over Zimbabwe.

Hippos swimming in the Zambezi.

On our last night in Livingstone our immersion group took a river cruise up the Zambezi...above Victoria Falls.

Pictured are Brother Mike Burke (South Africa / Zambia), Adrian White & Don O'Leary (Ireland), Ruben Comotto Basanta (Uruguay), Sister Deb Nelson (USA) & Mariela Pilar Uberti Serrat (Uruguay)

VICTORIA FALLS - ZAMBIA CENTRAL AFRICA

2008-11-23T18:16:00.004-06:00

The immersion group in front of Victoria Falls.

In this photo you can see people standing on the Zimbabwe side of the falls. They get a better view this time of year.

We visited the falls during the very dry season, so there isn't much water flowing right now. After the rainy season the whole wall to the right would have water flowing over it. Now there is only water on the Zimbabwe side.

The bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya (the Smoke that Thunders) is on the Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The falls are, by some measures, the largest waterfall in the world.

Victoria Falls is neither the highest nor the widest waterfall in the world, the claim that it is the largest is based on a width of 1 mile and height of 360 feet, forming the largest sheet of falling water in the world.

The unusual form of Victoria Falls enables virtually the whole width of the falls to be viewed face-on, at the same level as the top, from as close as 200 ft, because the whole Zambezi River drops into a deep, narrow chasm, connected to the long series of gorges. Few other waterfalls allow such a close approach on foot.

VICTORIA FALLS GORGES

2008-11-23T17:49:00.002-06:00

These are photos of the gorges below Victoria Falls. The walls of the gorges are nearly vertical and generally about 400 ft high.

Over at least 100,000 years, the falls have been receding upstream through the gorges eroding the sandstone-filled cracks to form the various gorges. The river has fallen in different eras into different chasms which now form a series of sharply zig-zagging gorges downstream from the falls. Some of the gorges each represents a past site of the falls at a time when they fell into one long straight chasm as they do now. Their sizes indicate that we are not living in the age of the widest ever falls.

GAME RESERVE NEAR LIVINGSTONE

2008-11-23T17:29:00.001-06:00

Our vehicle got stuck in the sand very near this rhino, so we all had to get out and push. Once the vehicle was unstuck it couldn't stop until it was out of the deep sand and we had to run after it. I kept my eye on the rhino the whole time...luckily it stayed put!!!!

Two girafts eating leaves from the trees. They are hard to see because it was dusk and the light wasn't very good anymore.

Head of a wild bore peeking from behind a bush.

Baboon photos

2008-11-23T17:08:00.002-06:00

A mother baboon holding her baby along the roadside near Livingtone

Monkeys

2008-11-23T16:11:00.002-06:00

Baby monkey

2008-11-23T07:58:00.000-06:00

GAME REFUGE NEAR LIVINGSTON - Monkey Video

2008-11-23T07:12:00.003-06:00

Chase, I took these pictures and video of the monkeys for you. I know you asked me to bring a monkey back for you, but this is probably as good as you'll get!!!!

As we entered the game reserve there were several monkeys playing by the riverside. I kept getting closer to take these videos until the mother monkey thought I had gotten too close. She started to come after me and I consider myslef very lucky that I didn't get a monkey bite that day! However, my family says that they wouldn't be surprised to find out that I got bit by a monkey...guess I have a bit of a reputation with animals!

FINAL DAYS OF ISC IMMERSION

2008-11-22T06:23:00.004-06:00

This is the lodge I shared with Mariela and you can see the outdoor shower with the thatched fence to the left.

Each lodge had both an indoor bathroom and the option of an outdoor shower. These are photos of our outdoor shower.

The beds had mosquito nets around them which I was greatful for. It seemed all sorts of wild life was able to get into the lodge. We were visited by several frogs, lizards, insects and hunting spiders.

We completed the last few days of the immersion traveling to Livingstone in the southern province of Zambia. The drive took most of the day and a lot of the road is practically undrivable. The pavement was completely giving way to huge potholes that had to be dodged! We talked of how the view of this road would look from overhead with vehicles swerving to the more drivable parts of the road...which often meant driving on the opposite shoulder! The view from above must look like there is total chaos on that stretch of the highway.

While in Livingstone we stayed at the Livingstone Safari Lodge deep into the bush. We were able to see some of the natural beauty of the country. We visited a museum, the famous Victoria Falls and the gorges of the Zambezi River. We also took a river cruise up the great Zambezi and drove through a game reserve to search out some of Zambia's wild life. The only disappointment was not seeing any elephants, but we were in their natural habitat and not a zoo...which is what makes a safari so special! I was lucky enough to see a whole elephant heard on my way to Kaoma, but the rest of the group was a bit disappointed not to see any.

WORMS...YUMMY!!!!!!

2008-11-21T18:54:00.002-06:00

Friday was also a day for the group to try some of the African food. I had already eaten such things as nishima, rape, country chicken, etc. However, the brothers had a new dish for us to sample. As we walked through the markets we saw baskets full of dried worms and on our trip to the market on Wednesday we were given the assignment to purchase some of the worms. Well, the African cook at ISC prepared them for our dinner. Yes, I did try them and I thought they tasted horrible!!!! And come to find out that Br. Mike (who by the way is from S. Africa) has never gotten up the courage to try a worm yet. The next day when we visited a craft market we took the left over worms for some of the marketeers that Br. Mike knew. They were so excited to get them and wished we would have brought more!

Day 6 - ISC IMMERSION RETREAT

2008-11-21T18:22:00.002-06:00

Zambia artists performing some of the native tribal dances.

On Friday day 6 of the retreat we decided to mostly stay at the retreat center. It was the day after Zambia's presidential elections and there was possibility of some unrest throughout the country when election results were released. We were going to visit a compound in the morning, but received word that there was trouble brewing in the compound and it may not be safe to visit. Zambia is mostly a peaceful country...it is one of the few African countries that has not had civil war. However, because of the continuous decline of the country and corruption in the government many people were hoping for change and had a lot invested in this election. Luckily, there were no major outbreaks of violence.

We did venture out on Friday evening to watch some dancers perform native tribal dances. Two members of the dance troupe were Darius and Raphael...the two young men whose homes we visited in one of the compounds on day 1. They were scheduled to come to ISC to perform personally for us, but because we were a small group we chose to go see them perform at a Lusaka hotel. It turned out to be a profound experience for us to go and see them perform at a very fancy hotel. We had visited their homes and saw where they lived and we realized that we were watching the performance with different eyes than the rest of the audience. The performance took place during a very nice meal where you could eat as much as you wanted. The hotel environment was beautiful...and we knew what the performers were going home to after they finished dancing. The contrast was heartbreaking.

Photo of the compound where the dancers returned following their performance.

VIDEOS OF TRIBAL DANCES

2008-11-21T18:12:00.001-06:00

VIDEO - TRIBAL DANCE

2008-11-21T17:56:00.002-06:00

VIDEO - TRIBAL DANCE

2008-11-21T17:38:00.003-06:00

VIDEO - TRIBAL DANCE

2008-11-21T17:25:00.003-06:00

VIDEO - TRIBAL DANCE

2008-11-21T14:37:00.003-06:00

Day 5 - ISC IMMERSION RETREAT

2008-11-20T02:27:00.002-06:00

I didn't get any photos of the orphans at Mother Teresa's Center, but here are a couple pictures of a child being bathed from one of the other orphanages.

Sr. Bernard

On day 4 of the immersion we visited Mother Teresa's Center which is run by Mother Theresa's order the Missionaries of Charity. They run both an orphanage and a hospice for those affected by aids. We spent a portion of the morning visiting patients in both the women's and men's wards of the hospice. It was a great opportunity visit one on one. The visit I most remember was with a woman covered with a sheet. After I began talking with her she pulled down the sheet to reveal that her whole body was covered in a terrible skin disease. Her legs were in so much pain that she could barely move them. Even laying the sheet down over her skin caused tremendous pain.

We finished off the morning in the orphanage and again there were so many children. There were two rooms filled with cribs. Some of the babies were just days old and very small...some had physical disabilities. I held one baby who laid her head on my shoulder the whole time and seemed so content to just be held. Brother Mike had a hard time getting our group to leave the babies. He told us he would wait out by the van and to come when we were ready. Eventually, we came but not without picking up several more babies on the way to the door. In the second crib before we reached the door was a little guy who could pull himself up in the crib to stand and he gave a high 5 and a big smile to each of us as we walked by. I held him for several minutes and just hated to sit him back in the crib and leave.

In the afternoon we visited Sr. Bernard's community and heard her story as a Zambian woman. She is now the chaplain at the airport...and from what I hear she is Zambia's main "homeland security officer"! Through personal experience I have found that it is very helpful to have a connection with the chaplain when at the airport! Sr. Bernard also shared stories of her vocation and previous ministry experiences. The most dramatic stories were of her time as chaplain at Zambia's maximum security prison. She spoke of visiting with prisoners on death row and also watching some of them being hung by the neck to die for their crime. I can't even imagine having to witness a death by hanging once...much less multiple times.