Kenya Violence

I am certain that I will watch the news with a greater eye on Africa. The violence continues to escalate in Kenya. A priest was killed yesterday by a machete weilding group of youths and he is one of the hundreds (rapidly becoming 1000's) who have been killed. The situation is very complex and the leadership of both parties appear to be unwilling to compromise.

I am also aware that there are volatile conditions in the DRC (Congo) and they get little notice in the papers. The Lord's Resistance Army continues it's violence in Uganda and in the Congo. And many are watching to see what will happen during the elections in Zimbabwe.

I realize as well that the we against them is not limited to Africa. We do the same in the US with all sorts of our "isms" and our divisions, and sadly the divisions are not confined to the right or the left. Unity is precious but it demands sacrifice, work and a letting go of power.

Baboons

The wildlife spottings have been limited; however, on our way back from Siavonga we did pass a family of baboons along the highway. Zambia does not have gorillas and while there is a chimp orphanage in the north, all the chimps have come in from the Congo.

Odds and Ends

We have had some nights without power and that has created some difficult situations. The national power company is having grid problems, but the outages have damaged motors and left the entire country in the dark. A complication is that the outages are occurring during the Africa Cup games, which keep people glued to their television screens. Zambia won their first game against Sudan so they move forward.

The Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar sent us an information piece for Heikima College, the English speaking Jesuit theologate in Nairobi. Yesterday, the rioting and violence came very close to the college. Pray for a peaceful solution to the violence and political impasse.

Zambia is in the midst of a National Constitutional Convention. The Zambia Episcopal Conference is not participating because they feel that the representation was too limited. In today's newspaper one member of the convention said that the Catholic Bishops were trying to destroy the country and to create war. Fortunately, the Post newspaper, gave a very strong editorial in defense of the Bishops and the history of the Church.

Lake Kariba and Siavonga

Lake Kariba and Siavonga

Lake Kariba and Siavonga

Joe Keaney, SJ and I took a three day trip to Lake Kariba and stayed at a friend's lakeside home in Siavonga. Lake Kariba was formed when the Zambesi river was damned to provide electrical power for south central Africa. Siavonga is about three hours from Lusaka over very good roads (now, they had severe flooding earlier). It was fascinating to pass through changing landscapes until we arrived at the lakeside.

The home was very comfortable and nice and we had a great verandah for watching the lake and the birds of the area. Joe is a birder and so I am far more aware of the great variety of birds in Zambia. Zambia has nearly 700 species of birds and Joe has spotted over half.

The time was not filled with great activity, but with very good conversations. We enjoyed a couple of good dinners and it was fun to have the opportunity to cook. Each late afternoon we took a stroll into Siavonga and watched people and wandered in the market. The people of this area are Tonga speakers and Joe was able to greet people and to surprise the children that he could speak their tongue.

Above this post are a number of pictures from the time in Siavonag.

Ministries

Last Sunday Josephine Lungu and I conducted a communication workshop for the 10:00 choir at St. Ignatius. The choir is one of the gifts of the parish, but the members have been struggling with some issues. The pastor asked that we give a workshop to help the choir identify and address the issues. We met at Luwisha House at the JCTR (Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection) con-ference room for six hours of hard and intense work. I think that we were able to help them identify the issues and to see where they need to do additional work. It was a good experience, and I was able to tell them that Joy Sherman and the SU choirs had them in mind. The Zambian choir just produced a CD and I will bring it home to share with others. We had 30 of the 40 attend the workshop and I believe that they are committed to working together in this important ministry.

This coming Sunday, Josephine and I will do our final workshop. We will repeat some aspects of the spiritual leadership workshop for younger members of the Christian Life Communities. I think that they are wise to encourage young people to take leadership positions in the Church.

Tonight we have a community gathering to discuss ministry in Malawi. The Jesuits want to expand their presence in the country and are considering the various options. Peter Bwanali, the Provincial is from Malawi, as is the Rector of the Arrupe College in Zimbabwe. I will be a note-taker.