Wednesday in Kitwe

24th October 07

Today is Zambian Independence Day, so there will be celebrations and parades all around the Country. Father William, last night was quite cynical about the day. He said all the schools turn out for the celebrations. In Kitwe all the school children and their teachers have to be in Freedom Square by 7.30am. Any teachers that don’t bring their children are fined. He said ‘ what do the people have to celebrate? Poverty? Aids? Many people ignore the day. We got up at 8am and had breakfast with with Bishop Peter, and Liz – toast, egg and bacon. We saw the front page of yesterday’s newspaper reporting Rev Daka’s sermon at Lusaka Cathedral, for the Independence Day service on Sunday afternoon.

Bishop Albert came and picked us p to show us around the Diocese – well not the whole diocese as that would be an enormous area! Then at 3pm his driver will take us to Ndola, to Bishop Derek. Our first visit was to St Michael’s church in Kitwe, an old very Anglican brick built church. We met Father Harry Zulu, a lovely man and good friends with Roger and Ronnie Broomhead ( a couple in our church of Holy Trinity). He sent greetings to them. All Harry’s family names start with the letter H! First born is Harriet who is studying nursing in Yorkshire, living in Harrogate. Next is Hazel who is in Ndola. She is Captain of hockey for Zambia. Then comes Humphrey who is in Kitwe and the youngest is Hector who is in Konkola. Harry showed us their large church hall, which is next to his house, with the church on the other side of the house. The car park doubles as an outside worship area with a large communion ‘table’. They have just had their 50th Anniversary celebrations. The hall was built in 1957 – when Ken saw it on his last visit it was in great need of roof and floor repairs, which are now complete. We also went upstairs and saw his office. The church was built in 1940. We met Helen, his wife and took some photos promising to email them to them.

Then we drove to St Peter’s, Chimwemwe which is a township outside Kitwe. The word means ‘joy’. We drove off the tarmac onto an earth road in a high density area and came across St Peters still under construction. The roof was on and most of the walls had been built and windows were in. As we got out of the car we could hear beautiful singing. We went into the unfinished church to find 8 St Veronicas ladies practising singing and dancing for the Sunday service. We were all introduced and shook hands warmly, and I was able to give them each a Mother’s Union card with the MU prayer on it. They were thrilled. As we got into the car another St Veronicas lady appeared at the window eager to have a copy of the MU prayer. So thanks to Chris Mahoney for giving them to me and bringing smiles to their faces.

We then continued driving into the rural areas, to Garneton. It was an area of farmhouses where a huge shanty area had grown up, Bishop Albert saying the numbers were probably 45,000. We passed a walled compound. Inside it about to be built, were houses for the Chinese owners of the copper mines. The feeling was that the Chinese only had to ask the government for land and the request was granted. If Zambians applied it would be very difficult and would be a long drawn out process. He showed us a church in Garneton, called St Philips, also part of St Peter’s parish. This church though had no roof on it yet, and as the diocese can’t yet afford it, there will probably be no roof before the rains come shortly. Next to this church is the present one that they are worshipping in. It is built of bamboo, plastic and straw with simple benches inside. Next to these 2 Anglican churches, the old and the new, is an enormous Catholic church with a wall around it. Across the dirt track is a Pentecostal church. Bishop Peter asked why the Anglicans couldn’t share the enormous Catholic building. I think it basically comes down to Holy Communion, that the Catholics wouldn’t allow the Anglicans to receive communion.

As we were driving around a car passed with a helmet on the back shelf. Bishop Albert said ‘ if you see a helmet you know that car is either a supplier or a contractor at the copper mines. Bishop Albert took us for a drive around the area where he was brought up and showed us his school. A lot of the houses were gone. Some new ones were being built to move people whose homes are in a dangerous area where the mines are. They will move into the homes as soon as they are completed. We also drove past homes that had sprung up informally. The government want to clear the area, but are afraid they’ll lose votes, so the people remain to date. Tiny homes made of any materials available – wood, mud, etc cramped together. On past a huge market that went on and on, rather run down, but a hive of activity. We were back at the guesthouse and had lunch there with Bishop Albert. Then we packed our bags into the van that Bishop Albert’s driver was going to take us in, to Ndola. We first stopped at Bishop Albert’s house to say ‘goodbye’ to him and his family. We took a family photo of Bishop Albert, Bertha, their son Michael 10yrs, and daughter 4yrs, plus their family dog. Such a lovely family, and such a hard job that Bishop Albert has.