Good morning everyone!!! I am glad to report that last night I slept so long and so good. It was a rough week for sleep because of my stomach ailment, but I am so happy to report that today I am really feeling back up to par…HURRAH!!! Today I am at the office for just a short time because soon we will be going to a funeral Mass. The uncle of one of our co-workers died last week and today is the funeral. This will be my first funeral in Congo and it will be at the church of the Holy Spirit where I have been going to worship. I am sure it will be in French and so once again I will be sitting in the dark so to speak, but the good news is that my Swahili listening comprehension is picking up this week, YEA, HURRAH!!! That has been the hardest part, I am learning so much vocabulary, but if you do not understand it as you are hearing it…well, you can see where that gets me.
Today I just wanted to send you a map and website for you to link to. Use Google Earth to really see where in the world I am. You will love it. For now I am also copying a photo map that I made from google earth. This way you can see exactly where I travel to and from work and some of the sites I visit on a regular basis. Hope this is fun for you…it sure is for me!!! Well I can see that this photo is not half as good as the real thing, so I ask you to go to Google Earth (FREE) on the internet and check out Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. This map shows a few of the places important in my life, Diocese de Goma and the Caritas Offices. Also if you can see the white line, it shows the road i take to and from work every day. And often I walk because of lack of a car available to transport, but I welcome the walking and it is just a short 15 minute walk.
Now this was an exciting day for Mahesh Eduard Ntamabyaliro(ABOVE) and I, a wonderful reunion as we are family. He is the Superintendent of the Nkokwe school. Now they are living as refugees in the village of Gisiza and it was a time of rejoicing to see each other and exchange greetings.
Well I must close now because Roger Ndagije (ABOVE) and I will be leaving now for Rugari, I will return once again...YAHOO!!! Roger is the head of Medical Development with the Caritas Goma office and he is my supervisor. I will send a picture of him as well. Then I must go, we have miles to drive before we rest. ....OH SO SAD....I just learned that we will not travel after all. There is no car available for us to drive in. BAH HUMBUG!!! The good news is that gives me more time to write and post blogs...YAHOO!!! The silver lining in every cloud.
Just one other piece of news. I began this writing on Saturday the 15th and am finishing now on Monday the 17th. I am happy to report that the funeral was in Swahili and so I got some great practice for my Swahili and indeed I am learning, slowly, slowly. It was the funeral of a family member here at Caritas, what I didn't know is that he was a politician and very respected in the nation. Oh my goodness what a funeral!!! Three hours in length and packed full. I ended up taking most of the rest of the day with this funeral and burial. It was presided over by Bishop Ngabu and over 10 other priests!!! Abbe Oswald says that if the current leadership in the North Kivu Province were the kind of man this was, we would be prospering and life would be good. He was well celebrated in the Mass and burial.
Love to you all back home,
And always, God’s blessings upon you,
Jackie
3 comments:
Hello, Sister!! Wow, we are enjoying your posts. Really helps us to visualize where you are and who some of your friends are, etc. I'm sure they are loving your banana bread and other goodies. Our loss is their gain! :-( So very happy to know you are feeling better. Ian had a smorgasboard of immunizations last week in preparation for HS and he had a fever over 101 the next day. He's always reacted to vaccines that way. We are all fine. Randy flew to NYC this am for a few days. We are looking forward to celebrating Easter. What will you do that day? There is a chance of snow in the forecast for Easter. Ugh. Spring is coming - just taking its time! We love you and miss you dearly!Blessings to you, Jackie! Love, The Idlemans
Hi Jackie,
Thanks for the news from Goma and especially from Rugari where my parents were born and raised. Rugari is celebrating its centenary very soon, but I can't be there as I am in Maryland, USA. However, I would like to write a message to the guests of the Rugari celebrations. Who can I send it to and which e-mail address can I use? My address is
Sincerely,
Seba wa Lulenga, PhD
Rockville, MD
Thank you so much Seba, I was able to attend the celebration at RUGARI last year...IT WAS FANTASTIC! Sorry I do not see an email address to contact you about how to get information to Rugari! I hope to visit there the end of this year. I pray you were able to get your message through and now we must pray the more for peace to return as events are again EXTREMELY DIFFICULT! peace!
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