K A T C The Cardinal’s visit A few weeks ago Cardinal Keith O’Brien of Scotland visited Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre. He spent a good part of the day viewing the work at KATC and then visited two farming families in the area. One of the families visited has a son who is a priest working in Michigan. Mrs. Deka received His Eminence royally and the two hit it off well. His Eminence did a jig for the group as he was leaving. The Cardinal was in the country visiting SCIAF supported projects. SCIAF is the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund.
Field Day and Board Meeting On the 19th of February KATC had its annual field day. Over 250 people attended. The event has grown every year. The Lord blessed the day by waiting till the last tour returned to home base before opening up the heavens. The participants were mainly from government, NGOs, and tertiary level educational institutions. The guest of honour this year was Mr. A.K. Banda, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives. The Board of Trustees met on the 16th of February for the first Board meeting of the year. Paul Desmarais
Pioneers I attended the Annual Meeting of the Priests of the Archdiocese of Lusaka in December and was given the opportunity to speak briefly about the work of the Pioneers. There is no doubt that alcohol abuse continues to be a major problem in most parishes. Priests are genuinely concerned though there is always a little gentle leg-pulling. Most of them are surprised when I mentioned “Tujilijili” which is the slang word for those small plastic sachets of alcohol which are readily available nearly everywhere and are a source of concern for many people. After a retreat I gave in December in Mongu I had a day with some the Pioneers of the town especially Father Richard Lubasi Kufanga who is the PP of Limulunga Parish. An ardent supporter of the Pioneers, he has been appointed the Diocesan Chaplain. With his interest we expect great things in the West. For the year 2010 as well as our usual programme of visiting the Pioneers in some of the Dioceses around the country, we in the National Office have asked the local Pioneer Centres to visit the schools and colleges in their areas. The main purpose, as well as giving the Pioneer message, is to engage the young people in a conversation about the whole question of how alcohol
is used in the country. Our experience is that young people are very willing to talk on this topic: it is, as they say, a “hot” issue. On Monday 9th February I was visiting the seminarians who are doing their spiritual year at Emmaus. Quite a few have expressed interest in joining the Pioneers. With the permission the Rector Father Cornelius Haankomone I will go back there with a Pioneer team and lay the foundation for a new centre. If they do join it will be as Probationers which means that they will continue their probation after they go on to Mpima. If this initiative, which came from the seminarians themselves, is successful it augurs well for a number of priest Pioneers in the future. Perhaps this is our contribution to the Year of the Priest. The National Executive of the Pioneers is scattered all over Zambia but I am very grateful to two of their number, Miss Letesiya Phiri and Mr Pious Hampongo, who live in Lusaka and who meet with me once a week to implement the year plan of the National Executive. Charlie Searson
Apostleship of Prayer I had the opportunity to meet the animators of the Holy Childhood from different parishes in Lusaka just before Christmas on the topic of the Apostleship of Prayer. These young adults were very frank on their feedback on the prayer leaflets. Some said they simply did not receive them, while others said received them but were not clear what it as all about and whom they were meant for. Having given them a brief introduction, they advised me to ask each Parish Priest to do the same. Volume 41, Number 1
This led directly to the short input I gave at the Province Assembly in January and also to the covering letter that went out to each parish with the prayer intentions for 2010, asking that the Apostleship be explained in a few short words at the Sunday liturgy or other gathering. This year for the first time we sent the prayer leaflets to all the Catholic schools and to each religious house in the country. The feedback from this exercise has been Page 9