Friday 10 January 2014

Epiphany Elation.

On the Feast of the Epiphany we received a report from Fr. Kennedy Kunda Kashinga, the Parish Priest of Kasaba Parish, Zambia together with some photographs (see below).

The Bicycles are Delivered.
In July 2013 SURVIVE-MIVA provided the Parish with a grant of £5,600 for the purchase of 25 bicycles and 1 motorbike so that the Parish Team (3 priests, 5 Sisters of Mercy, 9 catechists and 16 home-based care-givers) could, more effectively, provide pastoral and healthcare services to people living in the 42 out-stations (located around a lagoon and swamps) that make up the Parish.

The Parish Team have a number of programmes in operation including: providing home-based care to people who have AIDS or are HIV-positive; visiting the elderly & those who are sick; a youth ministry; the empowerment of women / gender issues; administering the Sacraments.  The road network to the out-stations is very poor and bicycles and motorbikes are the only way to get around effectively, although boats are also needed to convey the bicycles around the lagoon.  All the Parish programmes have been much easier to manage with the arrival of the bicycles and the motorbike, and the Parish Team have also been given much encouragement in their work.
Preparing some of the Bicycles

A Drama Group Performance to Care-givers Explains the Importance of not Misusing the Bicycles  for Personal Activities.


Transporting the Bicycles Around the Lagoon


The New Motorbike