My Trip to Moxico and Angolan History - DAY 4
Father Ornelas and Father Onorio left this morning. Their stay was too short! I think mine will be very short, theirs were shorter. They want to work in Lwena, but it is not their decision. It’s their superior that has to say if yes or no, they can come. And from what I have been told, we might have the answer in one year from now. And I thought the French immigration papers were too much of a pain!
The life in The Bishopric is like in a pension. Life is built with very meticulous hours.
At 0540 AM, all the priests in the area wake up. Some celebrate the Mass for themselves. I learned that a priest must give a Mass at least once a day, no matter if he is alone in the room, as long as he gives it. Those men are early starters!
At 6 AM, everyone wakes up for the Mass in the Chapel of The Bishopric. Then, everyone has his own chore in the diocese. For example, Father Noel works at the Jesuit Refugee Centre the whole day. Father Jorge works in the administration with Sister Maria Auxílio of the Reparatory Sisters.
At 1230AM, Father Emílio rings the bell for lunch. We wait for D. Gabriel to arrive for him to bless the food. We eat what we like, really. Normally it’s more of traditional meals: manioc or corn (millie) pap with dry fish in palm oil. We can eat those with straw, as Maria says. Savoy-cabbage and its derivations in tomato and onions. Delicious! There are real hens from the hen-coop of The Bishopric too. Served with fries and rice. Then some papayas for dessert.
D. Gabriel: D. Gabriel doesn’t sit at the top of the table. He sits right in the middle, and who sits on the top is a priest or a guest, or sometimes, nobody sits there. Since Father Ornelas went back to Portugal, I took my place by D. Gabriel’s right side. Maria would sit in front of him.
The lunches are so interesting and funny! D. Gabriel is a great teller! As he is very modern and he has a great general knowledge, we can talk about everything around the table. Sometimes, he is so funny, or even Father Noel, that we laugh endless hours! We leave the table by 2 PM, with regrets. But when D. Gabriel gets up, everyone follows. He gives graces and then everyone goes back to their shores.
D. Gabriel, Maria and I would go to the first floor and I would sit in front of my door. D. Gabriel would sit in the balcony (The Bishopric is built on the Arab model) and Maria would prepare herself in her room to give the Biblical classes. Then, D. Gabriel would tell me the projects around Moxico, about the refugees’ and billet camps. He would speak about the population of each camp, and the distance from The Bishopric to each of them.
Not only would he talk about the camps, but how the population of Moxico suffered during the war, and the population of Lwena during the War of Forty-Five Days. Moxico was the most tortured province during the war. All the images you got from Angola, watching children starving, it was in Moxico, precisely in the camps of Luau, a few kilometres from the border with Zambia. It was in Moxico that Savimbi died, in Lukusse, one hundred and 133 kms from Lwena. This Sunday, we are going to the Lukusse Billet Camp.
At 0530 PM, the generator is turned on. It’s already too dark around to work, read or even write. At that time, I start writing whatever I was writing (at that moment "The Eyes of Adam"). Maria goes to the chapel and without noticing, the day finishes really quick. At 7 PM, it’s already pitch dark.
At 0730 PM, Father Jorge rings the bell for dinner. By this time, Father Noel’s stomach and mine growl! The following is the same as for lunch. We wait for D. Gabriel, he blesses the food and we laugh till 9 PM.
At 9 PM, after D. Gabriel saying graces, they (D. Gabriel, the priests and Maria) go to the TV room to watch the news and be aware of what happened in the rest of the country and in the world. I would spare that part of the evening, so I would close myself in my room to write and listen to some music.
Tonight though, I was watching the TV. While Maria was away, D. Gabriel and I had a little talk. Mostly about “boys”. I think people think I am strange. But what I really don’t want, is my eldest brothers to watch over me like if I was a child still. I don’t want to give headaches to anyone in the family, and probably I am very prudent on what I am doing in that matter. Mostly because I know if I tell a member of the family, the whole family is aware of what is happening. Even if it is in another country! The whole family (and my family is not small at all, as all of the Bantu families!) will know and I wonder if we shouldn’t have a newspaper published to make it easier.
I believe that my younger sister is the one that everyone around knows what is happening with her heart. And that, I really don’t want. My heart is mine and nobody else’s…
D. Gabriel then asked me “This is your choice… but what about your heart?” “I tell him to shut up!” I believe most of that love things are mental. You love someone, it’s normal. But you can change the direction of your thoughts. I love in silence. Probably because I am a total ignorant of that subject…
We laughed a lot, probably because wherever I am, I am still the little clown. It was a serious topic, but I can’t be serious too long. Not when it is needed a deep breathe to start talking about your heart and if it is something you don’t tell anyone, not even your best friends.
Then, Maria arrived and we changed topic. I watched the TV and ate some peanuts that the Sisters of the Company of Saint Theresa of Jesus sent Maria.
To be a priest, is a good thing! You feel comfortable to talk about everything and anything and you don’t feel the guilt of talking about it. I guess I just did my first confession, that evening!
At 1130 PM, the generator is turned off and only the dogs howl. We feel in such security in The Bishopric that we (Maria and I) happen to sleep our keys on the other side of the door! The Bishopric is very vulnerable to all attacks, but I guess no one would do such in there. Actually, the only burglars in Lwena are those who steal the electric cables!
“People of Lwena suffer a lot! They suffer a lot!”
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