Easter Blessings

It was indeed an Easter Blessing to wake up Sunday morning a take my first shower in more than three weeks, and a hot shower as well.

We had a beautiful Easter Vigil beginning at 8:00 PM with great singing and dancing to celebrate our Lord's resurrection. After the vigil the whole congregation gathered for cake, cookies and mango juice prepared by the Brothers in Amatongas.

One other bit of news was the beginning of the rebuilding of our new/old residence. This residence was formerly used by the Franciscans when they first built the school 50 years ago. Since Independence in 1972, it has been used for teachers for a few years and then basically abandoned for at least the last 10 years or so. Work is expected to take 5-6 months.

We'll be up on the third floor.

Palm Sunday

A few pictures from our Palm Sunday liturgy attended by 1200 young people and celebrated by the great Bishop of Chimoio.

Love the Mitre

Lots going on

        Well, there's so much going on here it's hard to begin. However, I'll start with a very difficult challenge. I have been walking past this huge saw many times a day and have been wondering why it's not working. Come to find out that it does work, but the belts need to be replaced. The problem is they can't find these belts anywhere in South Africa, hard to believe I know. So, I figured if the internet is good for anything it would be this, to try and find these belts. If you know anyone in the lumber business, or big belt business, please let me know. I can send more pictures. The result of an operational saw could mean big money for the school in the future.

Also, scroll down to view latest video!

Section of old belt, very thick

Rumor is this originally came from Switzerland

Our other challenge with running water is still another major problem. We need a new pump and it doesn't look like we will get one anytime real soon.

Takes many men to lift pump and pipes from 50 meters down

Please enjoy our new video below, Amatongas, student interview and Solidarity.

Good and Bad

It's been a crazy week for us here in Amatongas. The good news is that we finally got an internet connection. Unfortunately, it's too slow to do anything other than check e-mail, the reason I am loading this report in Chimoio. It's not fast enough for skype and certainly not a solution for our future computer lab plans.

The bad news for us this week is rain. It's been raining since monday, which also means no electricity and for the past two days no running water. All of this makes for long days and nights. It kinda reminds me of the days after Katrina.

Another bit of good news is that I found a chain saw. Now, I just have to wait for dry weather. The area we are clearing for our future banana plantation is really looking good. We had heard reports of a huge plantation here many years ago and after some clearing came upon the remnants. It was just incredible. We plan on using these plants to start our banana farm.

Old Banana Plantation found in the forest

Also, we purchased 200 more chickens and we are slowly learning the trade with the help of the resident students.