Here's something you don't see everyday. My cousin, Fr. Don Siple OSM, is on a mission trip to South Africa. His sister, Dorothy, forwarded me the e-mail he sent her 11/13/2005. I was very moved by it, so I decided to post it here.
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Dear [Family],
The KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa is just beautiful! There are just no words to describe the beauty of the people and of the landscape.
I arrived Tuesday past after a rather grueling trip from Chicago. While all the flights departed on time, the long flights and long lay-overs in the airports made the trip almost unbearable. However, I did make it and was met at the final airport by two of my Servite brothers: Fr. Mel Loftus and Fr. Declan Doherty. It was good to see familiar faces after a long trip. Mom and Dad, Fr. Mel sends his greetings.
Upon my arrival into South Africa, I was greeted by cool, but pleasant weather and sunny skies. For the past week I have been residing at our mission of Mtubatuba which is the headquarters of the Servites in this area. There are five friars and one seminarian from the local diocese residing here. They are a great bunch of guys and continue to be very hospitable to me. Staying with my Servite brothers is making the stay here much easier and nicer. They are full of information about the local people and the local church. I am very grateful for their hospitality.
Needless to say, I slept very well on Tuesday evening; make-up time for the sleep that I missed on the fight over. On Wednesday I visited some of our mission out-stations. All throughout the trip to the out-stations I just marveled at the natural beauty of this place. God certainly took his time in creating KwaZulu. All along the way I am finding the Zulu people very friendly. Their smiles alone speak of joy, a deep joy that comes from deep within their souls. Also, on Wednesday, I visited the Indian Ocean and a small nature park where I saw massive crocodiles and hippos in the wild. No Animal Planet documentary can ever capture the raw beauty of these creatures in their own habitats. I took some pictures here.
One of the facts of KwaZulua and indeed, all of Africa, is the AIDS epidemic that is sweeping large parts of the local population. Interestingly, this disease is not only among the young, but also among those in their 50’s and 60’s. The reason for this varies. The South African Catholic Bishops Conference sponsors the AIDS Project where local parishes/missions are given the funds to minister to those fighting the disease. For many, because this is rural area, the greatest difficulty is getting transport to clinic for an exam and their monthly dose of medicine. Our mission here in Mtubatuba operates a service that goes to the people and brings them to clinic. Likewise, they have trained caregivers who make weekly checks of those in the program. These women are full of compassion and faith. On Thursday, I had the opportunity to ride along on one of the transport routes. Also, we made visits to patients in the rural area. Those that we visited were ages 26, 27 and her son who was 7. What struck me the most about these visits was how those families take care of the one who is sick. The love and care that is given is very inspiring. I felt the Lord so very present as we made the visits. The visits gave me a chance to take the facts about the AIDS situation here as reported by the American media and see it first hand. Please pray for this situation.
Friday brought me into a large game park where nature once again unfolded her beauty for me. Along the way I saw elephants, baboons, lots of rhinoceros, giraffe, African buffalo, impala, judos, lions and warthogs. There were no fences or moats separating them from our car. It was so cool! The only tense moment came when one mother rhinoceros with a calf signaled that she was going to charge our car. Needless to say we did stay around to witness what might happen. All in all it was a great day and I took lots of pictures.
That evening I was the guest of our Servite Bishop Michael O’Shea and his mission in Hlabisa, some 45 kilometers from Mtubatuba. Our church and priory there is just beautiful and I so enjoyed discussing church affairs with the Bishop.
On Saturday evening I presided and preached at the English Mass in Mtubatuba. Not much different from Mass in the United States. Today, though I concelebrated the Mass at one of the out-stations of Mtubatuba. The Mass in Zulu was an experience of liturgy like I have never had in my 13 plus years of priesthood. The people, gathered for liturgy, sang and sang and sang. The songs seemed to freely come our forth from their souls as they worshipped. The melodies were beautiful and joyous. God knew that we were there. The entire liturgy was a joyous worship of the God whose love is felt deep within. While many of those gathered have very little in comparison to us, their spirit of joy just pervades in all things.
As you can figure from this long letter I am so enjoying my stay in Zululand. My being here is a dream come true. Besides all the experiences I am having, I am enjoying the rest.
I pray that you are well and know that I miss you. Tomorrow I go to our mission near the border of Mozambique and may not be able to e-mail for it is a remote area. I will write next weekend.
I Love You,
Donnie
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