Here it is, June 16th, Youth Day here in South Africa. In 1976 the youth, unarmed as usual, of Soweto, gathered together to protest the new law that said that they would now have to study Afrikaans as a required subject in school. There were many other things that were going on at the time and this was the last straw. It seems that when the police, who were caught off guard, saw the 20,000 or so students, they got nervous and one of them pulled out a revolver and shot into the crowd. Of course this was like lighting a fust for a bomb. All hell broke loose and the students wound up throwing stones at the police and the police then were firing live ammunition into the crowd of students.  The famous picture of a young man carrying the dead body of Hector Peterson, who had been shot directly in the chest, was circulated world wide, it brought to the attention of the world the brutal regime that was, at the  time, the apartheid government. The youth of today have other problems to face like drugs, cheap and daily sex, and love for money , along with a sense of entitlement that they deserve everything for free that most people in the world have to work for, like free education, even in university. So the challenge to the youth it to emulate the willingness to make sacrifices for the good of the country and the nation as a whole as did those youth then.
    But, in the meantime, I have had a not good at all weekend. We discovered on Friday that thieves have been busy dismantling the palisade fence that had just been put up, and not just in one place but a whole section, maybe 15 meters  or more of fence. We spent most of Saturday morning and afternoon trying to put it back togethers and have asked the guy who did the job to get someone to do something so that the thieves cannot just unbolt the bolts and walk away with whole sections of the fence.
    On top of that, my cell phone stopped working so that I can't call anyone and I can't receive calls. Our home landline phone doesn't work either. And then my modem doesn't work well where we are located as the signal keeps changing, sometimes ok, most times very slow or not at all. So I was not able to send messages to anyone. I am in Fr. Guys's house now, Sabelani Home, where the signal is good so that I can get this out.
    As I have said often, I am glad that I can't be bored but sometimes I think that the Lord overdoes it, if you know what I mean.
    So, you all take care. Love and Peace, Cas. (June 16, 2013

Dear Everyone,
     I "posted" something on Monday but it seems I didn't do something right because I don't find it here and I am too lazy to repeat the long story I told then. I am happy so far with the results of the eye drops and am being kept busy as a kind of handy man here at our project where water, electricity, broken things, etc. etc. etc. keep me busy and from getting bored. I hope that this goes out now. If not, I will have to go back to Chicago to Sr. Ann and take some more lessons. Love and Peaace, Cas

May 27, 2013

Just a quick update on the recent happening in my life. About 3 1/2 weeks ago I had a wedding here in the Durban area and took the opportunity, since I was in the area, to see an optometrist because I could feel that there was something not quite right with my right eye. Nothing painful, nothing gross, just subtle pressure. She discovered that I am near-sighted (I don't need glasses to read) but my far-sighted ness now needs glasses. Not bad that I managed to hold of fo almost 78 yrs. without glasses.
     However, she discovered that the pressure in my right eye was 38 and in the left eye 24. She sent me to an ophthalmologist who found the same and gave me some drops to put in the eyes each day, one drop each, every day. It is supposed to decrease the pressure. I don't know how, but....
      I am back now in Durban for a checkup to see if the drops are working. They are. the pressure in the right eye went down from 38 to 18 (hooray), and in the left eye from 24 to 17. We are all happy. The right eye has already been damaged and it is called Glaucoma. the pressure has damaged the peripheral vision but the direct vision (tunnel vision) is still OK. There was the possibility of the need for an operation to drill another hole to drain the excess fluid in the eye so that the damage will stop and whatever you are able to seen now will remain. The Ophthalmologist said to come back in another 6 weeks to see if the pressure continues to go down. I understand that 7 would be OK or maybe a bit more but that means that there is still a ways to go.
     Then I went to the dentist who discovered that the ache that I had been experiencing for the past week or so was actually a deep cavity that had gone down into the root so there was no option but the take the whole tooth out. Hey, I am falling apart. What's next.
     But, I am happy that the problems have been solved and I can get on with my life which brings new and exciting things every day. As Murphy once said, the light that you see at the end of the tunnel is probably the headlight of the approaching train. Ha! Get used to Murphy intruding on your life.
     I am happy to be able to continue physically and to be active. I was even able to do some digging the other day which made Fr. Guy, my Provincial, mad at me. He wants to be over protective, but I appreciate his concern.
     I will be receiving visitors in July and in September and have a wedding coming up sometime in September as well, so I have exciting things to look forward to. I also received a note from my niece, Dr. Ann Kulik, that she and her husband will be coming out next year in February. That home leave combined with the sabbatical last year was a strong tonic for my spirit and I have the pictures on my computer as a screen saver so that I keep seeing the people there that I love and it keeps me in touch in my spirit.
     I pray that you all stay well and thank God for the love and attention that you have graced me with in my life. In Xhosa there is a saying " umntu ngumntu ngabanye abantu", e.g. a person is a person because of other persons.  How true! I would be a pauper without the richness that you have shared me by being a life-giving part of my life.
     Stay well, y'all. Love and Peace, Cas    

Time is flying so fast. Long time, no blog. Holy Week and Easter came and went too quickly. I was out in the outstations, in the boonies, which was fine. The weather was terrible--rain and rain and rain, but we survived.
     Since then it is the usual, shopping in the early morning, stop to see the rent collector, visit the rental project to solve problems (water, electricity, sewage, anything). In between, cutting grass, maintenance, preparing for a conference of formators (those who are responsible for training our trainees for the community, brothers and priests) which will be next week (April 22 to 27). Planning the meals for 15 to 20 people for 6 days. Challenging. Helping out in the outstations on weekends, which I enjoy.
     I will share more when the pressure lets up a bit, but now I am running.
The last week of April I have a doctor's appointment in Durban to check my eyes. My right eye doesn't feel right somehow and I want to check it out. I have a wedding the next day in Pinetown (next to Mariannhill a few kms. from Durban). I will take the opportunity to do some odds and ends at Mariannhill and then back to the routiine again.
    I love you all and keep you always in my daily prayers, the loves of my life. Cas.

Well, here it is, March, 4th Sunday of Lent. Easter comes early this year.
     It has been an awful week for me. Nothing seemed to work. It was as though Murphy moved in with his whole family and tried his best to disrupt my life (and that of many others too) with a vengeance.
     The electricity was on and off, mostly off for most of the week. We weren't sure if it was ESKOM, the national provider or if it was KSD (King Sabata Dalindyebo) municipality supplier. All the milk in the fridge went sour and we hope that what little meat there was is still edible. Thank goodness I love Amasi (sour milk, like Yogurt) but not everyone does. It won't go to waste.
     One morning I discovered that the electricity had been off for the whole night in our kitchen, pantry and dining room. The rest of the house seemed to be OK. Of the three phases that come into the house, the power should be between 200 and 240 (in the States it is 110), but one phase was about 67, the other was 132, and the third was 230. The fridges were not going so I had to run around to find extension cords and plug them in to one of the plugs that had the 230 to keep the fridges running. But, after a while, even that didn't work any more as all the electricity went completely out. Holy Moses.
     Finally, when I had given up and was on the way to KSD to shake them up, the electricity came back on again.
    Otherwise, I was unable to get on the internet; my cell phone refused to work; and the landline has been out of commission since the copper cable was stolen about 3 weeks ago. All avenues of communication were totally cut off for about three days.
     When I went to visit our Bedford Project (flats or apartments we built for renting to get some income, in the future, for our young confreres when we old-timers are gone together with our pensions,) I discovered that several jobs that should have been done by the builder were not done yet, a water pipe had been broken and patched with an old inner tube, and one of the septic tanks was overflowing with the effluent that was coming from both the hospital and our tenants (I didn't use the work " effluent" when I saw it!!!)
    I had to go to (I couldn't phone, remember....) someone who knew what the situation was and could advise how to solve it--a good Muslim) and get his help for the other things too.
     People were upset because I wasn't answering their mail or phone calls and I couldn't help it.
     But, as is always the case, some good things happened too. The electricity came back on, the internet connection worked again, and for some mysterious reason, even the cell phone became operable once more.
I managed to get in a few classes with the seniors in one of the high schools and we talked about the challenges they faced when they graduated and what their responsibility was, as Christians, (not necessarily fanatical) to respond with the bag of Christian values that are our inheritance. The humanists too could relate to what I was saying as I brought the bible along with the newpaper to see what the relation was from the one to the other.  I enjoy being with them and I am thrilled with the throbbing energy that is there that needs tapping into and guidance. Wow! They are great.
     I also enjoy going to the outstations and keeping in touch with the rural communities out there. I don't know how they survive as the prices of everything just keep going up. We  (Mariannhillers) have a project going in connection with the J&P of the bishops' conference to gather information at the local supermarkets each month to record just how high the costs have gone (like Petrol, which went up 41 cents a litre last month and just went up another 81 cents a litre, which now is just 3 cents shy of R13 a litre. When petrol goes up, so does transport --people have to get to work, and the price of goods goes up because of the increase in transport costs.) The project is called " Basic Needs Basket". I think that with the statistics of what was collected before, this year's budget actully reflected the pressure brought to bear by the government announcing an increase in some of the social grants, like pensions, to help people to survive.
     I think I will stop here. I run like crazy in the morning to various offices that are connected with our project, including the police who are helpiing to nail down a policeman who is in arrears for his rent by more that R30,000. I start about 7am, shopping, and continue till about 12 or 12:30 each day, just in time for lunch (more or less) and then continue after a break from about 2 to 5 when I have a wash and try to do some reading. I am getting in some of my weed-whacking again. I need some exercise or my body will complain. But I have been sleeping like a log, nicelly tired. a good feeling.
     I hope that you are all well and realize that I love you all and, especially after the delicious time I had in Europe and the States on my home leave and sabbatical, you are all still very fresh in my mind and in my heart. You will stay that way, you can be sure. Love and peace, as always. Cas.
 

Hey, everyone. I have been back in SA since Jan. 8th. I paid a visit to Zambia and my old haunts and now-grown-up kids (our youth group), especially, and it was a delight.
     I also spent a weekend with a family whose male head (there is also a female head) I worked with at J&P in Pretoria some years back. I was shocked when he said that he would send his daughter, Paleng, to fetch me from the airport. I think that the last time I saw Paleng, she must have been about 7 yrs. old and now she is not only driving her own car but has also earned herself a Master's degree. Does that make you feel old or what? But, that too was a delight, to see the kids growing up and being involved in making this a better society for all through the application of their gifts and talents. Hooray!
     I remember with deep satisfaction the time I spent at home with my family, reconnecting after many years of absence, as well as a kind of smug satisfaction to be able to say I went to school again and " I passed!" Never too late.
     I am back at my old job of being the project manager for our now-29 flats. Whenever there is a problem, water, electricity, bad smell, rubbish, broken pipes, leaking faucets, etc. etc. etc. , that's me!
    I also look after our Abbot Francis Home, where a few of us live here permanently, and others come and go looking for hospitality (a bed, a meal, a chance to chill out, etc. ).
     Now they want to make me the postulant master, e.g. to lay the foundations, at least thinking wise, for those who think they may have a vocation to the religious life. Talk about a full schedule. Although this will be a team effort, it will revolve around my being present and organizing. It should be interesting if it doesn't kill me.
     I will also start teaching at Khanyisa High School. Two classes of seniors, mostly non-catholic, but we all have a stake in the society we live in and help to shape and not only be shapen by. We shall see how that goes. I am really looking forward to that.
     I gained about 10 pounds (4 kgs.) while I was home and an trying, not too successfully, to shed some of it. I am not used to looking like this. Ahem!
    Well, enough for now. I will be preparing my Xhosa sermon now. Till be meet here again. Love and peace, Cas.

I am finally back in South Africa, Mthatha, after leaving Atlanta on the 29th of Dec., arriving in Johannesburg on the 30th, leaving a lot of luggage with friends there and continuing on to Zambia where I spent New years and the rest of the week there visiting CMM in Makeni and Woodlands as well as friends especially in Kabwe, my old parish, and then, spending a weekend in Johannesburg on the way back with friends and a colleague at J&P, and, on the 8th of Jan. back to Mthatha.
     I jumped straight into the old job but have been frustrated in not being able to access news, for some reason. It is only today that I manged to find a way to get to my blog and put you all in the picture.
     The home leave and sabbatical was great and prepared me, I hope, for the challenges that are to come now. I discovered to my happy amazement that my Xhosa was still intact and I can converse without any problems. Nice to know.
     I met the bishop yesterday and greeted him as he went into his office. He knows CTU and the good reputation it has.
     I will be going to an outstation this Sunday to give Fr. Ngadi a hand as he has too many to be able to do by himself. The Bedford project with the flats for rent and the problems that come with maintaining a lot of flats has been re-inherited by me so I won't have time for playing around much, which is OK by me.
     But, I expected sunshine and summer weather but it has been coooold and rainy ever since I landed in Africa. Climate Change! I don't like it.
     I have to go for Mass now but will (now that I know how to do it) be in contact with you more at length later. I wish you all, once again, a very happy new year. Fr. Cas