July 2014 Visit to Catota and Celebration

We drove about 8 hrs east to Catota, province of Bié, about an hour north of Menongue. This was where Norm’s parents lived for several years until 1953. The above sign was plastered on many vehicles and buildings—this one was on the hospital (note the tape). The “União de Igrejas Evangélicas de Angola” or UIEA denomination was first founded in Muie, also in the province of Bié 100 years ago. “Integral com Cristo e para Cristo” can be translated “Wholly with Christ and by Christ”.


At the opening ceremonies several thousand people cheered and sang celebrating the 100 years of God’s goodness in general and in particular to the UIEA church in Angola. Here is a women’s choir singing as they file up.
               

Due to numbers, most people brought their own chairs-we liked the ones made from logs.  People from many “tribes and tongues and peoples” came- here is a Himba woman, from a church in the south of the country. Announcements were in Portuguese with translation to Ngangela, the language of the area. Norm’s parents learned Luchazi, one of the languages that make up Ngangela.                                                                                                                  

People camped by regions and churches.  A fire truck brought water daily.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

This man is believed to be 113 yrs old. He helped built the foundation of the church in 1930, and remembered Norm’s dad. He walks with the help of family and a cane (here the bottom of a parasol).

A mobile lab was brought in so malaria tests could be done; vaccinating people for cholera, I believe. People were encouraged to be tested if they didn’t know their HIV status.
   
Fran, Lucy and I are wearing the commemorative cloth or ‘pano’. Yes, it was cold at night! 

                                                                                                
Norm’s father built the hospital in Catota in the 1940’s, but it was destroyed during the war late ‘70’s.  Now the government has built a beautiful new hospital (you can see the ruins of the old one in the background). It is staffed by nurses, as no doctors are available yet. Drs Lucy and Fran were the first doctors to visit. The director and staff were most welcoming, and kept them busy seeing cases of malaria, pneumonia, malnutrition and complications from measles. An ambulance could take more complex cases to Menongue, the provincial capital of Kwando Kubango.

We had to leave early, as our volunteer doctors had a flight to catch. Apparently 17,000 people were there for the service on Sunday, when 30 pastors from around the country were ordained. On our way home on Saturday, we stopped to help a broken down vehicle on the way to the celebration. Thankfully we had the wrench that was needed to change his sparkplugs! This road between Cuvango and Menongue is more direct than having to go around Huambo, though be prepared to ford 6 streams.