February 2 to February 8, 2011
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No 4713
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Floods’ long-term effects could be catastrophic BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
T
he 2010-2011 heavy summer rains have caused widespread death and destruction in the country’s urban areas, but while many have been affected by the downpours, it is developing farms and outlying rural areas that have been and will be worse affected in the long run according to government and Church officials. Scientists have suggested that the widespread flooding around the world has been the result of La Niña. This weather phenomenon is the opposite of the more commonly known El Niño and is related to the drop in sea temperature which has resulted in increased rainfall over Southern Africa. Several other countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Pakistan and the Philippines have also been affected . This year’s floods have had a dire effect across Southern Africa with more than 6 000 people displaced in South Africa alone. At least 100 people have died due to circumstances relating to the heavy rainfall and many are still missing. Thirty-three municipalities in eight of South Africa’s nine provinces have been declared disaster areas. Crop damage is estimated to be well over the R1 billion mark and property damage around R50 million. One of the hardest hit areas was the Northern Cape where government was focusing its efforts because of a lack of emergency response teams in the area. According to Bishop Edward Risi, bishop of the diocese of Keimoes-Upington, all the damage in the area was agricultural. “People did not lose houses or property. No churches or personnel were directly affected, but did experience restrictions in transport,” he said. Bishop Risi explained the damage to the area would be long-lasting and would affect the local economy. The Church has not yet been required to assist as local municipalities have organised food parcels and water for those marooned on islands in the rivers, however, Bishop Risi said the Church is monitoring the situation carefully.
Each year on the anniversary of Archbishop Denis Hurley’s death on February 13, 2004, Emmanuel cathedral parishioners bring flowers to decorate his tomb in the cathedral’s chapel. This year parishioners are asked to bring flowers celebrating the archbishops’s life on February 12 and 13. The donated flowers will later go to an Aids hospice in the area. It is the seventh anniversary of Archbishop Hurley’s death. Pictured are Barbara Naicker and Mary Ann Arnold. (Photo: Shelley Kjonstad). See page 3. Fr Peter Knox SJ of the Jesuit Institute South Africa said in his blog www.jesuiteinstitute.org.za that South Africans will be feeling the effect of the floods for most of the year. “Swamped fields and drowned livestock will certainly mean an increase in the cost of food later this year,” he said. Fr Knox added that the quality of much of the country’s drinking water could become problematic. “Most obvious is the effect of the trash and sewage that are swept into our water supply, to say nothing of the carcasses of drowned animals. Less obvious, because it
is out of sight and therefore out of mind, is the fact that the rains will soak down into the watertable and dissolve and bring to the surface more of the acids and poisonous chemicals left by the mining industry,” he said, adding that such poisons cause serious health problems to people of all ages. Across Southern Africa, governments have reported proactive efforts. Mozambicans were on high alert as their government issued warnings and evacuated 13 000 people from low lying areas, fearing a repeat of the disastrous floods of 2000. Similarly the govern-
ments of Zimbabwe and Botswana have urged residents to move to higher ground. Parts of Namibia were also affected by flooding. Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini said the total cost of the flooding would only be accurately calculated once all the flood waters had subsided. In addition, new data from the affected provinces continues to reach the ministry. Meanwhile the Department of Health was on high alert for possible cholera outbreaks. Fr Knox said that many of the repercussions could not be controlled by the “ordinary person in the pew” but he said that very simple acts could help ensure that the country’s supply of one of the “most basic human rights” remains affordable. “So few of us use tanks to collect and store rainwater,” he said. “How often do we report [water wastage] to the water authorities?” Government officials said efforts were currently being directed to those who were affected by the floods but asked the public to support relief efforts by lending a helping hand in the form of cash or kind. According to the chairperson of the portfolio committee on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, Salamuddi Abram, the damage will extend far beyond the immediate visible destruction. Mr Abram said in a statement that in areas around the Orange River, for example, overflow had caused more damage than the rain. “The damage includes the erosion of vineyards and livestock leaving more than 24 000 farm workers of commercial and developing farms without work as there is no production,” said Mr Abram. Many of the dams in the northern provinces of the country were nearing the 100% mark and officials were monitoring outflow carefully. The Gariep Dam was at 109% capacity at the end of January. Fr Knox said that while an abundance of water could be seen now, it was necessary to prepare for the future. While the government is doing what it can to provide relief today, he said it was important to be water wise for the potential issues later.
130 years of caring for blessed lambs BY CINDY WOODEN
C
ERTAIN things such as a bath and getting dressed up are universal before a personal meeting with the pope, and the rule holds even for lambs. As he does every year, Pope Benedict blessed two little lambs for the feast of St Agnes. Raised by Trappist monks on the outskirts of Rome, the lambs spent the night before their papal audience in the centre of Rome on the rooftop terrace of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, interviewed Holy Family Sister Hanna Pomnianowska about her convent’s role in the ancient tradition which makes a connection between the name of St Agnes, an early Christian martyr, and “agnus”, the Latin word for lamb. The wool of the lambs blessed on the feast day is woven by a different community of nuns and becomes the fabric for the “pallium”, a circular stole, which the pope gives
each June to new archbishops from around the world. Sr Pomnianowska said her order got involved in 1884 when a group of elderly sisters living nearby could no longer handle the task of preparing the lambs to attend a Mass and then be blessed by the pope. She said that as soon as the Trappists arrive with the lambs, “we take them to the top floor of our house, where we have a large terrace and laundry room. As you can imagine, they are the joy of the entire community, especially of the younger sisters.” “The first thing we do is wash them. We put them in a tub with baby soap to delicately wash the dirt away. Then we dry them. We used to use towels, but now we use a blowdryer. We are careful not to leave their skin damp because they are young and could get sick,” she said. The lambs spend the night in the laundry room, in a covered pen filled with straw to keep them warm. “The morning of their big blessing day a decorative blanket is placed on each lamb.
One blanket is red to recall St Agnes’ martyrdom, the other is white to recall her virginity,” she said. “Then we weave two crowns of flowers— one red and one white—and place them on their heads. And we tie bows around their ears,” she said. After they are adorned, the lambs are placed in baskets, the sister said. “We are forced to bind them to prevent them from running away; once, in fact, I saw a lamb jump up and run from the altar.” Once they are prepared, the lambs are taken to Rome’s basilica of St Agnes Outside the Walls, where they are placed on the altar over the martyr’s tomb and are blessed. Then Vatican workers arrive to take the lambs to the pope. The lambs are blessed again by the pope, usually in the chapel of Pope Urban VIII in the apostolic palace, she said. The ceremony is attended by two of the Holy Family sisters—usually two who are celebrating a significant anniversary of religious profession, she said.—CNS
Pope Benedict blesses a lamb in the apostolic palace during a ceremony marking the feast of St Agnes. The wool from two lambs blessed by the pope will be used to make the palliums the pontiff gives each June to new archbishops from around the world. (CNS photo/ L'Osservatore Romano)