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OBLATE RADIO LISELI:

 A DREAM COME TRUE

Fr. Ron Carignan, OMI, Superior of the Oblate Delegation of Zambia, reports on the recent festive inauguration of the new Oblate Radio Liseli.

It was a magic moment in Mongu!  Several hundred people took part in a three-kilometre parade inaugurating Oblate Radio Liseli’s (ORL) test transmission debut. Energized by St. John’s Drum and Bugle Corps, the crowd, carrying banners celebrating the new radio station and its patron St. Eugene de Mazenod, marched and danced its way through potholes, rocky gravel and deep sand, gathering more and more excited participants as it snaked its way up St. John’s Hill, the most elevated spot in Mongu."

At the site, there were music, singing and speeches, all well received and applauded by the people who already claim ownership of this Oblate project. There is no doubt that the see Oblate Radio Liseli as their station. "

 Five speeches were given. Fr. Wilfred Hodari, rector of the cathedral, represented the diocese and underlined the commitment and hard work of the Oblates in bringing about a new voice in this part of Africa. Mr. Brian Lugla, president of the Media Institute of Southern Africa, challenged the station to speak in the name of justice and to involve the people in facing the human and spiritual challenges of their communities."

Fr. Freeborn Kibombwe, OMI, director of ORL, introduced the staff and spoke words of thanks to all who contributed to a collaborative effort in giving birth to this new voice that wants to be a light in people’s life. “This is your station, this is your voice,” he told the crowd.

Bro. Maxmillian Mwakacheya, OMI, remarked on the participation of the various communication committees established throughout the area by the staff of ORL. A number of these committees had made banners and carried them during the parade. Prizes were awarded to the three most outstanding banners.

As Superior of the Oblate Delegation of Zambia, I told the story of how we came to commit ourselves to the building of ORL. The idea was born at our Annual Assembly of 2001 when we addressed the theme of “Reading the Signs of the Times. Facilitated by Fr. Thomas Singer, OMI, from the General Administration, we identified what we considered to be five of the most pressing signs of the time: 1) the high level of poverty in Zambia; 2) the HIV/AIDS pandemic; 3) a deep yearning for God and a search for meaning among the people; 4) the need for the laity to assume their rightful leadership role in the Church; 5) The political apathy of the people.

In our effort to discern ways of responding to these signs of the time, we consulted the 1998 General Chapter Document: Evangelizing the Poor at the Dawn of the Third Millennium. This document invites and urges us to love this world of ours with all its troubles and travail and to be agents of hope within it. The document also encourages us as contemporary missionaries to integrate the message of hope “into a new culture that is created largely by the means of modern communication.” In the light of this discernment, we decided to establish a radio station in the Western Province. For us, ORL will be an instrument of hope that will help create a link between the Word of God and the people of Zambia."