At the secluded thatched chalets that house Catholic Priests west of Gaborone Dam is an embedded story of an aging one time desert loner.
The Forest Hill Passionist Community, where Catholic Priests in southern Africa go for spiritual training, is a stone’s throw away from Old Naledi informal settlement.
It is here where you will find 77-year-old father Julian Black who has not only served as a Parish Priest at Old Naledi but many others throughout the country.
My colleague and I were ushered in his not-so-fancy chalet by a helper who thought we could do the interview outside. Black insisted we do it right in his bedroom. And what a bedroom it was.
What struck me was the sight of band-aid patches stuck across his head. I was about to ask why he was celebrating a Golden Jubilee with head injuries when he volunteered the information.
Wearing a wide grin, he explained that he had gone for chest-ray scans at the private hospital when his wheelchair capsized. He fell hard on the ground sustaining head injuries as he was about to leave the doors of the Bokamoso Private Hospital- a medical facility he could only dream of in Botswana when he first arrived at pre-independence.
“There was blood all over,” he sounded almost apologetic as if he had created more work for medical personnel at the private hospital.
He then hauls his frail body onto his bed adjusting the bed head rest to sit upright facing us with the assistance of the interviewer ÔÇô the obvious reason he chose a bedroom for the interview. He straightened the pale blue collar of his shirt and settled on his bed. He spends most of his time in that room, resting he says.
Julian Black was born in 1936 and grew up in Bally Castle (Northern Ireland). He was to become a virtual citizen of two countries separated by thousands of miles apart – one rich, cold and developed the other hot, dry and poor. That was on 27 September 1963 at the age of 27. He arrived in Botswana midnight having traveled a long long journey from Southampton by ship and from Cape Town to Ramotswa by train where he would spend three months learning Setswana before being sent to Serowe.
His is a living story comparable to that of Patrick Van Rensburg – founder of the Brigades Movement in Botswana. The 77-year-old Black established a brickyard and a Sewing group for women in 1967 at Francistown. He was posted to Thamaga in 1983 on another priesthood mission where he started different projects, including pottery making, dress making, leather craft and a small shop where residents could sell. The most successful project and still running is the pottery making one employing 20 people today.
“I visited Monarch settlement in Francistown and found old people left behind by their sons and daughters who had set out to look for jobs in South Africa. They had no means of support. I started work for the poor and established a brickyard and sewing group for women with the help of my friends in Ireland who funded the projects,” says Black.
His efforts to help the poor did not go unnoticed. He said one Professor arranged for him to attend a course in Social Work Leadership where he was taught different skills at the St. Francis Xavaier University at Antigonish.
The love for community work saw Black in the following years going on a Desert Mission. He allowed himself to be battered by 13 dry years at the Kgalagadi Desert where the Spiritual calling had drifted him.
“When I came from a sabbatical leave in Northern Ireland I asked for permission from Bishop Murphy for a one year leave to pray in the desert. He gave me permission. I lived on my own meditating and praying just to get close to God. I was in Tshane in the far side of the pan. I had a caravan and a four by four truck so I was able to drive to Hukuntsi to buy supplies and draw water,” says Black.
It was this 12 month camp in the desert that earned him the name Father Axumte from the Basarwa communities that he had served with love which staunch Catholic and businessman Moses Lekaukau says the name means someone who spends time alone.
“Father Julian was sent on a Desert Mission. It was rough. There were no roads and built structures. He had to improvise to get the Evangelism to reach people. He went to uncharted areas covering seven settlements and brought God and Jesus to the people,” said Lekaukau.
Lekaukau said Black’s mission to Kgalagadi brought a lot of dividends after he left as a number of people were baptized. He had developed Church structures in the areas and built cr├¿ches for children who were then able to go to school in Hukuntsi.
Black says when he got to Kgalagadi Desert he was impressed by the relationship between the Basarwa and Government that saw the provision of education, healthcare and water.
But the relationship was not that rosy. “The government wanted to turn Basarwa to adopt the cultures of other tribes. The government wanted Basarwa to have chiefs like other tribes but they were against it,” he says.
“I was there at a time when Basarwa were encouraged not to lead nomadic lives. They were still hunting and gathering. My work was to help them with the problem of getting adequate food, clothes and blankets in Gaborone. I got some money from overseas to by foodstuffs and blankets from friends. I had a tent and could spend one or two nights at one settlement,” he says.
Asked what his personal views are regarding the vexed questions occasionally asked the Holy See on whether there was consideration to ordain women as priests and end celibacy, Black said he has never cared or been aware of issues at the Vatican.
“I would personally like to see that happening [ordination of women as priests] but I wouldn’t oppose to the Church’s teachings,’ he says.
On Thursday his family had flown from Ireland to join Batswana in celebrating five decades of a life spent on answering a calling that saw him love people living out in the sticks.
His younger brother, Edmund Black, two married sisters, Beatrice accompanied by husband Daniel Higgins, and Nuala and her husband, Sean Dogherty, were present.
“Batswana are extremely friendly people. Strangely enough, they have a high regard for Europeans,” he said.
