Back from Mariannhill

Mum and I made a trip with Harold and Thanusha out to Mariannhill today (now the Missionaries of Mariannhill), to meet with Father Henry. We had a good visit, and I found Father Henry to be quite warm, and full of good stories.

We have a story that Vincent Lawrence and Gandhi walked out to Mariannhill together, back when it was still a Trappist Monastery. Apparently Gandhi had planned to write an article critical of missionary Christians, but he was so impressed by the piety, vegetarianism, and industry of the Trappist monks, that he scrapped the article. Things changed in 1909, when Rome ordered that the monastery should be changed into a mission. Even so, they are still involved in schools, skills training, and Mariannhill has become the largest diocese in South Africa outside of Johannesberg, so they've been quite successful at converting people to Catholicism.

I took a bunch of pictures and also shot video. As usual, my video camera was a big hit with the kids, and I've got the video to prove it! I let the kids film their own video, and that resulted in children literally doing back flips for the camera! I also have some video of the kids and I dancing and clapping. It's clear to me that these children come from a strong musical and rhythmic tradition, and that their sense of music and rhythm is very sophisticated, especially when compared to my own.

Later, we shot the interview with Father Henry, and we got to see some of the archives. I have been particularly impressed by the founder of Mariannhill, Franz Pfanner: he sounds like he was quite the charismatic leader, original thinker, and man of God (in the best sense of the phrase). I also learned a bit about Bernard Huss, who was quite active in promoting self-sufficiency among African peoples in the region, and has been described as a kindered spirit of Gandhi's (although they never met in person).

You can see all my pictures from today here.