Yesterday we departed the rectory at 6:45 a.m. to make the four-hour-plus journey to Fr. Nestor’s birthplace to meet his parents, Pius and Ernesta.

We traveled southwest from Wanging’ombe to the Livingstone Mountains. Whenever Fr. Nestor travels to see his parents, he brings them supplies due to their remote location in the mountains.

Fr. Nestor packed two containers of sunflower oil which he purchased from the INUKA factory (one of INUKA’s income-producing initiatives.). During our travels we would pass through Njombe, where Fr. Nestor would purchase the other supplies (rice, soap, and Pepsi). We picked up these items from a market stall operated by his cousin, Lavina (shown).

Here is the backstory on Fr. Nestor’s cousin, Lavina:
When Lavina was 12 or 13 years of age, she moved by herself to Njombe (Lavina is one of seven girls born to her parents). She was able to get a job with a woman who was cooking on the side of the road. Lavina would live with this woman and receive meals. Lavina was paid 20,000 Tanzanian shillings a month (about $9 US) for her work.

In 2010, Fr. Nestor was able to get Lavina a job at the Catholic bookshop across the street from the Cathedral in Njombe. The job would come with room and board, and would pay her 50,000 Tanzanian shillings a month (about $22 US). This new job opportunity for Lavina would require a promise and commitment from Lavina. Fr. Nestor made Lavina get a bank account and required her to deposit 25,000 of the 50,000 shillings into her bank account each month (he asked that she show him proof of deposit).  

In three years, Lavina had saved 2 million Tanzanian shillings (about $900 US, so she was saving even more than she promised). Fr. Nestor advised Lavina to buy land in Nundu (a growing community near Njombe where Fr. Nestor had served as a priest); Lavina was able to purchase almost an acre of land.

After four years pursuing his degrees in the United States, Fr. Nestor returned to Tanzania in January 2021.  He soon discovered that Lavina had built herself a small, two-room house (sitting room and bedroom with a kitchen outdoors under a grass roof) on the land that she had purchased. Lavina now has her own home and a stall in the Market in Njombe, which provides enough income to support both her and her daughter.  What an amazing success story!

After we left Lavina, we continued the journey with our next stop being the Benedictine Monastery in Imiliwaha (shown right). Fr. Nestor’s sister, Sr. Rustica, is the Administrator of the Monastery. Imiliwaha is home to 150 Benedictine sisters who operate a secondary school for girls, an orphanage, and a health center with two operating rooms (shown below). There are 500 Benedictine Sisters in Tanzania, with 150 residing and working at Imiliwaha. The sisters work primarily in health care and education.

We had coffee and breakfast with Sr. Rustica, and then continued our journey with Sr. Rustica in tow. She added bottled water and fresh eggs to the supplies we were bringing their parents. Our journey would take us into the mountains with some 60 kilometers on a dirt road full of holes caused by the semi trucks using the same road.  

As we neared the home of their parents, Fr. Nestor stopped the truck when we passed a woman carrying bananas on her head. Fr. Nestor recognized her as a classmate from their primary school days. They exchanged warm words (best I could tell from the woman’s smile) and then Fr. Nestor purchased a couple of bunches of bananas to bring to his parents.

As long as I mentioned their primary school education, you need to understand what a commitment it was for Fr. Nestor, Sr. Rustica, and their ten siblings to go to primary school. Their family home is in the valley with the primary school some eight miles away. Daily, Fr. Nestor and his siblings had to walk/run barefoot (but no snow) eight kilometers (about five miles) to school, and then return home traveling eight kilometers on foot. That’s a commitment!

When we approached Fr. Nestor and Sr. Rustica’s childhood home, Fr. Nestor drove the truck on his own path on the mountainside; we had left the dirt road. We parked next to what is his brother Wolfram’s home. Another brother’s son, Daniel (son of Jerald), helped us carry the supplies up the hill to his grandparents’ home.  

Pius and Ernesta have been married for 62 years; their 12 children are all still living. Wolfram is the only child that lives close to their parents (literally just down the steep hillside in this valley); Wolfram is a great help to his parents. (Sr. Rustica, Pius, Ernesta, Fr. Nestor, Daniel, and Wolfram are shown, left to right.)

Pius and Ernesta are in their 80s; no one knows their exact age because birth certificates did not exist at that time. Pius supported his family by farming the significant amount of land on which they live. In addition to raising 12 children, Fr. Nestor told me that his Mother did her part to help bring in money for the family by walking around with a basket of fruit on her head selling her goods to people in the village. Fr. Nestor says he has a soft spot in his heart whenever he sees an older woman with a basket of fruits or vegetables on her head; he has to stop and buy from her.

Fr. Nestor’s Mother was delighted to meet me, and related how grateful she was that her son was able to live with me for 2-1/2 years of the 4 years in which he was in the US. She thought it was wonderful, too, that I had travelled all the way to Tanzania to see that her “son had made it back to Tanzania okay."

At one point, Pius presented me with one of their live chickens (again, this is the highest form of respect you can show a guest). The chicken made its way back with us; we left the chicken at Imiliwaha with Sr. Rustica; the Benedictine Sisters can determine the fate of that chicken.

We spent the majority of our time in their sitting room. At left you will see a photo of a storage room where they keep their corn, beans, and charcoal. You will also see a photo of an outhouse, which is very common in Tanzania. Even though the children had an indoor latrine installed for their parents, Ernesta and Pius are set in their ways, and will only use the outhouse.

Electricity was provided to their home for the first time in 2019. Fr. Nestor had previously told me the stories of their journey to the lake to trade for clay pots used by his mother to cook; the clay pots also keep food cool. The journey to the lake was 30 kilometers over the mountains and down to the lake. They would bring beans, corn, sunflower seeds, potatoes, and fruits to trade for the clay pots. When they returned, the clay pots were usually full of talapia from the lake; his mother was never excited about the fish, just that she had more clay pots to use in food preparation. (Fr. Nestor said there was always added pressure returning on that 30 kilometer journey; you never wanted to be the child that dropped one of the clay pots!)

To the right is a photo of the Uduti Out Station Church. This is where Fr. Nestor and his family attended Mass and Word Services. The Pastor, Fr. Volker, a Benedictine priest from Germany, baptized Fr. Nestor and provided him with all the other Sacraments. He guided Fr. Nestor to Seminary, and was present for his Ordination and first Mass. Fr. Volker is still living. Fr. Volker’s desire was that he die in Tanzania, but the Benedictines brought him back to Germany so that they can provide him with care as he ages.

After visiting for a couple of hours, we started our long drive back.  When we arrived at Imiliwaha, we were able to have a late lunch around 3 p.m. We were also able to take a tour of the Health Center at Imiliwaha. The Center is very impressive, and is supported by the Friends of Imiliwaha from Lisle, Illinois.

It was nearly 7 p.m. when we returned to Wanging’ombe; it was a tiring day, but I will forever be grateful that I was able to meet Fr. Nestor’s parents, and see the environment that formed him. It was also wonderful to see all the good works being done by the Benedictine Sisters at Imiliwaha.