In early November, 2009 we got a package from the VSO volunteers in Ndanda. They had held a mass and memorial service for Joseph up near the swimming hole. The priest started the service by saying that he first met Joseph soon after he had come to Ndanda at a Saturday night mass. The priest had asked where Joseph had come from (this Chinese man -the whole population thought that Joseph was Chinese) and Joseph answered Kenya!
Then the priest said that Joseph said that he had noted that the church had a pipe organ, and he asked permission to play the organ. The priest said that of course they gave him permission Joseph had told me this summer that he felt uncomfortable playing the organ, he got the feeling that the church members found it odd to hear Bach in the middle of the night. Who knows what the story was; but clearly the fact that Joseph actually played the organ made a huge impression on the parish monignor. He was happy to lead the service for Joseph's grieving fellow volunteers; and he was still wondering why an American-Chinese kid had ended up in the middle of Ndanda -and he could play Bach on a pipe organ that had not been used in 25 years!
Notice that in this single post there are contradictions; in October 2006 I went to Amherst to tell him that the lilihood of getting a posting where he could swim and play a piano or an organ were very slim. I was so proud of the fact that Joseph actually ended up at a site, in sub-sahran Africa no less, that had a swimming hole and a pipe organ. The kid was amazing. I thought the gods must be smiling on him - must have been the wrong gods.
1 comment:
I love that Joseph played the pipe organ. My parish church (St. Peter's) was large and magnificent. It really was like a basilica and we had a small chapel on the side (which actually was fairly large for a chapel.) Upstairs in the choir loft we also had a huge pipe organ. The school music teacher, Edward Moran, used to play it and it was so beautiful, particularly at Christmas time. I have not thought of that church or pipe organ for years. Thank you for reminding me of it.
I don't know if the gods were smiling at Joseph. I can only know that God is smiling at him now, and Joseph is smiling back (and doing his laugh.)
Deia
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