MY STORY – IRENE LOUISE (NEE KUCKKAN) MUELLER
Written By Irene L. Mueller

Mom’s Autobiography – Chapter 8 – In Book, Page 19

Our First Vacation In Africa – Back Home To Lusaka

OUR FIRST VACATION IN AFRICA

We decided to go to Game Reserves to see the animals in Northern and Southern Rhodesia. First we went to the Kafue Game Reserve in Northern Rhodesia. Timmy was in a pram. We saw many animals which you also know – elephant. At first we thought it was a big gray rock in the bush until it moved! And then the car choked and stopped. Dick told me to get behind the wheel, and he would push. I couldn’t get it started. Then he got behind the wheel and I pushed. It started! It is a no-no to get out of cars in the Game Reserves, but what could we do with no one else around? Then we saw a lion. Dick got out of the car (another no-no which he soon found out), to take a picture, but when the lion’s rear end started moving side to side like a cat’s, he jumped quickly back into the car. We also saw zebra, kudu, impala, buffalo, giraffe, lion, rhinoceros, warthog, etc. We took many pictures – from the car window!

When evening came, we got to a “rest camp” – “Kalala” – which was on an island. We had to cross a branch of the river on a raft which an African hand-pulled across to the island. What to do. We had three little children (one in a pram), our suitcases, pots, pans, food, water, etc. We decided to do it. We had to climb a hill to get to the rest camp. There was a rest hut there in which we stayed. A wash stand was outside the hut where we put soap. That evening we opened our tins of food to eat, and noticed that two men were eating a hot meal. It was Bream (fish) they had caught in the river. “Would you like to join us?” they asked. Would we! Yes! The men turned out to be two old white hunters, and they regaled us with tales of their adventures, and fed us delicious fish. Can you imagine us sitting there listening to them while hippos in the water below are “grunting”? The water we drank was water which had been taken from the river, boiled in a huge pot, and put in canvas bags which were hung up to cool the water. It tasted good!

When we woke the next morning, the soap was gone! I put more out, and it was gone again. It turned out to be a monkey stealing the soap! They tried to pawn that monkey off on us, but we said “no” because we were still going on quite a long trip. The Africans at the rest hut told us that there were lots of crocodiles in the river, so we crossed back on the raft, and looked for them from the bank of the river. We didn’t see any, went back, and told them. They said, “There are many”, so we went back with binoculars and looked again. When Dick looked through the binoculars, he said, “Are they ever big!” There were loads of huge crocodiles lying still on sand bars in the river. We went back to the rest camp, decided to stay another day, and listened to more stories of the white hunters, and ate more delicious Bream. It was a wonderful experience; one we would never forget.

From the Kafue Game Reserve, we went to a rest hut on the Southern Rhodesian side near Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. We got there at night, and heard a sound like a train moving all night. We didn’t know what it was until the next morning. It was Victoria Falls!!! What a sight! It is about a mile wide and three hundred feet deep! What a blessing to see such a sight! There was a statue of David Livingstone, the missionary-explorer, the first white man to see the Falls. We crossed over the bridge and visited Livingstone, the town which is named after him. We were standing near the Falls (no barricades) and I had an apple in my hand. Not for long! There were baboons running around, and one snatched the apple right out of my hand! Later on there were so many baboons bothering the tourists that the government had to shoot some of them.

Then we went on our way to Wankie Game Reserve in Southern Rhodesia. We saw many more animals. We saw our first sable – what a beautiful animal! We stopped at waterholes to watch the animals drink. One kind would take their drink while other kinds would wait for them to finish, and then they would come to drink. It was amazing. We came to a herd of buffalo, and Dick slowly drove through it. When we got to the other side, a man in a car said, “Can you go through there?” And we said, “We just did!” Another no-no?

From Wankie we went to Bulawayo where we purchased a beautiful big “kaross” (animal skins sewed together which we still have). There is a statue of Cecil John Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia, on one of the streets of Bulawayo. We also went to the Matopos, where he is buried on a high hill where there are huge round rocks and a monument. We also saw the Silizwane Cave at the Matopos. I remember climbing up a smooth rock hill to get up there, seeing cave paintings inside of it, and then slowly sliding down the hill on our bottoms.

Now it was time to go home after a very eventful trip. Never in our lives did we dream we would see so many of God’s wonderful creations.

BACK HOME TO LUSAKA

Debbie started school in 1959 and Dickie started school in 1960. They started first grade when they were five years old, as was the custom there. They attended a Government School (before the International School). They wore uniforms – Dickie a gray shirt, green and gold tie, gray socks, shorts, and hat. Debbie wore a green dress, white collar, cuffs, socks, and a green hat. Since most of their teachers were English, our children acquired broad English accents.

There were scorpions around, but thank God, none of our children or their friends got stung playing. Once when they were playing outside, one of the African children said, “Steph, what’s that by your foot?” It was a scorpion, but, as you can guess, it wasn’t long for this world. Once the children were invited to a birthday party. When we went to pick them up, we saw scorpions crawling all over the ground near the house. By the grace of God, none of the children were stung. There were geckos and chameleons around too, but they were harmless. Only one time did we have a snake near the house, and I made quick work of it with a shovel. We had children to protect.

Dick subscribed to a book club in the United States, so we received many books for our children to read. Also, we took them to the library to take out books. When they were too little to read, I loved to read to them. We also subscribed to a record album club both for the children and us, records which we played on a record player. When the children were in school, I played many records. I also listened to the radio a lot. I love music, and it is rare when you come into our house and don’t hear the radio playing. There was no television yet in Northern Rhodesia at that time.

Lest you think that there was all play and no work, more and more people asked for the Word of God to be brought to them. Dick kept training evangelists in the teachings of the Lutheran Church because he alone could not get to all the people. He, the children, and I would go around the table in the dining room putting sermons, prayers, a Hymnbook, Liturgy, and Sunday School lessons together for the evangelists to use. (I traced pictures for the Bible stories from pamphlets which the good people of our Lutheran churches in the United States sent to us on to stencils for the Gestetner mimeograph to print). We also started a mailing list of people’s names who had moved to other parts of Africa. Dick and the interpreter translated all the materials from English into Chinyanja, and I helped by typing them on to stencils in both languages so they could be printed on the mimeograph. And so, with the Lord’s guidance, the mission grew. People moved from Lusaka to the Copperbelt, the Congo, the Northwestern Province of Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland (now Malawi), other parts of Africa, and wanted the Lutheran Church to come.