Some Lion stories from the Congo

African Pastors love to tell lion stories.

No 1. Here is one from the back of our truck as we travelled up to the north of Basongeland. Mpanya Edourd had been a student in the Teacher Training School at Kipushya Mission in Central Congo. He had a wonderful sense of humour and classes were always fun with Muzinga Emmanuel and Mpanya Edourd in them.

After graduating from Fourth Year Pedagogie he was assigned to the Primary School at Lubao approximately 125kilometres from Kipushya. He was carrying all his family’s goods and chattels on the carrier of his bike heading up the road to Lubao before returning to carry his wife and children. African bikes can carry a load.  He had waited in a village as he travelled North East because of a huge afternoon thunderstorm.

Art Propelled Goats on Bikes in Africa

Now it was time to get moving again. He was gracefully weaving his way around the huge puddles on the sandy road when he noticed the fresh paw-marks of lions. This soon made him wakeup. He lifted his head and there they were just standing on the side of the road looking at him. He was so shocked and afraid that he kept peddling straight past them. Then he lost control of the heavily laden bike. His legs would not peddle anymore and he was soon on the ground with the peddle sticking into his middle. He muscles just went to jelly.

He tried several times to get up but fear took hold of him. He lay there on the top of the bike and dared not look in the direction of the two wild beasts. Tambwe as they call them. He eventually had enough confidence to stand the bike up and begin pushing it up the road. He climbed on and started to peddle for all he was worth. He really sped along until he reached the next village exhausted. It was a frightening ordeal to be so close the King and Queen of the Big Cats.  

Art Propelled Congolese Delivery of a Lounge Chair