Upington

On Friday, 27th February, 1911 at about 3o’clock in the afternoon, Father Sollier was coming over the last sand dune. In the distance he could see Upington, white in the glaring sun. DIEU LE VEUT. God wills it. Resolutely he went forward to the unknown, to do what God willed, in spite of the overwhelming loneliness in his soul. Communication with his confreres at Keimoes was difficult, sometimes impossible; attendance in church was nil; even on Sundays, Holy Mass was Upington offered before empty pews. But Father Sollier was a soldier par excellence. He would fight anything that could oppose the coming of the kingdom, be it prejudice or discouragement. Was he to be the victor at the end? Time would tell.

In 1935 Father K. Simbrunner assumes the reins and follows in the tracks of his predecessor. The school roll soars from fifthy to eight hundred pupils, A state aided orphanage is opened where about a hundred welfare are lodged. The small chapel is replaced by a beautiful vast church, the handwork of Father Simbrunner himself. Four Oblate Sisters fulfil their duties about the Convent, teaching and tending the sick.

In 1968 Prieska was founded. About a year later, Father Donkers left Upington to take charge of the Mission. Foreswearing comfort and com ny this selfeffacing priest goes on this lonely tour to visit his flock and to bring them the consolation of our religion in nine different outstations. DIEU LE VEUT. Father Sollier did the Will of God. He fought Fr. Sollier osfs the good fight and he conquered. Just now, an unusual silence reigns in Upington Mission, where, only yesterday, more than eight hundred children romped and frolicked on the playgrounds during recess. On Friday, 17th August, 1973, the R.C.Mission School was officially closed. The following Monday it was transferred, in its entirety, to NO. 5 Primary, a new State School recently built in coloured residential area. Do not mourn, Upington! You sowed and labored. The harvest is yours, only the sheaves have been stored in foreign granneries.