THINKING OF BROTHER ALEXIS TSHIUNZA KALUBI

Thinking of our Dear Brother Alexis Tshiunza Kalubi

On March 25, 2008 after a long and painful sickness we lost our beloved husband, father, brother, uncle, teacher, friend, neighbor, and countryman. It took me forever to express myself after I heard the sad news of the passing of our brother Alexis.

For me to brother Alexis, as it was at the beginning as it has been at the end. The person who introduced me to him seven years ago was the one who called and announced to me the unbearable sad news. Matter of fact, when I arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio, seven years back, I knew no one originally from Congo. I was one of the leaders of the International Bible Study at the University of Cincinnati. When an American lady, Cindy Carlson, knew that I was a Congolese, she gave my address and home phone number to brother Alexis since the Kalubis and her were worshippers at College Hill Presbyterian Church. One week latter, brother Alexis invited me at his house. He came himself, picked me up, drove to his house, and presented me to his entire family. He was my window to the Congolese community in Cincinnati, because through him I knew many Congolese and other people from the Congo. He played a crucial role in founding the Association of Congolese in Greater Cincinnati. I recall that the first meeting of the association was held in his house. The brother that I knew when I saw him for the first time was completely different from the brother that I saw for the last time in this life two weeks before I left Cincinnati. What Can I say? GOD’s ways and will are different from ours.

For work reason, I left Cincinnati, Ohio two years ago. I am living now in Cary, North Carolina. From distance, by myself, in my way I have been mourning the death of brother Alexis, a person that I respected, esteemed, and loved very much. I would not pardon myself by keeping silence as if nothing happened. These few lines are my expression to this great loss in the community.

I will finish with the quote of Aeschylus, a Greek poet. When Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, Robert Kennedy happened to be campaigning in Indianapolis, Indiana. He quoted this “ He who learns must suffer, and even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.’’
Yours,

Camille Kapita