A “DESPAIRING start” led to a joyful conclusion for Simon Chibaloza.
The African father of three said “smiling is a daily part of life” nowadays.
Simon gives thanks to God first and foremost for such joy but also sees Him in the suffering endured.
“God was and is always with me,” he said across the family’s small lounge room in Nundah where baby Caroline was busy chewing her slipper.
“I know God brought me through times of trial … (but) if it was my time to die, it would have been for His glory.”
Simon was born in the South Kivu region of the Congo, in central Africa.
Violence, displacement and death have been prevalent there since the Second Congo War in 1998 and continue to keep aid workers and human rights activists alarmed.
The war’s casualties are in the millions with many dying from malaria, pneumonia or malnutrition.
As soon as Simon finished high school studies he brought his voice to the human rights forum.
“It’s my passion,” he said.
“Even now I feel upset when someone isn’t being treated properly.
“I have always worked at doing something about it.”
Simon witnessed violence against children and adults, especially women who were “victims of sexual violence”.
“Our culture doesn’t give much power to women,” he said.
“I was working at a fair community for all … (and) especially for women who have suffered … for them to be socially integrated into the community.”
Simon’s work also centred on assisting teenage girls to be educated.
“Most teenage girls weren’t sent to school so we set up a campaign to get the girls to school,” he said.
“We got a result of at least 45 per cent back to school with the help of UNICEF.”
In 2005 he felt ramifications of a different nature – government soldiers “killing 360 people in one village”.
“It was so shocking, at an international level,” Simon said.
“As a human rights activitist I said, ‘This is unacceptable’.”
Simon’s reaction to the injustice – alerting the United Nations as to who had conducted the killing – led to his arrest in November of the same year.
He said soldiers “could have killed” him but they chose torture instead.
“They wanted to keep me there (imprisoned) and torture me until I died,” Simon said.
Enduring torture and mistreatment – Simon’s family would bring him food but the soldiers would consume it – there was satisfaction “knowing the information had gone to the right people”.
A “delegation” including high-profile locals and others from France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and America arrived to facilitate Simon’s release.
“They arrived to the place of my detention and said, ‘We are here until you release Simon’,” he said.
“They stayed from 8am to my release at 6pm that same day.”
Simon said he was “in a weak condition and couldn’t breathe properly” and spent two weeks in hospital in Burundi, just outside the Congo.
“The delegation told the soldiers they took me from my home so they were responsible to take me back,” he said.
“My Mum and Dad were waiting for me to come home.”
So was Simon’s two-year-old daughter Carmeline who “still remembers” that homecoming.
Pleading with her second son to have a change of direction with his work, Simon’s mother knew he would return to his former station.
“I’m working for a change, I’m fighting for a change,” Simon said he told her, adding, “I told her to ‘Pray for a change’.”
In May of the following year soldiers again came looking to arrest Simon but he wasn’t home.
Instead, they took his 60-year-old father.
“My friends rang me and said not to go home,” Simon said.
“Immediately I informed people to help and went to Burundi.
“I knew I couldn’t go home and probably for a long time.”
From Burundi, Simon eventually went to Malawi, in south-east Africa, and spoke to a prominent figure for refugees who promised and delivered that help.
“He said, ‘I will do everything in my power to help you’,” Simon said.
Speaking of his “spiritual courage” throughout those times of trial, Simon said he needed to delve into it when seeking asylum – he then had two daughters.
Soon after his arrival in Brisbane, Simon found support in the Jesuit community at Toowong – a Jesuit Father working with the human rights organisation in the Congo had provided the “link”.
A choirmaster at home, Simon even began singing at one of the weekend Masses at Toowong.
He also joined the African community in and around Logan Deanery, south of Brisbane, although he was living in Nundah.
In 2009, Simon met African-born Antoinette who’d been in Australia for six years.
The couple married on July 2 last year in a Mass celebrated by “good friend” Bishop Joseph Oudeman.
All the while, daughters Carmeline and Coraline were always in his thoughts and prayers.
Simon spoke with Banyo Nundah parish priest Fr Paul Chandler for help to make his dream of their reunion a reality.
“I first met Simon soon after he and Ant-oinette had celebrated their marriage,” Fr Chandler said.
“The account of his harrowing journey from Congo to Australia was deeply moving and, frankly, involved more suffering than I thought any one person could endure.
“It was not just his own personal hardships and suffering but also the almost unimaginable pain of being separated from his daughters, and for years, rather than months.
“Simon asked me if the parish would be able to help him financially in his quest to bring his daughters to Australia.”
Banyo Nundah parish responded with a collective gift of $7525.30 – allowing Simon enough funds to travel home to collect the girls and bring them to Australia.
As they waited for the necessary paperwork to allow that dream to become a reality, Simon and Antoinette welcomed baby Caroline.
The father of three said he did not “just like” names beginning with “C” but the three names were chosen because they are all honouring females who have been part of his journey.
Carmeline and Coraline arrived in Brisbane on April 19 this year.
The African community of Brisbane and all their extended family and friends had made them welcome, Simon said.
The girls began their education at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Nundah, although they “have very limited English”.
Simon said Carmeline and Coraline were focused on “growing their hair” for their upcoming baptism – a triple celebration before Christmas (he hadn’t wanted it to occur in Africa because of his absence).
The family has moved to a larger home in Nudgee.
No doubt their infectious smiles and overwhelming joy can be seen and felt from a world away.
