01 January 2017

Taveta Road - Trucks Stuck

REFLECTIONS ON 2016

     The BBC announced four major good things that happened in 2016.  I didn't think they were anywhere near as good as what I could think up.  So here are some hopeful signs from my point of view!

1. This Taveta Road has been finished and I will drive over it in January to get to two of our clinics.  I'll take pictures to show the improvement.  What used to take us 5-6 hours now takes only two hours to go 60 miles.

Taveta Road to Tanzania 2013

2. A new Ebola vaccine will be ready for production in 2018.  It was given to 6000 people and no one developed Ebola!

3. For the first time in my 13 years in Kenya I saw local priests wash the feet of women and children on Holy Thursday.

4. Guinea Worm is almost eradicated from the world!

5. Mr. Salah Sabdow Farah, the deputy headmaster at the primary school in Mandera was on a bus attacked by Al-

St. Patrick Dispensary over Bangaladesh

 Shabaab terrorists in northern Kenya.  They wanted to kill the Christians and he died protecting them.

6. The presidential elections in the US were free, fair and peaceful.  Currently the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and the Gambia have people dying every day for the sake of the democratic process.

     But I save my most precious memories for the work that was done with the health care workers, Justice and Peace workers and priests of St. Patrick Parish in Bangaladesh Informal Settlement.

Some of the staff at St. Patrick Dispensary Dalmas is the only man in the picture! 7. Mary was protected from incestuous uncles and is back in school and home with her 80 year old grandmother. 8. Salome (Mary's aunt) had ulcers on her legs for 20 years.  They are now almost completely healed! 9. Asha, a 17 year old emaciated girl with childhood diabetes who comes from a completely destitute family has gained 12 pounds and is well controlled on insulin. 10. Bob, age 9, was rescued from despicable abuse and had four surgical procedures to correct the damage done to his body.  He is now in an orphanage and happy and healthy. 11.  The Kenyan government doctors have been on strike since the 5th of December. When I returned on 8th Dec  I contacted my driver, Julius, to be sure he could take me to a clinic the following week.  But a day before the clinic I couldn't reach him on the phone.  After searching the contacts I knew, I found him in a small private clinic lying on the floor in deep coma and unresponsive.  I told the family he needed to be moved to a hospital. We had examined him in October and he was well but this clinic found that one test was positive for HIV and they couldn't confirm it.  Because the family could not afford private hospitals he ended up in the government hospital where I saw him four days later.  The nurse told me I couldn't act as a doctor but in a 'social' visit I could see that with the antibiotics he was being given he was beginning to open his eyes and could move his arms and legs. The nurse told me to take him away as there were no doctors on duty.  I thanked her for being on the job and told her that he needed to have a test to confirm HIV.  She said they would do it.  When I got to St. Patrick dispensary shortly thereafter the clinic officer, Dalmas, suggested that we should send our lab technician to do the test.  So I did.  I had my driver take her over to the hospital and they refused for her to do the test.  We also found out that he hadn't had his dose of antibiotic for the day, even though the family had bought and brought it to the hospital and given it to the nurses.        I asked Dalmas if we could use the vacant room downstairs to bring him for nursing and treatment.  He was agreeable.  I asked the parish priest, Fr. Gabriel.  He was agreeable.  So we had the family bring him to this small room in a slum where a nurse and clinical officer looked after him very professionally for the next six days with my help.  We found he was fluid overloaded and needed an injection to get rid of the fluid.  He woke up and started to eat pilau within a couple of hours! We found he had a bedsore.  We found he had HIV and the team from Mombasa CBHC, another diocesan health center, came to bring medicines that he would need to treat several possible infections...TB menningitis, encephalitis, cryptococcal menningitis.  I saw him on Christmas day and he was still struggling for his life.  He needed a brain scan.  The President had announced that not only the 26th but also the 27th would be public holidays, so the earliest this could be done was on the 28th.  The family wanted to take him back to their rural home.  Fr. Gabriel anointed him and he left on the 27th.      It took two days to get home because the car broke down on the way.  When they arrived, the big referral hospital was closed due to the continuing doctors' strike.  So, as of this moment, Julius is still alive, being cared for by his family at home with the training they received from our staff and the medicines that we sent with them. He is a very strong man and I pray everyday that he will recover.      I am so proud of the staff at this facility and how professionally they worked together.  Despite bad management early in the illness, the hard work over the Christmas holiday and our limited resources, we used what we had to make accurate diagnoses and  give proper treatment.  Julius is still alive and that is no small feat.  This dispensary in an informal settlement did better than the district and referral hospitals.  Whether Julius lives or dies, he has finally had loving, professional health care which is what every person deserves.

Today we celebrate the feast of Mary, Mother of Jesus, and World Day of Peace.  Pope Francis has chosen the theme

NONVIOLENCE: A STYLE OF POLITICS

FOR PEACE

May the peace of a child born over 2000 years ago lead us this coming year to follow him with the love he brought for each of us!

08 December 2016

     Greetings from Mombasa where I arrived today.       

The travel through to Mombasa went well until I had to get my luggage off the KLM flight in NBI.  I had two hours to get through immigration (which was easy!!!) and get from the international to the domestic terminal.  My bag took over an hour to come off and I literally ran across the parking lot to get to the domestic terminal.  In typical Kenyan fashion a Kenyan man offered to help push the cart and get me there.  He was kind, honest and very helpful over all the curbs and bumps.  This is ridiculous and I can't imagine tourists liking it very much.  I had a Kenyan friend on the same flight and she got her luggage and went ahead to hold the plane for me.  So when I got there my boarding pass was ready and I just flew through security and squeezed myelf onto the bus going to the plane.  We had to climb (and carry my heavy hand luggage) up the stairs to the plane.  Half way up the stairs the flight attendants told us the plane was faulty and we had to go back to the gate.  Now I was with my friend and she watched my bag while I changed into lighter clothes.  Wool doesn't work well in Mombasa.  We finally flew and I got home at 3am.  I couldn't go to sleep until 5am.  All day I have slept off and on and feel like I'm in a fog.  I forced myself to go out for 5:30pm Mass as this is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  They had the Mass down in the grotto outside where the Archbishop is buried and that is always nice.      So such is another exciting and eventful story from Mombasa that has a happy ending!!!  

01 December 2016

Coralis and Susan

                                                                                                                                   

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Dear Family and Friends,   

     Greetings to you as I write this letter from Urbana, Illinois.  This has been a year of saying goodbye.  My father passed on to be with God on November 6^th and I have been with my family to celebrate his life and place his remains in the cemetery near the farm where he grew up.

 

     There were other goodbyes this year as well. Judy Walter, who was my house mate for five years, moved on to Tanzania in April to help begin a House of Prayer in Mwanza with Maryknoll.  In August Russ Brine, a Maryknoll Lay Missioner who lived and worked in Kitale Kenya for the past 15 years moved to Cambodia to continue serving as a Maryknoll Lay Missioner.  In September, Teresa Villaruz, my last house mate moved to Bolivia to continue serving as a Maryknoll lay missioner and teacher.  So Coralis Salvador and I continue to serve in Mombasa...the remnant!

     It has been difficult to recruit new missioners to come to Kenya due to insecurity.  Recently there was an attack at the Central Police Station in our neighborhood where three women attacked police officers with knives and one blew herself up.  Some say that the so-called Islamic State was behind this but others are uncertain.  We are routinely checked by security guards when we enter the Cathedral, post office or grocery store.  They look in our purses and pass a wand around our bodies.  The Sunday before I left for the US for my father's funeral they found a man trying to enter the Mass I was attending who was carrying a knife.  He refused to hand it over and didn’t enter.  I don’t go out at night and don’t frequent big shopping malls or fancy restaurants.  I’m quite content to live a simple life with our local neighbors.  My work takes me to the villages and the only concern on those trips is dangerous drivers.  They go too fast and don’t follow the rules of the road!

     Our Maryknoll Association has been commended by Archbishop Dolan of New York.  He is the authority who oversees our ministry and I have a letter from him if anyone is interested.  We are always looking for new members and I’d be very happy to be in contact with anyone who is interested and has questions.

     Happily I continue on with our health care ministry in Mombasa and will return to Mombasa on Dec 6th.  I am very disturbed by the increasing violence and hateful actions here in the US since the elections.  It is obvious that many people are afraid and hurting deeply on all sides.  I hope and pray that our Advent reflections on the coming of the Christ child will help us to see ourselves as members of one family who need to listen to each other, love and care for one another.                                                                  

                                                                           

 WORLD AIDS DAY

01 DECEMBER 2016

ACCESS EQUITY RIGHTS NOW

PEACE OF THESE JOYFUL 
SMILES BE WITH YOU
MAY THEY BRING YOU THE 
LOVE OF THE CHRIST CHILD
THIS ADVENT SEASON

19 November 2016

     Our family has laid to rest the ashes of my father, Tom, today.  We drove up to the cemetery at St. Joseph's Catholic church in Kentland Indiana where Dad attended when growing up on the farm.  I was also baptized there!  It was very cold with lots of clouds and a really strong wind.  My cousin Dick had dug the hole for the simple wooden box holding his ashes.  Fr. Rob knows the family for over 20 years now and he lead a simple and short service given that we were all freezing and the older ones couldn't leave the cars due to the cold.  Dick had to lie down flat on his chest on the ground to lower the box in the hole.  Then he and another cousin, Dave, covered it with dirt and I laid a wreath of roses on top of it.  I was very touched by their kind service in this last ceremony for Dad. There is something very important in this ritual for me.  It brings me back to the central core and purpose of why we are here.  As simple and as profound as love.
     We all went to a restaurant for lunch afterwards and enjoyed each others company.  The Nageles are a big crowd and the conversation and laughter were a great way to get warmed up from the cold. We are very grateful for our family and all who have been with us in prayer and spirit these last days since he went back to God on Nov 6th.  We know that Dad now truly rests in peace.

14 November 2016

Greetings to all,
     The funeral for my father on Saturday 12 November 2016 was beautiful.  I gave the eulogy and managed to keep back the tears until that was over.  We had over 100 guests and a lovely meal was provided by the Women of St. Patricks afterwards.  I come from a wonderful parish.
     Next Saturday we will inter my father's ashes in the cemetery of St. Joseph's Church in Kentland Indiana.  This is the church that he attended as a child and where his family is buried.  I was also baptized there.
     Our family is very grateful to all for the many expressions of sympathy and prayer for us during this time.  Dad lived a long life on this earth and is now at peace in the fullness of the love of God.

10 November 2016

Greetings from Urbana Illinois, USA. - Feast of St. Leo the Great
     I had a good flight from Mombasa and reached our family home at 5pm last night local time (4am on 10th Nov EAT in Kenya).  My brother, two sisters and my mother were all here and we had supper together with some food brought to us by a friend from church.  There is a lot of food in our house from so many good friends and we are very grateful.  When my brother comes from Washington DC with his family on Friday our family will be all together again.
     It is now 3am (Noon EAT)  10th November and I have awoken in jet lag. It is a good time to reconnect and let everyone know I have arrived safely.  Today we will meet with the priest who will concelebrate at the funeral, Fr. Remm.  He has retired officially but knew Dad for over 30 years as well as the family and has been a wonderful pastor through thick and thin.  The funeral will be at 11 am on Saturday, with condolences in the church beginning at 10am.  My father was cremated and his remains will be interred at the Catholic church cemetery in Kentland Indiana with his parents, siblings and other family members from the homestead and farm.
     On the way home I followed the election of the President as best I could.  When we landed in Heathrow the Belgian man next to me opened his phone and saw that Trump had won Florida and Ohio.  That was when I knew he would be the next president.  Once I got through all the security checks and arrived at the final gate I sat down in front of a TV with other Americans watching the news.  Trump had only 5 more electoral votes to win.  The man to my right was from Georgia, white and in his forties.  He was announcing his happiness saying, "That bitch would have killed my son." (I later learned that his son was in the military and took a bullet to his neck and complained that the military didn't have what they needed to do 'the job'.) I just listened.  He went on to say that Hilary is a criminal and should be locked up.  I said we have a good judicial system and they can take her to court.
     He owns 11 guns and has 6000 rounds of ammunition. His wife carries a concealed gun.  He was angry that Obama only visited Georgia for one day in 8 years, saying that Obama didn't think that Georgia was good enough to give them more time.  I agreed with him that Obama should have found more time to spend in that state.  He spent more time in Kenya than one day in eight years.  The man on my left was of Pakistani origin who lives in Wisconsin who voted for Trump as well.  He was not saying much.
     As we sat, the other five electoral votes came in and it was announce that Trump had won.  Clinton called him to concede.  I reminded them that Trump had said the elections were rigged but neither made any comments.  At this point I had only listened and hadn't given my view but was becoming emotional, in part because of the sadness of my father's death.  I told them how hurt I felt when Trump used vulgar language about women and called it "locker room banter".  I asked them if they, and my brothers, brothers in law, nephews and other men in the US talk so disrespectfully about women when they are in the locker room.  The Pakistani man looked at me and said he was sorry.  The man from Georgia said that he was brought up in the Bible belt and was taught that even if you think those things you don't say them out loud.   I turned to him and said, "I will respect Trump as our president.  We have to live together in this country and we have to talk to one another.  I have listened to you and I hope that one day you will listen to me.  He continued to explain all of the hate and anger that he felt and I could see that he could not see my pain and was not ready to listen to me. I would say that all of us are hurting in some way and we have a lot of work to do to acknowledge our feelings and then be able listen to others and start talking about it.
     For you in the US who fear deportation and for you abroad who are wondering what will happen I say, "Be not afraid".  Those were the words of advice from our Kenyan Archbishop in his condolences to me.  They didn't help with my father's death because our family is at peace and grateful that Dad is with God and no longer suffering. But I remembered them when I was feeling very sad and depressed after these conversations.  We, as Americans, have to learn and grow from our challenges and disappointments.  It will cause suffering, and innocent suffering, especially for people far removed from our country.  Innocent suffering was what I saw every day in South Sudan and I still see it in Kenya. I hope to be one of the people in this world who will listen more and try to reconcile our differences peacefully.
     For the next several days I will be away from the computer and with my family.  Our whole family feels the love, support and prayers that join you together with us and we are grateful.  And for our father, Thomas, may he rest in eternal peace knowing now, full well, the depth of God's love for him.

07 November

     I will leave Kenya on 8th November and arrive in Bloomington Illinois at 4pm on the 9th November.  The funeral for my father will be on Saturday the 12th.  Tomorrow at noon Fr. Gabriel will come to the house here in Mombasa to say Mass with two of my friends and myself.  Then we'll have lunch and he'll take me to the airport.  I am very blessed to have such good friends and wonderful support.

06 November

Genevra, John, Dad, Phil, Susan, Anne...June 2016

THOMAS EUGENE NAGELE
May 4, 1923 to Nov 6, 2016

I have two tires with dirt and plants in them on the roof landing where I live.  They have been producing big tomatoes and several squash these past few weeks. The plants just grow out of the compost.  Such abundance is unusual.  This morning at 5am I went to water the plants and found a small white lily had bloomed...a bit unusual since it is so dry.  And now, six hours later I have learned that my father has gone back to God.

Dad and Steve
Nagele Reunion July 2015

     Dad grew up on a farm in Sheldon Illinois but he left to become a dentist and raise his family in Urbana Illinois a couple of hours away from the farm.  I would often go with him on weekends to visit and I would spend a couple of weeks each summer at Grandma Nagele's as Grandpa had passed on when I was very little.  I loved being in the country, watching the fields fill up with food.  The land was flat as a pancake but it was beautiful because it was part of our home.

     When Dad retired he rarely spoke of dentistry again.  He always spoke about the crops, listened to the farm report and went up to visit whenever he could.  So it seems good to have a white lily blooming among the tomatoes and squash this morning to honor him.

     Dad cherished his family and we had several Nagele reunions, the last in July 2015, which he was able to attend.  We all enjoyed ourselves immensely.  Dad also valued education, especially of girls.  I remember him telling me I could do anything I wanted to do.  And I have...with his help.  I will travel to Illinois in a couple of days to be with my family, cherish our memories and lay him to rest, now that he is happy with God.  May he rest in peace.

Mom and Dad with the soy beans
They were married for over 61 years.

01 November 2016

HEALTH CARE KENYA

     In October I attended the Annual General Meeting of the Kenya Council of Catholic Bishops - Health Commission.  Over 300 members of Catholic Health Units attended. Some of the statistics are impressive.  The Catholic Church provides 40% of health care in Kenya.  In the first picture I am speaking with the Health Coordinator of the Diocese of Marsabit.  He had introduced himself as the leader of the largest Diocese in Kenya.  I couldn't believe it.  Our Archdiocese is 38,000 square km = 14,700 square miles = a bit bigger than the state of Maryland.  His area is 70,000 km2 = 27,000 mi2 = a bit bigger than the state of West Virginia!!! Their roads are worse than ours so I'm not feeling sorry for myself anymore!!!

Sr. Consolata and Susan

     The Health Commission was begun in 1957 by expatriate missionary Sisters.  Now the entire room is filled with Kenyans, save five or six of us who come from other countries and are all older than 50!  The entire leadership is Kenyan.
     It was a chance for me to reconnect with people I have worked with since coming to Kenya in 2003.  I was very happy to see Sr. Consolata in this picture with me.  She is an Evangelizing Sister of East Africa which is a missionary order of Sisters. She is from Tanzania and was working as the nurse in charge in Kolongolo Dispensary where I did a monthly clinic when I worked in the Diocese of Kitale in western Kenya.  She is a lovely, hard working, compassionate woman who met a lot of challenges with negative ethnicity, sexual harassment and corruption when we worked together.  She is the future of missionary work in East Africa and I see my role as assisting and supporting her and others in providing quality health care to those most in need.

          Some of you will remember Bob, the young boy who needed several surgical procedures before being placed in Good Life Orphanage a few months ago.  Triza (the advocate) and I (the doctor) went to visit him recently and he is doing very well.  As we drove to the orphanage Triza shared her most recent frustration.  That morning she had spent 30 minutes watching two women in her office sobbing so hard they couldn't talk.

      Mary was 15 and had lived with her 80 year old grandmother most of her life.  Her parents had both died when she was little.  Everyone says they don't know the cause of their deaths but it is most likely HIV/AIDS - Stigma #1.  She finished class 7 and two years ago her uncle came from Nairobi and promised to take her to his home and put her in a better school.  Once there she was made the house girl as they didn't want to waste money on her education.  Last year another uncle brought her to Mombasa singing the same song...better school which turned into more work as the house girl.  They saw no need to educate an orphan - Stigma #2.  In addition she was now well developed sexually and the uncle wanted to have sex with her, threatening to kill her with a sword if she told anyone.  She refused.  Both the uncles called her the 'daughter of a prostitute'...Stigma #3.  When the uncle was confronted with the allegation that he wanted to defile (rape) her he threatened the grandmother that he would take his revenge eventually.

     By the grace of God she met an unknown aunt in a church and ran away to stay in her home. The aunt has 10 children and a husband who is unemployed.  She has had a wound on her leg for 20 years and cannot put her own children through school let alone house and pay for Christine's schooling.  So, they went to the legal office in St. Patrick Parish and met Triza who was hoping the orphanage would give Mary a place to live.

     The orphanage was concerned about bringing in an older girl as they've had problems with sexual activity among the children in the past.  They asked me to examine Mary and I found her to be a shy girl who is definitely a virgin.  She wants to be a nurse and she must be a very strong girl to have stood her ground and refused the advances of both of her uncles.  In the end it was decided that the orphanage would arrange for her to return to live with her grandmother and pay for her school fees and some support for living expenses for the both of them.  I just saw the aunt in the clinic at St. Patrick's and her wounds are clean and healing nicely.  She is profusely grateful for the assistance they have received.  I was a bit embarrassed.  This is nothing special.  It is what we are called to do if we claim we are Christians. St. Patrick Parish is a community that makes it easy for us to do what we claim to be...followers of Jesus.

November is the month for Saints...on the 1st and Thanksgiving on the 24th.  The last time I was home for Thanksgiving was in 2012 and these are the pictures I took...that's why I'm not in any of them!!!!  I come from a wonderful, supportive family and am very blessed.  I'm sure that I can speak on their behalf and send Thanksgiving blessings from all of us to all of you, my extended source of love and support!!!!

MAY THE PEACE

OF THE FLUTTERING FRAGILE 

FALLING LEAVES OF AUTUMN

BE WITH YOU 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

01 October 2016

INVISIBLE WOMEN

     I have just been doing my Saturday morning shopping and it has happened for the third time.  I walk into a butchery and wait patiently for one of the men behind the counter to serve me.  A man walks up behind me and they ask him what he wants.  They serve up his ground meat and then notice that I am standing there and say, "Oh, what do you want?" 

     The second time it happened I was in a little shop and had put my two items on the counter when a man squeezed himself at the counter and started giving his orders.  At almost the same time another man hollered behind the three other women waiting behind me that he wanted this and that.  The store keeper asked if my items belonged to the first man and I replied that they were mine and I had been waiting first.  He quickly took my money and got rid of me. 

     The first time it happened, the vegetable stand was busy and it was on International Women's Day.  I was politely waiting my turn as an elderly African woman was in front of me.  The men knew me well.  I was a regular customer.  A young Arab woman in a hijab swoops past me and was immediately served while I patiently waited for them to finish. When I asked them why they didn't serve me as I had been waiting patiently they just said sorry.  I didn't go back for some months but have finally put aside my pride and returned.  When I showed up today he could see I was sullen.  He asked me if everything was OK.  I didn't answer. He gave me an extra tomato and onion.  I told him what happened at the butchery.  I am white and usually get preferential treatment.  So if I am invisible/ignored it makes me wonder what happens to older African women who have none of the privilege that I have.  It makes me mad and I get a glimpse of what other invisible people feel...especially women.

Bethany Klueg with Teresa Villaruz

                FAREWELL AGAIN!!!

     Our Kenya region is saying goodbye once again.  Teresa has moved on to continue her ministry in Bolivia. She was happiest with the children she taught and they will miss her.  She worked in Kibarani, an informal settlement which had some of the poorest people who live in Mombasa.  It was hard work and very frustrating at times.  The children under her tutelage were very blessed and will carry her in their hearts for loving them so much.  We wish her well as she begins studying Spanish in Bolivia.  She may be invisible to us now but she is very visible to those in Bolivia!!!

     More invisible women.  We have had another terror attack in Mombasa.  Three young women went to the central police station a couple of blocks from where I live at 10:30am on Sept. 18th. They claimed they were reporting a lost phone. Two of them pulled out knives and stabbed two police officers in the neck and back. The other threw a petrol bomb at the station.  One of the officers shot the two who were still outside.  The leader inside blew herself up.  The so called Islamic State has claimed responsibility.  Rumor has it they planned to cause confusion at the police station and then go to the nearby Anglican and Catholic Cathedrals with their bombs.  Who knows.  I felt sick to my stomach when I heard about one of the officers who was 4 months pregnant and missed the knifing because she bent down to pick up a book.  She is so terrified she won't let anyone open the windows in her room in the hospital.
     I believe that these young women, only 19 or 20, were brainwashed, used and perhaps even drugged to cause such horror.  Now, it will be hard to trust a person in this type of dress.  They may be female or male and can carry anything underneath.  It is a big turning point for Mombasa in this age of violence.  After that followed the violent incidents in NY, New Jersey, St. Cloud Minnesota and Charlotte North Carolina. So we are not the only ones with this problem.  I picked this picture off the internet because the invisible women are three and look like women here in Mombasa who wear the hijab (black veil and gown) and niqab (face mask).  But guess what???  They are not Muslim women.  They are Jewish women from Yemen!!!  More food for thought as I make a wrong assumption once again.  We must learn to sink into love so that fear will be kept at bay. Otherwise, terrorism wins straight away.
     My voting ballot arrived 24th Sept.  I completed it on the 25th and mailed it on the 26th.  Now it is in the hands of the Kenya postal system.  I did my best and we'll all have to live with the results when half of us are disappointed.  My friends here are concerned as they have to live with what we choose and they have no say in the matter.  The President of the USA is a very powerful person in this world.

PEACE OF OUR INVISIBLE GOD 

MADE VISIBLE IN CREATION

HAPPY FEAST OF ST. FRANCIS

ON 4TH OCTOBER

WHICH CONCLUDES OUR

CELEBRATION OF THE

SEASON OF CREATION

23RD OCTOBER

 WORLD MISSION SUNDAY

WE ARE INSTRUMENTS OF GOD'S MERCY!

01 September 2016

HELLO AND GOODBYE

     I was walking to the store one Saturday morning and saw Shima at the street corner with her two teenage sons, busily talking to someone, both hunched over their phones.  She lives in the house downstairs, having left Yemen last year because of the war.  Her mother, originally from Yemen, owns our house and her husband is from Yemen.  I just passed by, deciding not to disturb them.  A few minutes later I felt an arm around my shoulder.  I looked to see Shima saying HELLO and smiling broadly.  I put my arm around her waist and we continued walking on, arm in arm, catching up on our lives.  We must have made quite a picture....she is 40 wearing her black hijab (cloak like covering over all her clothes from the neck to the feet) and her veil. I am 60 wearing a T-shirt with a picture of Oscar Romero on the front and a bit of one of his homilies in Spanish on the back with white cotton pants.  Her friendship made my day...made me feel like I belong here.

Diabetes training session
Mombasa Community Based Health Care

     The past several months I have been doing continuing medical education training at our health units on diabetes.  I enjoy teaching and am able to mix Swahili and English to suit the needs of the group.  Diabetes is becoming a major chronic illness as life styles change. People in Kenyan cities are not as physically active as in the past.  They have taken to eating more fast foods and processed foods while spending more time at computers and phones than working in the fields.  So the clinics in the rural areas show people underweight and the cities find people, even youngsters in grade school, overweight, especially when both parents work.  We are trying to train our nurses to provide more education on healthy lifestyles and screen people who are over the age of 45, especially if they are overweight.  I rarely saw diabetes when I worked in Tanzania and South Sudan. But Kenya is becoming a middle income country and is following the bad habits that come along with modernization.

Russ Brine -  A Quiet Presence

     We are saying GOODBYE to one of our longest serving members in the Kenya region. Russ Brine came in 2001 and has given most of his service to the Bosco Street Children's Rehabilitation program in Kitale.  He is trained both as a lawyer and a certified public accountant but his humble persona would never belie this truth.  His heart is with the children and his passion is to see them feel loved and live happy lives.  I had the good fortune to assist when I lived in Kitale in western Kenya.  We were able to work together with some of the children who were interested to become health care workers.  Two young Turkana men volunteered at our hospital and eventually did choose health care professions. One is now working as a nurse and the other is studying to become a doctor.  The good news is that Russ with remain with Maryknoll Lay Missioners and is moving to Cambodia to continue serving in overseas mission.  We are happy to share our jewel with others!!!

    As you can see, Russ is sitting in a beautiful garden which he has helped the children to plant.  He was always our tree man, interested in different types and planting in honor of different visitors. Which leads me to my last thought...

September 1 was proclaimed as the World Day of Prayer for Creation by the Orthodox Church in 1989, and many other Christian churches have joined since then, with Pope Francis most recently in 2015. It was then extended to be a month-long Season of Creation, ending on October 4 (Feast of St. Francis).

http://seasonofcreation.org/

http://catholicclimatemovement.global/act/
http://catholicclimatemovement.global/petition/

MAY THE PEACE OF A HUMMINGBIRD

AND THE BEGINNING OF AUTUMN 

BE WITH YOU

LETS CELEBRATE AND ENJOY

THIS SEASON OF CREATION!!!

01 August 2016

GOD'S PROTECTION

NJENJE - HUNTINGTON SPIDER

     When I worked in the dry heat of Toposaland in S. Sudan we had many Hunting spiders that usually came out in the evenings and moved extremely fast.  A visitor came and I gave her my bed.  Since it was unbearably hot I was sleeping on a mat on the floor without a mosquitoe net.  I wasn't wearing much either. I turned off the light and was laying on my stomach when I felt something scurry down the left side of my back from my shoulder to my foot.  I was pretty sure it was this spider but just lay there thinking about it.  When it happened a second time I jumped up, turned on the solar light, grabbed one of my flip flops and, while standing on one foot with the other flip flop, I clobbered it in the corner of the room and smashed it to smithereens.  So much for the nonviolent pacifist in me.

     Since I've returned to Kenya the nominations for the presidential candidates have been receiving wide coverage on the BBC and in the local press. Many Kenyans have asked me what is going to happen.  They are mostly terrified that the next President will have a bad effect on their lives.  There is no question that the President of the USA will affect people in the rest of the world one way or another.  Our Archbishop seems to be the calmest about the matter.  He said that, regardless of who is elected, we will just have to adjust to him...or her. 

     The other thought that comes to my mind this month is the anniversary of the atomic bombs which the USA dropped on the 6th of August 1945 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  They killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and almost completely destroyed the landscape.  But today Japan has rebuilt the cities and survived the horror.

     A while back I was staying in a small room for the night while doing a clinic away from home.  It was a dreadfully hot night but I had a bed, a mosquito net and a fan.  Again, I wasn't wearing much in the way of clothes.  I awoke at 3am and while laying on my stomach I felt something scurry down the left side of my back from my shoulder to my foot.  It sure felt like a Hunting spider but I had never heard of them on the coast in hot, humid Mombasa.  I lay there in a daze and then I felt the same scurry go up my right leg.  I jumped up, turned on the solar light and right there in the bed next to me was a Hunting spider!!!  I jumped out of bed but this time I was about 20 years older so the jump was more like a spasm as I had to get my leg over the spider and my body under the net in one fell swoop.  After that I turned on the light and groped for my glasses as the eyes aren't what they used to be.  I grabbed my flip flops...one on the foot and one in the hand and thought, "How am I going to find this critter?"  To my surprise s/he was sitting, clearly visible, in the corner of the room.  With the swiftness of my youth I clobbered it with my flip flop and made sure it was dead.  I didn't pulverize the poor thing as I had in the past.  Otherwise you wouldn't have this nice picture to verify my story.

     So, you may be wondering what is the point of all this meandering thought?  The point is... that after two very close encounters with a poisonous spider that can cause illness and sometimes death I am still here.  Despite the immense violence and suffering that happened in Japan they have rebuilt their cities and become a nation of pacifists.  Article 9 of their constitution outlaws war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state.  "The Japanese people forever renounce war and the threat of use of force."

     I will certainly vote in our elections using an absentee ballot as I have done in every election while oversees.  I hope every US citizen will do their duty and participate in the electoral process.  And then we will adjust to the change of leadership and carry on.  If we make the wrong choice there will be suffering and hardship.  But we can learn from it and become a better nation. 

MAY THE PEACE OF THE LOVER,

THE BELOVED

AND LOVE

PROTECT AND GUIDE US ALWAYS

  

01 July 2016

St. Francis Primary School

GREETINGS FROM MOMBASA

     I'm back to work after a wonderful break at home with my family and friends.  Yesterday I went to visit the school where my housemate, Teresa, teaches fifth and sixth graders.  (Notice the light around her head...similar to a halo!) She has also started up a library.  This photo shows pictures from calendars in the library that one of my donors sent to us.

     I look at these young girls and feel a bit concerned.  They come from one of the most needy informal settlements built on the side of a hill which turns to slippery, sloshy mud when it rains.  I'm almost afraid to imagine what constitutes 'home' and a 'family' for each one of them.

     The newspaper today reports about a girl in sixth grade who became pregnant.  No doubt she was terrified and her 'boyfriend' gave her some pills to get rid of the baby.  The pills only caused her terrible abdominal pains.  She confessed to the headteacher her attempt to abort the baby.  So, they made her go to the police station to record a statement.  Next, the police detained her in a cell for four days announcing she was under arrest!  Finally when she became very ill they took her to the hospital and admitted her under police guard.  It took the doctors another day to do the surgical procedure she needed because the operating room schedule was 'full'.  I wonder where the boy is???  Fortunately she survived.

     Teresa asked me if I would share some of my experiences in South Sudan as part of their geography class.  We had a book written about The Lost Boys of Sudan, some of whom I had met and cared for during their perilous journeys from Sudan to Ethiopia, back into Sudan and down to Kenya.  As we read the book together I realized that no matter how hard the lives of these children are in this place, it doesn't compare to what happens to children during war.  Children had to drink their own urine when there was no water, scavenge for leaves and roots in the forest for food, swim across a river filled with crocodiles and walk at night to avoid the burning sun, the airplanes with bombs and wild animals that roam around looking for food.  Unfortunately, South Sudan is still filled with violence, hatred and terrible suffering.  The same must be true for Syria and for all of the millions of migrants desperate to risk their lives to reach Europe.

     The line from the book that I choose to remember is a quote from one of the older boys caring for the younger ones.  He said, "We were never lost.  God always knew where we were."

     The young boy I wrote about last month is back in the hospital to have surgery to repair his colostomy and allow him to pass stool normally.  He is doing well and we hope he will be discharged soon.  I doubt he remembered me.  But he wasn't terrified to see me and was happy to get a warm hug. Love really is the best medicine.

    As I write this the Imam is singing his evening prayers.  This is the Holy Month of Ramadhan with fasting, prayers and works of charity for Muslims.  When they see the new moon next week they will celebrate coming closer to God through these practices.  It is a great reminder to me that we are all searching for a way to come closer to God, each in our own way.

PEACE OF THE GOD WHO ALWAYS KNOWS WHERE WE ARE AND IS ALWAYS WITH US.

01 June 2016

FIST BUMP WITH MY NEWEST PATIENT

FALLING IN LOVE

     I write from Minnesota but I start with my newest patient in Kenya, Bob (not his real name).  I left Mombasa on the 16th of May having planned my schedule to help me finish everything piled up on my desk.  That got blown to smithereens on May 6th when I got a phone call from Triza, the lawyer working in St. Patrick Parish where I do a clinic each month.  She has been working with womens' groups to create awareness about children's rights.  They informed her about two children who were in trouble.  When she found Bob she called me. 

     Bob was in a small village two hours away and he needed specialized surgery.  So I advised her to bring him to Mombasa and met them at the hospital on Friday night along with the only pediatric surgeon on the coast of Kenya.  His catchment population is 3.8 million people but only 30% are children.

                      The surgeon was excellent.  On Saturday he did the first necessary procedure and on Sunday he did the major surgery.  On Monday morning we found such horrible nursing care we started to organize volunteers to stay with Bob around the clock. Norah, the social worker at St. Patrick's, was put in charge of organizing youth, church women and a Muslim man who knew his local language to help. Bob comes from a very dysfunctional family, the third of eight children.  His two older brothers have already died.  He does not speak but within the first day of being surrounded by loving kindness I could already see a big change in  his behavior.

SUSAN, NORAH, TRIZA, BOB

      Unfortunately the breach in nursing care caused a big infection and Bob had to go back to surgery on Thursday. The surgeon wanted to transfer him to another hospital which had much better nursing care but I couldn't afford it. We redoubled our efforts and I found myself teaching nursing duties to every person in the room helping to care for him.  We couldn't afford to mess up again.  And we didn't.  Before I left I paid $3000 on his hospital bill. Thanks to all my donors who give me money just for things like this. He wasn't discharged until a few days later and he will need another surgical procedure in June.  We've found other donors to help with those bills.  He has been accepted to a children's home that has offered to care for him until he is 18 years old.  He has found an older boy at the home with his same name who speaks his local language and also has special challenges mentally.  They have become the best of friends.

     As I said goodbye to him the day before I left I found a tear welling up in my eye...no small feat for someone with Sjogren's syndrome! (We have dry eyes.)   I usually do well keeping a good distance emotionally from my patients but this time I failed.  All the women in this picture failed.  We all fell in love with him. They send me pictures of him and I will see him myself when I return to Kenya on June 25th.  Without such a committed team of people who worked very hard to take care of Bob we could never have helped him recover.

MOM, JEAN, SUSAN, EMILY

     I have just attended the wedding of my niece and goddaughter.  There were more tears as two young people committed their lives to one another and thereby brought more love into our world.  Now I am on my way to Illinois and looking forward to reconnecting with many loving people there as well!

PEACE OF THE ONE WHO IS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR OUR WORLD AND EACH ONE OF US!