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!!!