01 March 2018

GONE, GONE, GONE!!!!

     As of 23 February 2018 Kenya has been declared free of this horrible little worm...guinea worm (dracunculiasis).  It means that no case has been diagnosed for the last three years.  Most of the cases were coming with refugees from S Sudan and I saw hundreds of them when I worked in S Sudan.  One poor man had at least 66 worms come out of his body!  But now S Sudan is also free of guinea worm!  Last year there were only 26 cases in Chad and Ethiopia.  That's a big improvement from the 400,000 cases world wide in 1988.  Very big credit goes to the Carter Center which has been leading the eradication program.  Only one disease has been eradicated from the face of the earth...small pox.  But guinea worm and polio are in a big contest to see which will be the second.  So exciting!!!!

MARJ, TED, SUSAN

     Recently the new Executive Director for our Maryknoll Association, Ted Miles, came to visit with our Director of Missions, Marj Humphrey.  After prayer and reflection I have decided to go home to live with my mother in Urbana Illinois beginning on July 1st.  We are both getting older and I can feel the Spirit beckoning.  I know this is the right decision.  After discussions with Ted and Marj I will continue as a Maryknoll Lay Missioner working in Mission Education and Advancement, mainly in the Midwest.  I am gradually saying thank you in my goodbyes.  I have been so blessed to have served in Tanzania, South Sudan and Kenya since 1985.  I am a very fortunate woman to have been able to follow Jesus as a lay woman in the Catholic church.  Now it will be my chance to help others to join us and support us in the many ways that are possible.

       I recently saw a man my age who was very thin and had been brought by his son from a small village three hours away to see 'the doctor'.  He was taking medicines for HIV and had been diagnosed by a traditional healer to have cancer of the throat.  The only other medicine he was taking was an antibiotic for the pain!  (Of course, antibiotics do not help pain at all!)  Huge tears rolled down his cheeks as he struggled to speak.  It took great control to prevent tears welling up in my eyes too.  After a thorough history and exam he did in fact have throat cancer.  It had caused a very large ulcer that had destroyed his left tonsil.  There was a tumor the size of a golf ball on his left jaw.  The pain was preventing him from sleeping...#10 on a scale of 1-10...and he could hardly swallow.  What he needed was liquid morphine.  I taught the Congolese doctor working at this hospital how to refer patients to the hospice in Mombasa, which is the only place to get this medicine.  I also taught him about palliative care.

     We started him on the liquid pain medicines we had at hand and two days later I was able to send the morphine with our Health Coordinator.  When I explained all of this to him and his wonderful son he began to smile.  He asked me to come visit him at his home...a sign of immense gratitude.  Before any analgesics were given the tears had given way to a smile.  I could hardly believe it.  All we had done was listen to him and give him hope that there was medicine that could decrease his pain.

     In all my years here I wish I had listened more.  Listening is one of my goals for this Lent.  To listen to the people I disagree with, the people who insult me, people in pain and people who don't seem to make sense to me.  And then reply with love.  It is the best medicine.

     I have recently finished reading a book written by Kate Henessey entitled Dorothy Day: the world will be saved by beauty.  Kate is Dorothy's granddaughter and I couldn't put the book down.  I will leave it in Kenya so that people here will have the chance to read it.  Don't miss the chance yourself!

MAY THE PEACE OF DOROTHY DAY BE WITH ALL OF US

07 February 2018

      I just received an email form someone who heard that there is a civil war brewing in Kenya.  Then I found out that 29 people have read my blog today!!!  The news must be out that things are going on here.
     Mombasa is very quiet and peaceful.  I expect it to stay that way.
     The opposition is not backing down on its claim that they won the election in August 2017 and contend that if this matter isn't addressed now, the matter of legitimate elections, then there will be no election in five years.  In fact, many people already think that the Vic President will be the next president!  So much for democracy.
     The opposition promises to be peaceful and so far they have shown good restraint, especially during the oathing ceremony of the 'peoples' President, Raila Odinga'.  At that activity the police where in the background and that also helped immensely.
     Hard to say where we are heading but those who thought that the President was elected and life could go on as usual are ignoring the many people who are upset and feel disenfranchised. 
     We keep praying and working for peace!!!

01 February 2018

STAFF HOUSE ELDORO DISPENSARY

OH ME OF LITTLE FAITH

     In 2012 I used my mission money to help renovate the maternity at Eldoro Divine Mercy Dispensary.  It took two years to complete the project and cost over $10,000.  There were so many problems with the Committee for the dispensary and the government I don't want to remember them.  Between 2014 and 1015 there wasn't one delivery in the unit.  I felt I had thrown the money away.  The Sister In Charge was changed several times and the current Sister told me that they needed a staff house so that a nurse could be living there all the time and on call.  I was VERY reluctant to put 

STAFF AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS

anymore money into this place.  But this Sister seemed serious so I 'caved in'.  I didn't give the money happily.  I prayed that I wouldn't have to regret another bad decision.  The dispensary also changed the Committee members and the new chairman seemed to be a man who cared about improving health care in this remote village.  Lo and behold they finished the building and accounted for all the funds that were provided...again over $10,000.  In December 2016 there were four deliveries.  In 2017 there were 37 deliveries during the whole year.  This past month I visited the unit and met with the Committee and staff.  Sister Anne and the Chariman, Peter, are standing on either side of me.  It has been a five year ordeal with a happy and promising ending.  With everything I've done here it has always taken longer than I had anticipated.   I still believe in the government mandate to provide clean and safe deliveries to mothers at the dispensary nearest to their home.  But there is a long way to go.  You have to have a lot of faith to stick your neck out, stick with it, follow through and hope for the best!!!

     I have been asking my Kenyan friends about President Trump's most recent description of the continent we live in.  To my surprise, many of them were not offended. They agree that the government of Kenya is corrupt, has been involved in extra judicial killings, the police are a law unto themselves and many of the leaders on the continent are authoritarian dictators who have turned their countries into the expletive that President Trump used.

     However, one person told me she did take umbrage at his insinuation that all of these people were stupid, ignorant and lazy.  Kwamchetsi Makokha in the Daily Nation provided some statistics to challenge this stereotype.  There are 2.1 million African immigrants in the USA.  This constitutes 4.8% of the immigrant population.  88.3% have a high school education.  41.7% hold a Bachelor's degree.  And I, myself, can witness to the tremendous faith, courage and hard work of people that I have been privileged to work with.  Eldoro dispensary above needed more than me and money to provide good maternity services to women who often die with their babies in a mud hut in pain and agony.  

EVA MSANDO

POLITICS

     On 30th January Raila Odinga swore himself in as the "Peoples' President" in Nairobi.  I was in a remote village doing clinics and had no network so I had to rely on the BBC radio in my phone for news.  The government shut down several media stations and they are still off the air.  Apparently they are being investigated for assisting in a 'treasonable' act...meaning taking pictures of the swearing in of Mr. Odinga.  Half the people I talk with say the elections are over, President Kenyatta was reelected and they want to move on with their lives.  The other half believe that the first election was won by Mr. Odinga and the results were rigged.  They are very unhappy, as is this woman.  Eva Msando is the wife of Chris Msando.  He was the IT expert of the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) that ran the elections.  He had proudly announced that he had insured that the servers for the elections could not be tampered with.  A week before the elections he was brutally murdered and to date he has been publicly forgotten.  There has been no one charged with his murder and I never hear anyone asking about him. I cannot get this picture out of my mind and I wonder what the future holds for Kenya ??? 

LENTEN CAMPAIGN KENYA 2018

  

WE HAVE A BIG CHALLENGE THIS LENT

IN KENYA

TO BRING JUSTICE AND PEACE

FOR ALL