01 June 2017

SUSAN GIVING PRESENTATION AT ST. JOSEPH
SHELTER OF HOPE

HAPPY MADARAKA (SELF RULE) DAY!!!!

     Today is the celebration of internal rule in Kenya from the British Colonial government. Complete rule didn't come until December.  It took the British a while to let go.

     This week I went to St. Joseph Shelter of Hope, the only hospital in the Archdiocese.  One of the most important services I offer is teaching. The staffs can earn Continuing Professional Development credits and improve their skills.  

     It took 6 hours to travel 160km = 100miles.  There was a big jam getting out of Mombasa, many slow moving trucks, heavy rains, road construction and lots of police officers. The President was opening the new railway which runs right along this two lane road.

    The young Congolese doctor at the hospital asked me to talk about Antibiotic Stewardship as he saw a lot of misuse.  I was thrilled that he has seen the light!

     After the presentation two of the clinical officers = physician assistants came to me concerned about a 13 year old boy with jaundice.  He had been to the government hospital where nothing much was done.  The parents didn't have enough money to do all the tests needed and I was very impressed by the care and concern of these two women.  I told them I would help to pay for the tests the family couldn't afford.

     Later that evening one of the Sisters was explaining how the people in this area are really struggling.  The rains that have come to Mombasa and the middle section of the road haven't reached this town.  Their fields are dry as a bone.  The politicians are publicizing the train while people are hungry and don't have enough food.  The number of patients was down due to lack of money to come to the hospital.  She gave me a list of 107 people who have been treated for KES 353,222 = USD3497 but are unable to pay their bills.  She said they just couldn't send these people home, some of whom would die.  I plan to use donations to our ministry to help with this. 

     Lest you think all we do is work, such is not the case.  There is a large population of Catholics who came from Goa, India many years back.  Some of the parishioners have told me that their grandfather began the oldest bar in Mombasa in 1908 and Coralis and I finally made time to go see it.  It is a quaint little place that at one time was frequented by the British elite every day after they finished their work at the old railway station nearby.  Goans were not allowed to enter, even though they owned and ran the bar!  In the church the first six rows were saved for the British.  The Goans had to sit behind them.  One Goan woman told me that in the butchers' there were two lines with signs over them.  One sign read 'Asians and Dogs'.  The other sign read 'British'.  She was so incensed she went to the British line and caused an uproar. That night her husband came home asking what happened. She told him she was not a dog and that in the future he would have to go to the butchers'.  She is 93 years and the oldest member of the Cathedral parish!  

    Despite these tales of discrimination they said the British were fair to them as workers.  The Goans made up most of the civil service.  They felt the British recognized them and paid them fair salaries and pensions...which they still receive.  They also compared the British management to the   corruption and tribalism that is destroying Kenya today and shook their heads in dismay.
     Of course, the many different ethnic groups in Kenya have their own history with the British.  It makes me think carefully of how I act and what I do in a country and culture that is not my own.  I am privileged by my race and education. I can only hope that being faithful to following Jesus' life and teachings will help me to make fewer mistakes.

MAY THE PEACE OF THOSE 

WHO ARE TRULY FREE 

BE WITH YOU

                                                                                       

      I have just read in the paper about Kathy Griffin's photo of President Trump's 'bloody severed head'.  I have a strong need to say something publicly.  This makes me feel physically sick.  In the Gospel today (1st June) Jesus asks, 'May they all be One as the Father and I are One".   We talk about being one family in Christ and that, then, makes President Trump my spiritual brother.  I may not agree with him and he may even commit crimes for which he is legally liable.  That is what we have the judiciary for.   There is far too much violence in our world.  I was also sick to hear the man who killed himself in Manchester called a 'loser' and a 'monster'.  He is also my 'brother'.  He was a human being who committed a terrible crime and lost his own life.  Maybe when we learn why he did it we can understand how to prevent it from happening again. I hope we will stop all forms of violent talk and actions and let 'love be the measure' of how close we come to being one in Christ.                                                        

13 May 2017

     I don't usually write in the middle of the month but this has been an unusual week.  On Monday we had 195mm of rain in 14 hours.  That's almost 8 inches.  We've had 405mm in the first 8 days of May compared to 114mm in the whole month of May 2016.  Last week I missed the clinic in Bamba and this week the clinic in Kanamai on Tuesday because of the rains.  There were flood warnings and it was too dangerous to drive there.  The saddest picture was on the front page of the newspaper.  A herder from Marsabit stood looking at all his sheep dead on the ground in front of him.  They had survived the drought and the rain came so quickly they couldn't adjust and they died from the cold.
     The cost of food is sky rocketing and people are not putting milk and sugar in their tea. They are starting to eat chapatis (which used to be for special occasions) because wheat is cheaper than maize!  Josephine, who helps me in the house, had two rooms of her house fall down.  I had helped her fix her house last year and those four rooms are still standing.  She had planted cow peas, kale and spinach.  It all got washed away in the rains.  Remember, this is the woman who had her watermelons stolen last month.
     Even in my neighborhood where the houses are better things are crumbling.  A perimeter wall at the hospital fell on the small houses next to a nearby school and killed 6 people, three of them children.  God only knows how many people in the slums have slid down the hillsides and disappeared.
     Today is the 100th anniversary of the apparitions at Fatima.  I do think that the poor here are doing enough penance.  Those of us who have more than we need should do more penance and get involved with helping out those is such need...wherever we find ourselves in the world.  

01 May 2017

HOLY THURSDAY 2017 MOMBASA CATHEDRAL

ARCHBISHOP KIVUVA WASHING FEET OF WOMEN, MEN AND CHILDREN 

     I couldn't believe it myself.  That foot in the middle of the picture is MINE!!! Some of you may remember that last year was the first time I saw a Kenyan priest wash the feet of women and children as well as men.  So, it was a big surprise that I was asked to have my feet washed this year.  By an Archbishop no less!

CORALIS WITH OTHER FAITHFUL IN THE CATHEDRAL

     Our services for Holy Week at the Cathedral were well prepared.  The youth did an excellent drama on Good Friday enacting the Passion of Jesus.  It is, for me, a set of rituals that continue to give me hope.  On Easter Sunday Joan Chittester focused on Mary Magdalene who recognized Jesus before the others.  She wrote, "It is over 2000 years later.  Men are still not listening to the spiritual insights of women.  But women are still strong enough to stand by, to keep saying what they see, to keep telling men the will of God for both women and men even though "they will not believe them".  Joan says this fidelity is the spiritual gift of women to the church.  She's right.  Just look at all the women in the picture with Coralis!
     We have had two days of rain and I hope that the dry season is ending.  The drought has been bad.  Some of you may remember seeing a picture of me with Josephine (the woman who helps me with cleaning in the house) and a watermelon some few years back. This year Josephine had purchased special seeds and insecticide to grow more watermelons and they were big.  Some boys came to her garden and started eating them because they were hungry.  That night a group of boys came with sacks and collected all the big watermelons and hauled them off to eat and sell.  All of her hard work has been taken.  She shrugs her shoulders and says, "They are hungry."  
     Josephine also lives right next to a polling station.  The primaries for the elections in August were held this weekend.  She said that more young men were rioting at the polling station with sticks and batons.  They were yelling that they wouldn't vote unless they got paid.  In the past many politicians have paid people to vote for them.  It is becoming a way of life.  But Josephine also adds, "They are hungry."  
     As part of our response, some of my donors have directed that certain gifts be given for food relief, both in Kenya and South Sudan.  We call it "food by prescription"! 
     This is a precarious time for Kenya as violence is beginning during the primaries.  It doesn't bode well for peace when hungry people don't get what they need.  I will be in Illinois in August with my family.  I experienced the post election violence of 2008 and that was enough for me.

EASTER COFFEE CAKES THAT MY GRANDMOTHER
ALICE LOESS  TAUGHT ME TO BAKE

MAY THE BREAD OF LIFE 

WHO SHOWED US HOW TO WASH FEET

BE OUR EXAMPLE OF HOW TO PROVIDE

 THE FOOD EACH PERSON NEEDS

SO THERE WILL BE PEACE

01 April 2017

Fr. Jim Conard and Susan

THE BEGINNING

     I began 1985 in Tanzania, the first place I served as a Maryknoll Lay Missioner.  This past month I made a trip back to Kowak Hospital which didn't exist when I arrived.  I came with Sandy Cavendish and we found a small bedded dispensary and the old Maryknoll Sisters Convent which was empty.  I used $10,000 that my grandfather had given in memory of my grandmother, Alice Loess, to begin renovating the convent.  When I moved to what is now South Sudan in 1991 we left behind a 32 bed health center.  Fr. Jim Conard continued on with other Maryknoll Lay Missioners to make improvements and it is now a full fledged hospital with 170 beds.

Susan with replica of the Maternity Hut

     

     During the construction Fr. Jim found a concrete slab that was the foundation of the original hut the Maryknoll Sisters built in 1951 to deliver babies.  He reconstructed the hut and it is now used for a tea room for the staff.  Maternity services were always a priority and during my six years we delivered over 3000 babies.  Because the Maryknoll Sisters had done such a good job of educating women about the need for prenatal care for pregnant women they were happy to use our new facilities.  I met Maria Teresa, one of the traditional birth attendants who worked with us. She is now retired.  Her little girl, Letitia, is all grown up and the mother of four children. She works at the hospital as a nurse aid.  It was encouraging to see that the first health care services begun at Kowak in 1948 by the Maryknoll Sisters continue to this day.  I feel privileged to have been a part of it.

Susan Joanne Judy Coralis

     Another reason for this trip was to visit Judy Walter.  We lived together for five years and last year she moved to Mwanza Tanzania to help begin a House of Prayer on Lake Victoria with Maryknoll Father Jim Eble.  Coralis and I were supposed to be on retreat but of course we had to meet up with other lay missioners in Mwanza too!  This picture shows four women with 107 years of ministry in East Africa and Bangladesh!!!     Judy is the person overseeing the house for women and Jim oversees the house for men.  They begin the day with a 'bell' that Judy rings at 6:20am calling all to prayer in their cave like chapel.  (The 'bell' is actually the metal hub from the tire of a big truck!)  15-20 local neighbors of simple means join them for meditation from 6:30-7am 

Coralis and Susan with the 'bell'

followed by Mass.  They have another meditation period from 4:30-5pm in the evening.  Judy says that their neighbors are naturally inclined to contemplative prayer.  The desire to create a prayer space open to people with less means was what attracted her to this ministry in a special way.

CORALIS GABRIEL SUSAN

     On March 28th we celebrated Coralis' birthday.  She is our Regional Director for Kenya and a wonderful source of inspiration and support for all we do.  Kenya is in the midst of some perilous times politically but we come together to suffer through the challenges, support one another and bring hope for the future.  Even though we are still in the midst of Lent we know that our vocation is to move towards the light of Christ in the resurrection at Easter.

MAY THE ACTIVE NONVIOLENCE OF JESUS
 BRING YOU EASTER JOY AND PEACE!!!

01 March 2017

LOVE AND LENT 

ST. VALENTINE'S DAY WITH SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH

     You'd thought I had brought them a pot of gold.  I picked up a cake at the local grocery store before traveling five hours to St. Joseph Shelter of Hope in Voi.  My clinic in February fell on Valentine's day which is a big celebration in Kenya.  These Sisters of St. Joseph run the only functioning hospital in this town of 50,000 people.  The doctors' strike continues on and is now in its 86th day as of 1st March.  The Sisters have been working night and day with patients overflowing into the hallways and the operating room running around the clock.  It is the only functioning surgical theatre in the entire area since the government hospital is completely shut down.  I had no idea such a simple gift could bring so much joy and such big smiles.  That evening was filled with healing laughter.
     For the first time in six years famine has been declared in four countries...Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.  All of this is man made and due to wars.  I was talking to Omar, a 12 year old lad who has come from Yemen and lives downstairs.  I asked him what he missed most about Yemen.  He simply answered "Everything" and walked away very sad.  His older brother, Hassan who is 14, is coping a bit better.  When I mentioned the famine in Yemen he told me that if we all made space everyone could live on one continent and there would be enough food for everyone if we didn't waste so much.  I asked him where he heard this and he said it's just his idea. He thinks we just need to make more space in our hearts!!!  I left that conversation knowing clearly who the missioner was...and it wasn't me.  Leaving his home has brought him wisdom well beyond his 14 years.

     A recent article in the Kenya Daily Nation caught my eye entitled "Why Trump's questions on US-Africa policy are not to be taken lightly." 

 http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/why-trump-questions-us-africa-policy-not-taken-lightly/440808-3826762-5brwwsz/index.html

It's a long article so I'll pick out the salient points.  Kenya is about to pay USD$418 million for 12 fighter jets which he calls "souped up crop dusters".  This deal is being challenged by a US congressman from North Carolina who is trying to stop the sale.  A firm in his state manufactures the planes and will sell them for half the price. His allegations of inflated pricing are supported by an article in The Economist. The author goes on to explain why all this military equipment is useless against Al Shabaab in Somalia, which is the alleged reason for their purchase.  Terrorists cannot be fought with conventional military weapons. They are like fishes in the sea.

When I first saw this in the paper I asked how they could spend that kind of money on the military when the health care system has been shut down for over three months and the nurses and doctors deserve better pay.  Then the author asks the most important question of the entire article..."What if we were to wage peace instead...build schools, health facilities, boreholes, markets, small shops?"

We are beginning Lent today and this will be my question for reflection over the next 40 days.  The Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns has also prepared a Lenten reflection guide with the theme

A Journey with Gospel Nonviolence 

http://maryknollogc.org/sites/default/files/Maryknoll%20OGC%20Lenten%20Reflection%20Guide%202017.pdf

I scrolled down to the end and found a reflection from a woman in South Sudan that showed the wisdom and love that comes from living in the midst of war for her entire life.  Even if you don't use the guide or read the whole thing this last little bit is worth a moment of your time.

WOMEN  WAGING PEACE

     I have recently met up with some of my friends from South Sudan. I was in Nairobi for a medical emergency that required my attention.  I stayed at Regina Pacis, the hostel owned by the Diocese of Torit in South Sudan where I used to work.  March 8th is International Women's Day and I want to pay tribute to this friend of mine who is a member of Parliament in South Sudan.  We worked together when I was in South Sudan and  she is one of many women who have consistently striven to "wage peace". Once we each make more space in our hearts I'm sure we will succeed.

MAY THE PEACE OF OUR SPACIOUS HEARTS

MAKE ROOM FOR EVERYONE

01 February 2017

SUSAN AND MARY

FUTURE COLLEAGUE

      I was walking back to my room in the dark after a clinic located five hours from Mombasa.  From the left, a streak of  movement rushed towards me out of the trees, grabbed me by the waist and wouldn't let me go. It was Mary whom I hadn't seen in almost two years.

      Her mother was only 16 when she got pregnant and was thinking of getting an abortion.  The Sisters begged her to have the child and they promised to help her with funds to raise her and send her to school.  When I first met Mary (not her real name) she was seven years old and starting to learn English.  Now she is almost fluent in English and she wants to be a doctor.  She didn't have much time to visit with me. She had to go polish her shoes and put out her school uniform. 

She would awaken at 4am and get on the bus at 5am; about an hour before dawn.  When I commented this was very early she said she was lucky.  Other children had to get on the bus at 4am!!!   

     The clinic I did that day was packed to overflowing. The Kenyan doctors are still on strike...day 58 on February 1st and counting.  There is no end in site.  The nurses are also threatening to strike on February 1st.  Both groups have legitimate grievances with past agreements that the government hasn't honored.

     It takes six years to train a doctor in Kenya and the cost of education from primary school to university is KES5.7 milllion = US$56,000.00.  (The Sisters are facing a big education bill with this little girl!!) The World Health Organization recommends 36 doctors per 100,000 people.  Kenya has an average of 19.  51% of the doctors they train emigrate to other countries and most doctors work in the cities. All of the clinics I supervise are run by nurses or clinical officers (physician assistants). Some are at the end of a very long road with only a telephone to connect them to me or some other source of assistance in an emergency.

     Mary is such a bright little girl and I will have to live to 77 to see her graduate from medical school.  But she gives us all hope with her enthusiasm and love of life.  On a sad note, the man, Julius, whom I mentioned in my blog last month was taken back home and not admitted to the government hospital due to the strike.  The family took him to an excellent mission hospital but they were so packed with patients they couldn't admit him and told the family to take him home and continue with the medicines we gave him.  He never improved and on January 24th he passed on.  I think he probably had a brain abscess which would have required surgery.  At least he had the best care we could give him and the love of his family to surround him.

     The other big concern here in Kenya is the possibility of post election violence in August when the presidential elections will be held.  The clinic I went to last Friday has been seeing over 100 patients every day and they also work on Saturday.  All the staff were visibly tired and frustrated. They are in an area where violence has occurred during elections in the past.  They are planning to close the clinic for 10 days around election time and allow the staff to take their families to their villages for safety.  

RIIMENZE SOUTH SUDAN JANUARY 2017

     Lastly, many people are asking me what I think of President Trump.  I tell them I didn't vote for him but he was duly elected.  However, I cannot agree with his executive order banning immigration. When I worked in what is now South Sudan I had to move many times due to the war.  At one point I had to cross the border into Uganda for a month for safety.  I never had to leave my country of birth but I know what it is like to keep moving from one place to another and fearing for your life. These people need compassion and care but more than anything they need hope.  Without that many will die needlessly.  Innocent suffering is what Bishop Taban used to say was South Sudan's gift to the world.  How sad that such a gift continues to increase in our world.  Let us not forget the huddled, silent masses in addition to the people detained or deported in US airports.

IT IS BETTER TO LIGHT A CANDLE 

THAN TO CURSE THE DARKNESS

• Lord, give me courage to keep lighting candles, even though I know some will burn out and some will blow out.
• Heal me, Lord, when I get burned in trying to keep the light going.
• Teach me to give generously and wisely, Lord, even when I don't have enough candles for everyone.
• Give me strength, Lord, when despair and discouragement tempt me to accept the darkness.
• Lord, forgive me when I preach candles to those who can't even afford matches.
• Grant me humility, Lord, when everyone else seems to have spotlights and floodlights and all I have is a lousy candle.
• Teach me patience, Lord, when it is a long time between candles.
• Help me to forgive, Lord, when someone I try to help deceives me, cheats me, or steals my candle.
• But most of all, forgive me Lord and grant me faith and hope when I start to believe the world is too dark, too cold, and too windy for simple candles.                                                                         Dan Griffin,  Former Maryknoll Lay Missioner 

14 January 2017

THE NEW ROAD TO TAVETA!!!

     As I mentioned in my 1st January blog I made a trip to Taveta this past week.  Here are pictures of the beautiful road which took only two hours rather than 5-6 hours.  In addition, the Health Commission was given a new vehicle by MIVA which is far more comfortable than my 1994 Rocky Dhaiastu!!!

     The trip went very well.  We visited one hospital and three dispensaries.

ROAD THROUGH THE TAITA HILLS

     The doctors' strike continues continuously since 5th December.  The government is telling people to go to mission health units but they have yet to give any of our facilities medicines or supplies.  The hospital at St. Joseph Shelter of Hope in Voi was full to overflowing with very sick patients and a young newly qualified doctor who is doing her best. At 8am I did a short teaching on Disaster Management as they have had multiple motor vehicle accidents from the nearby highway.  After that I saw patients from 8:45am until 7pm.  

     Three dispensaries were all busy as well with the clinical officer and three nurses all needing to work like doctors.  The dispensary in Chumvini normally delivers 8-10 women in

Coralis and I celebrating the New Year 2017

a month.  In December they delivered 39 and referred 5 women to a mission hospital across the border in Tanzania.  No mother died but one infant was lost due to mismanagement in the village and late arrival at the dispensary.  They worked every day during Christmas when the government nurses were taking holidays on the 25th, 26th and 27th.  I am truly impressed and inspired by the commitment and capacity of our staffs in these places.  Because of them, fewer poor people are dying as a result of this strike.  The doctors have a legitimate grievance with the agreement made in 2013 that has never been implemented regarding working conditions and salaries.  However, it would behoove the doctors to use methods of resistance that attend to the needs of seriously ill poor people who are now dying in their homes.  People can see that this strike will not end soon and both sides are losing credibility due to lack of compassion for the sick and integrity in negotiations.  Meanwhile, we in the mission health units will continue to do our best to fill in the gaps as best we can.