01 December 2013

Bethany, Rehema, Coralis, Judy, Susan, Anita, Curt
Maryknoll Lay Missioners Mombasa

Dear Family and Friends,

     This has been quite a year of ups and downs. The Kenyan presidential elections were held on March 4th and because of concerns for safety our travel to the different health units was restricted in February and March.  Fortunately the process was peaceful, despite long lines that caused people to wait up to 11 hours in the hot sun.  Kenyans are to be admired for their patient determination to perform their right to vote.  The men chosen to be President and Vice President are both charged with crimes against humanity for violence that occurred in the elections in 2007.  Currently the Vice President is on trial in the Hague and the President will be tried next February 2014.

     In July my 20 year old nephew, Alex Vitalis, drowned of cold shock syndrome in a tragic river accident.  I was able to arrive in Minnesota for the wake which gathered over 1000 people.  He was a wonderful young man and we are grateful for the time we had with him.  Still, we are trying to adjust to the reality that he is no longer with us here on earth.  The family asked that donations be made to my mission account in lieu of flowers.  People have been extremely generous.  With those gifts we have already completed renovations to the pharmacy at Giriama dispensary and have begun to renovate the lab.  I will give a full report early next year.

     While I was in Minnesota I also had an unfortunate accident and fractured my sacrum (tailbone).  In order to recuperate I had to extend my stay in the US but I have healed completely.  I returned to Mombasa in October.  This allowed me to spend more time with family, especially my parents.  I am very grateful for all the support I received from Maryknoll and the Archdiocese during these difficult months.

     Kenya has been beset by numerous problems.  In August the arrivals hall at the International Airport in Nairobi burned to the ground.  In September a large shopping mall in Nairobi, Westgate, was attacked by terrorists and closed down for four days.  At least 70 people were killed and over 200 were injured.  In October a Muslim Sheikh was killed in Mombasa along with three people in his car and four bystanders. Each incident increases fear and it becomes more difficult to know who to trust or how to make plans for every day activities.  As Sr. Pauline, our health coordinator said, "We are all traumatized".

     Lastly, our beloved Archbishop, Boniface Lele, retired on November 1st for health reasons.  He is a caring, pastoral man who has been at the forefront of ministry to people living with AIDS.  The door to his office was always open and we rarely needed an appointment to meet him.  He welcomed all with a gracious smile and genuine humility.  We were blessed to have him as our shepherd these past eight years.

     As we wait for the birth of Jesus I have my own mother and child story to share.  In April Asha brought her one year old son, Seif, to the clinic for vomiting and diarrhea.  He had stopped growing six months earlier and could hardly sit up, let alone stand.  I was afraid he had some type of muscular dystrophy but wanted to check his thyroid function too.  I sent him to the provincial hospital and told them what I suspected and what tests needed to be done.  Ashsa tried her best but the first time she went to the hospital the doctor wasn't there.  The second time the doctor didn't have time to see him.  Someone wrote for lab tests to be done at a private hospital which would have cost two weeks of the father's salary.  The third time she went they were angry that she hadn't had the tests done and refused to examine the child.  So, when she brought him back to me I just took the mother and child to a lab that I know well and paid for one test to check his thyroid.  It was abnormal and we started him on treatment for low thyroid.  In just two weeks he was starting to get stronger.  The Sister at the clinic continued to treat him with my advice by email while I was in the US and he continued to improve.  The Sister also encouraged the mother to keep breast feeding, only to find out the mother was pregnant.  She delivered another child in September!  As you can see from the names, the family is Muslim and the mother wore the traditional long black robes.  We had no idea she was pregnant.  Seif continues to improve and now he has a little sister. 

     So, let this season of hope for new life encourage each of us.  God came into our world to live among us.  No matter what our challenges, struggles or sorrows we are never alone and God is with us...Emmanuel.

PEACE OF THE NEW BORN CHRIST
CHILD TO YOU!!!

A tree that blooms in December
 Called a Christmas tree here!
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR

SUSAN 

01 November 13

Giriama Pharmacy Completed

Happy Feast of All Saints  

Greetings from Mombasa!!!  

     I arrived on the 18th of October after a long but basically uneventful trip.  I met with Sr. Veronicah of Giriama dispensary and she has completed renovation of the pharmacy and all the medicines are off the floor!  I gave her more money from the memorial fund for Alex to begin renovation of the laboratory.  Again, she asked me to convey her gratitude on behalf of the staff and all the patients for this assistance.

     On my trip back security was tighter. During my absence from Kenya the arrivals hall at the airport in Nairobi burned down.  The Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi (very large and often frequented by expatriates) was attacked by terrorists and 67 people were killed.  A Sheikh in Mombasa was killed along with 3 people in his car and 4 bystanders. There have also  been reoccurring incidents of violence in Mombasa, sometimes thought to be hooliganism, taking advantage of terrorism and unrest in the country.  The Vice President is in the Hague attending his trial for crimes against humanity.  The President was to due go to the Hague for his trial on Nov 12th.  His trial is postponed until Febrruary at his request.  Prices for everything have gone up, especially since the value added tax was raised from 14 to 16%.  Our salaries stay the same and those who live on the edges are falling off more frequently.

New Orbis Book about Mombasa

                      But there's hope!  Pope Francis has been talking about wanting a poor church for the poor.  Here's a new book written by one of our lay missioner's, Coralis Salvador and a Franscican lay missioner, Susan Slavin.  I highly recommend it as it will give a good picture of our ministries in Mombasa.  Coralis currently administrates Kikambala Primary Health Care facility where I do a clinic once each month.      
                      I've also just finished reading a new book Pope Francis Untying the Knots by Paul Vallely.  Towards the end it quotes a speech by Cardinal Bergoglio given at the conclave before the elections began.  He said, "The Church is supposed to be the mysterium lunae - the mystery of the moon is that it has no light but simply reflects the light of the sun.  The church must not fool itself that it has light of its own; if it does that it falls in to what Henri De Lubac in The Splendour of the Church called the greatest of evils - spiritual worldliness.  That is what happens with a self-referential Church, which refuses to go behond itself.  Put simply, there are two images of Church; a Church which evangelises and comes out of herself or a worldly Church, living within herself, of herself, for herself.  The next Pope should be someone who helps the Church surge forth to the peripheries like a sweet and comforting mother who offers the joy of Jesus to the world.               
                                                                             After that speech Cardinal Bergoglio was the person chosen to be our next leader.  The moon is waning at the moment but it will be full on 18th Nov.  Keep an eye out and let's head for the people on the edges and be mysterium lunae.

                         Peace of the Harvest Moon to you and Happy Thanksgiving!                                  

01 October 2013

Staff at Giriama Mission Dispensary

     Greetings from a beautiful fall in Illinois. Last month I described how the donations given in memory of my nephew Alex would be used.  When I wrote to Sr. Veronicah to tell her that we could do all the projects she had requested for Giriama Dispensary she said they had already begun and sent some pictures which are attached.  They have started with renovation of the pharmacy as that was the most urgent.  We couldn't have medicines and supplies sitting on the floor. She asked me to express her gratitude to all who helped make these improvements possible at the oldest mission parish in the Archdiocese.

                                                                                  

Sr. Veronicah - Administrator

Renovating the pharmacy

     Today I attended my fifth funeral in ten weeks...this one for one of my high school classmates who was diagnosed with lung cancer in August.  In addition to these deaths there was the terrorist attack at a mall in Nairobi in which 67 are known dead, hundreds were injured and 61 are still missing. As one Kenyan wrote to me, "We are all traumatized".  After that Pakistan had 78 people killed by suicide bombers in a church and over 500 killed in an earthquake.  I am wondering how new life will come from all of this death and destruction.
    I am doing well myself and planning to return to Kenya the middle of October.  It was definitely the right decision to improve my health before traveling and I am very grateful to all who gave me support to do this.  I draw a lot of strength from those who have faced adversity, like the men in this picture...the common person struggling to put food on the table.  If they can do it we surly can continue on with courage and hope.

Peace of the falling leaves to you!

01 September 13

Ali, Susan and Jim - St. Patrick Parish Urbana, Illinois

Happy Labor Day tomorrow!  Summer is ending and the leaves are beginning to fall.
     This picture was taken at the Time and Talent event at my home parish in August. The Justice and Peace group had displayed an article that was written about our ministry in the LAS Alumni News from the U. of Illinois as well as the Maryknoll Book Lives of Service from Maryknoll.  As always, it was a homecoming for me as these are the people who have nurtured my faith and supported us over so many years.
     I saw my doctor yesterday and I am doing fairly well with my recovery from the sacral bone fracture.  However, she recommended that I postpone my return to Kenya for six weeks and so I will arrange to return in midOctober.  I realize that I received excellent care.  The CT scan didn't show the fracture but they could do an MRI and that was diagnostic.  If I had been in Mombasa there is only one place that does these two exams and the MRI machine has been 'down' for weeks and months at a time. I am so grateful that I didn't suffer a permanent spinal injury and should recover fully.
     There has been over $12,000 donated to our ministry in memory of Alex Vitalis, my nephew.  We are very grateful for this generous tribute to a wonderful  young man.  I have talked with the family and we will use the money to make renovations in Giriama dispensary to the lab, pharmacy, staff house and install a soak pit.  We will also provide the salary for one nurse for one year at the new maternity room at St. Patrick's Dispensary in Bangladesh informal settlement in Mombasa.  I would like to place a remembrance plaque at each site to honor Alex.
     With all the difficulties in Syria and more talk of war let us redouble our work and prayer for peace.

Deep peace of the shining stars to you

15 August 2013

Greetings from Urbana, Illinois.
     Mom and I drove back from Minnesota and arrived here yesterday.  We are both tired but happy to be 'home'.  We went to the river with Carol before we left Minnesota and had a lovely prayer service to remember Alex on the fourth Monday after he drowned.  We read from the scriptures, dropped some dying cut flowers that friends had sent into the river and Carol sang a lullaby that she would sing to her children before they went to sleep.  We are learning to live with our new reality and now we will try to move on...just like the flowing river.
     Today is the Feast of the Assumption.  It is also the 38th anniversary of the beginning of the Maryknoll Lay Missioner program and the 19th anniversary of the founding of the Maryknoll Mission Association.  It is also the feast of Loa Parish in South Sudan and the Diocese of Kitale, Kenya...both places where I worked in the past.  So, it is a day for me to remember many good things that have happened to me on my life's journey and so many of you have have been so supportive and encouraging along the way.  The gospel in today's liturgy is Luke 1:39-56.  Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth and sings her song...the Magnificat.  She gives me, as a woman, the example of how to meet challenges and think of others...to serve where there is need and praise God for everything.  With gratitude I remember all of you too.

1st August 2013

Wade, Alex and Carol Vitalis at the Confirmation ceremony for Alex

Alex William Vitalis

April 26, 1993 - July 15, 2013

Our family is remembering the life of this wonderful young man and below they have written what they would you to know of Alex.  The family had requested in lieu of flowers that contributions be made to our health care ministry in Kenya.  For those of you who have chosen to do this you can read other posts describing what we do.  I will talk with the family later to find out how in particular we can use your gifts to honor the memory of Alex.

     Thanks to the many who have poured their love on our family.  The loss of a unique and vibrant young man has almost been more than we can bear.  Here is what we would like you to know about our loving son, Alex. 

     Alex always had a smile for you a mile wide - no kidding!  Alex competed three times at State in swimming and diving.  He loved football and track and set the pole vaulting record his senior year.  He displayed amazing athleticism in every-thing he did.

     Alex loved the Lord and living on the St. Croix River.  He had an intimate knowledge and respect for the river, 

teaching classmates and friends how to canoe while also sharing with them his joy and passion for river life; God's majesty revealed to him.  After graduating from Chisago Lakes High School, Alex traveled to Norway.   He studied Norwegian 

culture and outdoor adventure at a traditional Folk School.  Among his adventures he climbed the second highest mountain in Norway.  He completed his first year at the University of St. Thomas pursuing a degree in engineering and learning 

Norwegian at Augsburg; he was a brilliant mind.  He was unassuming and never boastful.  Alex loved strong coffee, and 

his French press; music, hunting, fishing, reading and planning his next adventures - always!       Alex was his father Wade's right hand man, his 'buddy';  dedicated  and  dutiful.        

Alex inherited his passions for travel and the St. Croix River from his Dad.  Alex loved his sister Gwen; they were 

inseparable and often had what Gwen called 'twin telepathy'.  Alex was a role model for his brother Peter, sharing his 

music and spending time loving on his little brother.  And Alex adored his mother Carol with whom he shared a very 
special bond.  He loved and was loved by his family and us all.  We will miss him and never forget him.

                                                                                                  The Vitalis Family

     I am still in Minnesota and we are expecting my brother Paul and his family to arrive on 2nd August for several days.  I am slowly recovering from my fall and cracked tailbone.  The pain is less and strength is returning to my legs.  Hopefully Mom and I will be able to return to Illinois in the next week or two.  My father in Illinois is needing more nursing care and we are looking for a facility that can provide that.  It has certainly been a challenging time for our family and we are all grateful for your support, prayers, concern and love.

     Peace of the gently flowing river be upon you as we continue to pray for peace on the first of each month!  susan

24 July 2013

     I last wrote the afternoon before the wake was held.  The service began at 4pm and went until 10pm.  About 1500 people came to be with us in the First Luthern Church in Taylors Falls, MN.  I was particularly attentive to my nieces and nephews.  They had been with Alex enjoying a well deserved Monday afternoon off after a busy weekend working at the restaurants the family owns.  It was a big shock for them to deal with watching him drown.  We shared so many memories and stories.  Jordan, Alex's cousin, told us that when she was sleeping in the tent by the river during the night they hadn't found his body she was troubled and asked God to give her something.  She fell asleep and dreamed that just as Alex jumped into the water his spirit burst forth into the atmosphere and was dancing and playing among the tops of the trees with golden streams following him.  He was very happy.
     Gwen, Alex's 17 year old sister had been dreaming about death a lot this summer.  A few weeks ago when she and Alex were sitting my the river she talked to him about it.  He told her that if he had a choice of how to die he would prefer drowning.  There are many other blessings and stories that have comforted us all in our sadness.
     After the wake we drove to the cabin where I was staying with my Aunt Lynn and I was trying to help her walk up the stairs.  She misstepped and started to fall down.  We were holding hands and when we tightened our grip she pulled me over and I landed on my left sacroiliac joint.  I was able to stand up but eventually found out I fractured my sacrum.  I spent Saturday night in the hospital and Marty Roers came by to see me!  I am now staying in my mother's cabin and using a walker.  I have a lot of muscle spasms when I try to move about but I'm able to get to the bathroom and walk slowly.  Unfortunately, I missed the funeral but they made a video. Mary Oldham stopped by on Monday morning and she was a breath of fresh air...as always.   My brother Paul and his family are coming on Aug 2nd so we can all watch the funeral together then.
     This is an unexpected turn of events once again but I'm sure we will see the blessing in it too.  For now Mom and I are just enjoying being together and supporting the family as best we can.  Carol came down for supper last night and we had a good heart to heart talk.  Once again, I and all of our family are very grateful for you concern, support, love and prayers.  We send out love too...susan