HAPPY FAT TUESDAY

        Happy Fat Tuesday y’all. I’ve been in Nairobi a little over a week now and with some luck I’ll be departing tomorrow (Ash Wednesday) for Tanazania. This special day is probably not the best day to travel but my options are a little limited. I’ve really been enjoying my time here visiting the priests that reside here and old friends who, like me, are just passing through. I’ve also really enjoyed the daily 7 am Masses at the chapel where the priests reside, next door to my accommodations here in the Maryknoll compound. There are usually 3 or 4 priests, a brother, a seminarian and a couple lay missioners in attendance, so it is packed. The homilies are short but great and we are done by 7:30 am and ready for breakfast. What a great way to start the day.

      They tell me it has been unusually dry lately and the rainy season does not start until April. It has also been very warm (85F) as is typical this time of year. Actually I don’t notice the heat so much since it is so dry due to the high elevation of Nairobi (6,000 ft). Also it is nice and cool at night (65F), like Kowak, my village. Anyway we got a nice shower Sunday and Monday (yesterday) and a pretty heavy rain last night, so things have really cooled off and it has been very pleasant. We even had a roaring fire in the fireplace the last two nights which we all really enjoyed, especially the two children here this week.

      Anita and Curt Klueg arrived by train from Mombasa late Friday evening (1 am) with the kids after a 30 hour trip; 9 hours of delays. They are finishing their second three year contract here in May. Both girls were born in Mombasa and are now 8 and 9 yrs old. They are cute as they can be. The family came to renew the US passport for the oldest, Rehema. Bethany will get hers renewed next year.  We all attended the wedding and reception of our young Maryknoll bookkeeper , Francis and his bride Winnie, at the Kenyatta Univ chapel on Saturday. The newest lay missioner for Kenya (Teresa) also attended. She is about 26 yr, old and came with the Kluegs as she is attending language school in Mombasa. 

         Teresa and the newly ordained Fr Lam from Tanzania and Margaret from Kitale are all attending a 3 day course at the Tangaza University given by Maryknoll and Fr Mike Kerwin’s instructors on mission integration. If I had known my departure was going to be delayed I probably would have attend it myself. I was fortunate to attend two 3 hour classes there last week at this Catholic university. The morning session was for 30 seminarians on Small Christian Communities for youth (YSCC); youth meaning between ages 14 and 28 years of age. It was given by Fr Joe Healy who teaches there every Thursday. The afternoon session was about Peace and Justice in Africa.

      Most parishes in East Africa have from 20 to 60 SCC that meet and pray together weekly. Each SCC is limited to about 20 members. The YSCC are becoming very popular but it is hard to limit them to 20 members. These are for the unmarried youth of each parish, so when they become married they are required to join the older members in the SCC. They may start forming SCC for young married adults.  The SCC concept is really the heart of most parishes in East Africa because the members get to know each other so well and care for each other as the need arises. It seems like this is something we could really use in the US churches. There are already 160,000 SCC in East Africa; see smallchristiancommunities.org.

     I also got to see my friends Russ Brine and Cindy Korb for a few days. Cindy was heading back to Kitale after 2 weeks of physical therapy for back pains. She and her husband are from near Kansas City and teach in Catholic schools in Kitale. They will return home at the end of the year after two 3 year contracts.  They have a very good blog called “kenyaforus.blogspot.com”.

       Russ is also in Kitale and has been there 15 yrs. He was on his way to Cambodia to investigate a new mission site as his 5^th contract ends in the Spring of 2016. I hope to go visit both of them and the rest of that crew in Kitale this summer, time permitting. I plan to keep busy in Kowak with two new websites and a new blog for the hospital called “kowakhospital.blogspot.com”. My goal is a blog update every two weeks.

        My old MKLM lay missioner classmate, Tara McKinney, was also here for a few days on business for Cross International. It was great to see her again and meet her co-worker David from Florida. Tara is now living in Mozambique, so that was a real pleasant surprise.

      

NAIROBI ARRIVAL AS PLANNED

     It’s Tuesday morning in Nairobi. I arrived late last night as scheduled and got an amazingly good sleep at the Maryknoll house here. That is not a sure thing depending on how much rest I get on the planes getting here. Actually I did sleep pretty well on all three legs: to and from Dallas and from London. I read a little and watched a couple movies so it was a relatively smooth trip despite the lack of internet in the airports, until I was about to leave London (Heathow). That was a little frustrating, but I finally tried resetting my iPod settings and that finally worked. As usual I left my mobile phone at home with my sister, since I have no use for it here. I have a mobile phone here in Nairobi and hope to reactivate that number for Kenya and another for Tanzania. After 7 months of no use I’m sure both sim cards have been deactivated. 

       I got very sad news this morning via email from my sister. My twin brother had a doctor’s appointment Monday and it seems his health is failing much faster than anticipated. So I will stay here in Nairobi for at least a week, until I decide what to do. I have a meeting tomorrow with a website engineer that I have been working with online for the new Kowak Hospital website and potentially the Girl’s Secondary School site. Fortunately there will be a lot of lay missioners coming thru here in the next few days that I am anxious to see. In fact I just had breakfast with two of them this morning; Tara with Cross International (formerly a Maryknoll Lay Missioner) and Cindy Korb from Tonganoxie.

        Tara and her manager, Dave, from FL are here on business for a few days and Cindy has been here about two weeks for physical therapy for her back. He husband John is teaching in Kitale, where they live as lay missioners. Brother Frank Tenhoppen is also here from NY. He has been home for health reason for over a year. We are expecting Russ Brine from Kitale to arrive this week-end on his way to Cambodia. He has been a lay missioner here over 12 yrs and is thinking of changing countries. It will be great to see him again. Also the young couple living in Mombasa are coming in with their two children and it has been many years since I’ve seen them. 

MY LAST DAYS IN KANSAS...for a few months

MY LAST DAYS IN KANSAS,,,for a few months!

     Well, I think I’m finally headed back to my Tanzania mission after an extended stay and a beautiful Summer and an amazing Fall (can you believe World Series at home) in Kansas City. I did spend 3 weeks in East Africa last June, but only one week in the village, as I had hospital business to work on in Nairobi upon my arrival. After a few months at home with my ailing twin brother I had prepared to return in early December, but God had other plans. I ended up in the hospital in Houston on Thanksgiving Day to treat a serious bladder infection, which required follow-up in a Kansas City hospital for a few days. That was followed with prostate surgery, which was followed with another extended hospital stay on Christmas Day with a bleeding prostrate.

      So now that things seem to be stable with me, my brother started having problems with internal bleeding. When it rains it pours.  He just got home yesterday after an 8 day stay in the hospital but is still very weak. In January I spent one week-end with my son Adam and his family in Louisville, KY and another in Atlanta with Kyle and his family. It was great to spend some time with all of them; especially the three grandchildren. It may be 9 months before I return so I’m sure they will all change a lot in that short time.

     Last November I made two slide presentations of pictures of Kowak village and hospital and other travels around Tanzania. The first was to a senior citizens apartment complex near me and the other was to a few classes of primary school students at a local Catholic parish after a Sunday mass. Both were enthusiastic and very interested in helping the Kowak Hospital in any way they could. The Sante Fe Towers seniors contacted me later and were able to collect $95 for mosquito nets and several dozen rosaries. Then the kids at Queen of the Holy Rosary informed me of a bake sale they organized. They generated an unbelievable $700 for mosquito nets. The sisters at Kowak Hospital will be thrilled.

      I recently received an email from the Kowak pastor and hospital manager, Fr Conard, requesting my help. This facility has been expanding quickly over that last 8 years since I arrived. They now have 174 beds, but only 4 PA’s and one doctor. Fr Conard said they are in dire need of a second doctor and ask for ideas on how we could find a source of income to support the salary of this second doctor and continue that support if and when something requires his absence or move from the mission. He has been there 38 years and is now 85, so his days are limited despite his amazing energy and current good health.

     I mentioned this challenge to a few friends from my contemplative group one evening and they suggested I make a slide presentation to the entire prayer group and ask them for support or suggestions. Our group leader was very receptive to this idea, despite his planned agenda for the group that day, if I could make it brief.  I did that presentation this week and was amazed at the extremely generous reception and hopeful ideas that would allow us to proceed with hiring a new doctor.  It is really overwhelming. What a wonderful month this has been. Of course, I am anxious to return to the mission but will miss my prayer group dearly.