Saying "Goodbye" In Guyanese

Well, then it came. That time loomed on the horizon, and what better way to begin the painful process of separation than to go on a trip with all your coworkers!?

So that's what we did. Most of my department at the hospital came together and we went on a weekend trip up the Pomeroon river. It was a delightful weekend retreat that brought us all closer together. We discovered that we had some fiercely competitive Taboo and Pictionary players among us, and also got the chance to swim, see the Amerindian Reservation at Kabakaburi and Meg and I whipped up an All-American breakfast for everyone, complete with mini-omelettes and homefries!

There were touching goodbye presentations and words from everyone, and it was in that moment that I finally began to feel that I could let go of my struggle with the need to feel that I was accomplishing something. These folks convinced me that I had, in fact, done just that. Maybe not in any measureable way, like grant proposals accepted, reports written, or research papers submitted, as I had anticipated, but more in who I had been to them and to the patients we serve, and what that had meant to everyone. Sister Sheila Walsh, the CEO of SJMH, echoed that in her goodbye, "It may not be that you've done a lot, but you've been a lot, and that's special".

There have certainly been some more concrete accomplishments as well. I have been the programme manager for grant monies supporting five complementary care programmes offering holistic care for the poorest and most vulnerable patients in our patient population for the past two years; I have assisted in the analysis and compilation of a research study on nursing retention at SJMH; I assisted in research which aided in the development of the programme "New Light, New Sight" which offers collaboration with opthalmologists and optometrists from Canada who will come to several small villages in the interior to offer cataract and pterygium surgeries (poor vision and blindness is a particular problem among the Amerindian people, who have very limited access to surgical resources, or even primary health care); I've encouraged 10 boys to put their faces in the water and not to be afraid of the deep end in my Saturday morning ministry; I've shared my love of theatre and performing with two classes of trainees, who have improved their public speaking and confidence in addressing others as a result; and I have been present to many changes within MVC, and have shown hospitality and welcomed several visiting college and Mercy-related volunteer groups to Guyana and to our home during their stay.

That's all well and good, but it's the relationships that have been the important thing about this time, this Rare Privilege. And those have been hard to bring to a close. So what the Guyanese tell me, those wise people who have had to say goodbye to many family members and friends leaving for abroad, is not to say "goodbye", which is so final and closing; but to instead use the creole expression, "laytah!", which better expresses our hopes of running into each other again someday in the not-too-distant future. It binds us together in anticipation and plants a seed, which will blossom again when my feet touch Guyanese soil.

And maybe the hardest goodbye of all is to my dear fellow volunteer, roomie, sister from another Mister, and best bud, Meg Ups. She is a light in my life, and I don't know what my mornings will be like without her. I'll miss all our little routines and jokes, I'll miss our heart-to-hearts, spirituality nights, and maybe even our business meetings - yes, even community business can be spiced up with Meggie around. I hope you get your name on that minibus, MAGGIE - in HOT PINK. Much love and gratitude to you.

And, of course, this experience would not have been possible without the support, guidance, cooperation, and inspiring example set by the Sisters of Mercy in Guyana. This group of women has truly shown me the meaning of dedication to God in service of His chosen ones, and has encouraged me with the realization that it doesn't have to be a hard, dull, sapping task, as I initially had some fear it would be. There could also be wonderful, touching, greace-filled, light-hearted moments, and those were really the gems I treasure. So thank you for your guidance and support, and thank you to the Sisters, Associates and Volunteers internationally who kept me, our community and our ministries in your prayers. God bless each of you specially, as you have asked Him to bless us.

GRADUATION TIME!!

The end of the school year is a very busy time at Mercy Wings, and it's all topped off with the graduation of the trainees. This is a picture of the Director of the Centre (front, centre, in light blue) and some of the staff seated around her, and the graduating trainees standing behind.

These trainees are trained in General Construction, Catering and Home Management, and Child Care and Care of the Elderly. Each graduating trainee has completed the course and has passed his/her practical exams. In addition, they prepare to showcase their talents from their arts and crafts classes, which include tye-dying, fabric painting, drumming, dancing, and (my personal favourite) DRAMA!

This year 10 trainees presented a skit about their hopes and dreams for graduation. We worked together to write the skit. We talked about the kinds of jobs they would like to have and the kinds of lifestyles they would like to live 10 years into the future. We also talked about their fears or what they anticipated would be difficult about being in that particular job or position. We discussed the values people would have to have to do that kind of work, and the advice a person in the student's chosen profession might give an aspiring nurse, artist, architect, or DJ. Then we incorporated their responses into scenes of students discussing their dreams on one side of the stage, and a scene about each student's future (10 years later) on the other. At the end of the skit one of the trainees explained to the audience things that the trainees wanted their teachers, parents, and any potential employers present to know about them: for example, that they are hardworking, trustworthy individuals who are learning and growing every day. It was a very powerful skit, and although the students were EXTREMELY nervous, they did a wonderful job with it. I was very proud of them.

And then it was on to the PROM! The biggest dance of the Mercy Wings' school year was fairly well-attended and was catered by Mr. Kirkpatrick, who, I overheard, had celebrated his 70th birthday just the day before! As you can see by this picture of the guys when it ended, everyone had a great time. What a great way to end the year! Thanks for the memories, everyone! I'll miss you, trainees, teachers and administrators alike!

FIELD TRIP (Part 2)

"When you get a wound, it leaves a scar."

- Male Prison Inmate of the New Amsterdam Prison, speaking figuratively about wounds of the spirit

On the 18th of July, the students of the Mercy Wings Vocational Centre headed out once again for their yearly field trip to the New Amsterdam Prison. This is a mandatory annual field trip designed to allow the trainees to meet prisoners, hear their personal stories, and learn about the consequences of delinquent behaviour. The idea is that such exposure will make them think twice about pursuing a life of crime or delinquency after graduation from the training centre.

We had the opportunity to meet and ask questions of the Seargent of the compound, one of the Matrons of the Women's prison (the compound is separated into a male and a female division), and five inmates: two men and three women. One of the women was a gospel singer. One was a member of the Prison drama group. One of the men was a poet and recited one of his poems from memory. All of the prisoners stressed that prison was no place to live, and that message came through in their testimonies. However, one convicted thief and former drug user admitted that he felt safer and more sure of survival in prison than "outside", and was a repeat offender. "I wan' an arrest," he said. "de outside world too hard; deh I might die."

More than one prisoner told us that they were innocent of their crimes, but that the case had not come to trial in three, five, seven years, and they were being held until their cases could be tried. One was convicted of murder in self defense. The students, having seen popular movies about life in jail, focused many of their questions on the stereotypes and typical situations that those movies seem to portray. The inmates fielded these questions and brought a level of reality to those fictionalized representations. The students also learned about the importance of rules and obedience within the compound: if they are broken, the inmate can be placed on PD1 (Punishment Diet Number 1), consisting of bread and water served twice a day. There was a Punishment Diet Number 2 in the past, but resources provided by the government have grown too scant for that.

The trainees were also taken on a tour of the facility and got to meet many of the inmates in the womens' section, who were mostly all congregated for a church service offered by two Missionaries of Charity once a week. Many of them freely offered their stories and were glad for a visit and a new person to chat with. We saw the foam mats where they slept, set up dormitory-style. Some rooms contained 6-10 mats, others nearly 30. Each mat had sheets and towels on it, neatly arranged, and often had an open Bible on top.

We also saw the carpentry center, bakery and dining hall on the men's side, but did not go into any of their cells, as there were security problems and the cells are quite overcrowded. All in all, the trainees seemed receptive to the messages presented to them. But for many, I think the highlight of the trip was the opportunity to travel so far across Guyana (which they might not be able to afford otherwise) and enjoy a ferry ride across the Berbice River!

Sunday in the Park ....

This is kind of what I thought Guyana (and the Caribbean) would be like before arriving: that we would spend every Sunday afternoon listening to free steel pan concerts in the Botanical Gardens. Well, that dream finally came true one afternoon. A bunch of our friends went to enjoy some of the simple and free pleasures of life, like frisbee in the park, feeding the manatees, learning to dance from the children who were around, and playing catch and having running races with the hyperactive children. It was absolutely lovely, and left us sunburned, exhausted, and thoroughly contented ;o)

SUPPORT YOUR MOTHER!

Meg and I were invited to participate in the Environmental Protection Agency's ECOWALK one sleepy Saturday morning. The walk started around 6:30 am to make sure we could cover the route before the sun got too hot.

The walk started downtown at the Parliament building next to the bus park and ended a few miles away in the Botanical Gardens, where there were addresses by a member of the Ministry, a professor at the University of Guyana and others. The theme was "Climate Changes" and the walk was put on in order to sensitize people to the way climate change is ocurring and is affecting our planet. These changes are particularly noticeable in Guyana, where the biodiversity is affected measureably by these subtle changes.

Curry-Q!





It's not a Bar-B-Q, folks, it's a curry-Q, which means MANY different kinds of curries need to be prepared to be sold at this fund raising event.
The Mercy Wings trainees offered their food preparation and cooking skills to help a local church with this fundraiser, and to perfect their catering skills at the same time! But how do you prepare such a HUGE quantity of curries all at once? - have a cooking OVERNIGHT!

Here's a sneak peak of that catering overnight that Meg and I chaperoned at the Mercy Wings Vocational Centre in Sophia. We slept out there overnight on Friday night and the girls started preparing food again first thing (no joke, these are high school-aged children who naturally got up at 6 am and started to cook!).

Sorry my camera didn't feel like opening all the way - it must have been tired, too. The overnight was a bit restless as large beetles and mosquitoes assaulted us relentlessly. But the morning was fun watching cartoons as the girls taught us to batter fish for frying and made channa, potato, chicken and beef curries. What a great job they did! Way to go, girls!

MASHING RIVALS

The floats that pass are all followed by a sea of people all supporting whatever group/company/sponsor they march behind. They all dress in the same costume and march and dance together.

The biggest corporate rivalry underway in Guyana is the introduction of a new cell phone company, Digicell. Their supporters marched in red behind a float called "The Red Storm" to promote Digicell products and services.

Their competitor is Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T for short) who marched under the slogan "Blue Power" with a soca song blaring playing the same message. Here you can see one of the small floats that was pulled by hand behind one of the costumed dancers.

There's a lot of energy on the streets mash day - and it intensifies discussions between rival consumers in the crowd - you should hear people argue about which service is best. And the cell phone is an omnipresent and essential feature in nearly every Guyanese home - even the ones who live in the poorer areas find the money to own a phone, or even two (One from EACH company, purchased in the middle of the promotions and deals!).

One of the prettiest dancers was this young lady, a friend of mine who was volunteering at the Ministry of Health. This talented gal wore a costume that represented a fruit basket in a float about health promotion and proper nutrition. She showed people how to eat healthy through the sun and rain, and still had a smile on her face for me close to the end of the parade route!

More Mash!

Maybe I've just never been close to the base of a stilt-walker before, but this guy seemed unbelievably high! And if you could see how they danced, not just walked and kicked, but DANCED on those stilts - really amazing!

Time for some retroactive posting!

Meg, Gavin, Carl and I got dressed up in our own interpretations of Mash costumes, mostly composed of glitter on our skin and homemade celebratory t-shirts. We took to the streets in the sun and the pouring rain, and even made it into a Mash documentary (cameo, of course!).

This was my latest contribution to a MVC internal publication, but I wanted to share it with a slightly wider audience here. I wrote it in April. That was a month ago, I know. Things are moving really fast for me as my time is winding down. I'm trying to keep up!

The new year has been full of holidays. Some are familiar, like New Year's Day and Easter. Others still roll off the tongue with a little hesitation, like Old Year's Night and Eid-El-Ur in January, Mashramani in February, Phagwah in March and You-Man-Nabi in April. Guyana is committed to celegrating holidays from each of the three major religions: Christianity, Hinduism and Islam (no official Rastafarian holidays - YET). The country also incorporates other holidays that celebrate Guyanese heritage like Independence Day, CARICOM Day (CARICOM is the Caribbean Community and Common Market which coordinates trade of goods and services within the Caribbean since the 1970s) and Mash. Even though it probably sounds like we're just on one long vacation, rubbing tanning oil on our bronzed skin, sipping coconut water and relaxing in hammocks every holiday, the reality is that holidays give us a chance to catch up on our laundry. You may recall that we wash our clothes by hand in the shower and have to wait for a sunny day to hang them up to dry. Yeah. Not nearly as exotic, sorry.
The last few weeks have been a bit of a struggle for me as a few of the clients that I know well and have served at the hospital throught the HIV/AIDS programme have passed away. I'm thankful that they are at peace, but was (still am) deeply moved by their suffering. In fact, the greatest hope I could find was to consider their cases in the light of the stations of the cross two weeks back. That meditation really allowed me to acknowledge both the suffering and the hope for thier situations and challenged me to place myself in their last days as Simon the Cyrene, Veronica, or Mary. Ultimately, there was a sense of strength and peace to the transitions that they helped me experience, and I am grateful for learning how to journey with someone as their time in this life somes to an end. It is blessed.
On a lighter note, I have been singing non-stop recently as Easter celebrations invited our parish choir to sing at the cathedral. The ad-hoc children's choir that I'm somehow still directing sang the meditation for a Palm Sunday mass attended by the chairman/CEO of the ICC Cricket World Cup! What an opportunity! Meg and I also sang in a little park downtown with a praise and worship group composed of folks we made a retreat with last February. That little show ROCKED!
Well, I just want to close off by wishing all of you a fantastic, memorable Eastertime (even though it will long-since have passed by the time you read this!).

More to come soon - and pictures!

MOTHER'S DAY UPDATE!

Congratulations and best wishes to all the moms out there, today. Much love to you. Okay, now I know I've really been listening to too much Guyanese morning show radio.

The mum I love the most can be seen here. She is the little teapot in my jungle. She is my big bamboo; my graceful flowering vine; my accordion-toting butterfly. I love her very much and miss her even more.

It is her day, and it is also my sister's day, as she graduated from her business master's program yesterday. YAY for Gen! She's got way more credentials than her big sis, now! Oh, rats. Seriously, though, she did so well in the program and she's got great sense - I'm so excited to see where my city-slicker-sister goes next! You can see her in the other pic, pondering some master's-thesis-worthy schemata, no doubt.

Things have been EXTREMELY busy since Easter, when I last posted. I've been involved in some new extracurricular activities (singing, cooking more and visiting newborn babies!) and the trade-off is frequently my internet time. Of course, it didn't help that the server for the entire country was disrupted for about a week the other day. Imagine that.

I am busy, but energized. I am really excited to be participating in a course offered by the hospital in partnership with a Peace Corps volunteer. The course is designed to teach massage therapy techniques and considerations for clients with cancer or HIV/AIDS. I'm fascinated by the human body, and have seen the affects of too little caring touch in my clients every day, so this is really a wonderful opportunity for me, and I imagine it will be a wonderful opportunity for some of our clients as well, should I get the chance to work with any of them. The class is done in a very professional way, and so far we're only as far as understanding how cancer and HIV affect the body and are affected by its various systems. Next will come understanding of massage techniques, then the connection between the two. And finally, we'll have the opportunity to practice on each other. We'll see how it unfolds! It may be too early to tell, but I'm pretty sure that this is more than an intriguing course ... more like the introduction to my life after MVC. But more on that around August ...

My father and littlest sister are coming for a quick visit soon, so please keep their safe travels in your prayers. There's also our international transition retreat coming up at the end of May. Please say a little prayer for Meg and I as we go over the river to pray and for Gavin's swift recovery (he's at home in Ireland now, after suffering with some post-concussion headaches for the past few months). We're hoping he gets right as rain and back to Guyana as soon as he's able. He is greatly missed.

Again, a happy Mother's Day to one and all - but especially those patient, loving, wonderful mothers!

You are looking at my friends, Yvonne, Joel, and Tiffany. You are not looking at their 4th tem member Hao. Together the four of them are an UNBEATABLE COOKING MACHINE, as their Guyana Iron Chef trophy attests. And Meg and I actually got a chance to study under chef Joel and to learn to prepare the tastiest Thai-peanut sauce in this world. It's our new favourite.

Meg and Gav with their usual tough-guy faces on while we're out to dinner one night - how great is is to have this goofy twosome with me!

After a lovely Spaghetti dinner and unbelievable fruit smoothies with St. Joseph's College students of Nursing and Social Work who attached themselves to Mercy ministries back in February - I know their interest and teaching contributions are remembered fondly at the Hospital!

After the house was finally cleaned, it was on to another adventure! My family came for a visit on Boxing Day. My mother, father and two sisters were all supposed to come, but my youngest sister got really sick on the plane ride down, and she and my dad had to turn back. I was sad not to see them, but they know my thoughts are with them, and that we will see each other again soon enough. (She was much recovered when we talked to her on the phone three days later - probably just a really bad virus.)

My mother and Genna and I sang for the several Mercy convents in Georgetown, and for the boys at the orphanage. It was a little tricky, since I hadn't had much time to practice the music, but I think we managed quite well. That was very special to be able to share the gifts of music and Christmas songs with my friends and host community.

It was just wonderful and rejuvenating having them here and remembering what special people I am blessed to have in my family. Truly a great way to start off the new year.

I also want to share this reflection with you. In the midst of another culture (other cultures, really) I often pause at the opportunity to see things in my narrow life from other perspectives. That can really be such an important gift. I just wanted to celebrate that with you though this poem by Monica Furlong.

My Neighbour

I am glad you made my neighbour different from me;

a different coloured skin,

a different shaped face;

a different response to you.

I need my neighbour

to teach me about you:

she knows all the things I don't know.

Happy New Year, everyone - and may we all look for opportunities to learn from others in this new year!

Yep, it felt a little bit like family this Christmas.

FINALLY asleep in the Christmas Fort ... maybe around 10:30, but by 6 the next morning I heard Jamaul by my bedside saying,

"Miss ... Miss ... Miss Kate ..."

"Hrrrumph ... yes, Jamaul - what is it, sweetheart?"

"Miss, are you ready to get up now?"

;o) Love these kids.

These little guys have some GREAT tree-trimming abilities - they turned our Charlie Brown little dinky fake tree into a great looking symbol of Christmas cheer ... see this before and after!

And here's a picture of all the boys ...

Here's everyone eating "Pizza Hut" (so good, they didn't even know it was homemade!! - My first try at homemade pizza crust plus Meg's professional pineapple slicing abilities made for one tasty treat!)

A very MERCY Christmas.

In the spirit of sharing our home with those less fortunate, we had a rollicking good time with our friends Stefan, Adis, Jamaul, Juda and Tevin. They are boys from St. John Bosco Boys Orphanage in Plaisance, just 15 minutes up the road. We had a great time eating, playing, eating, cooking, playing, eating, coloring, walking on the seawall, eating, and sleeping a tiny bit, too. See some of my favourite moments.

GREEN CHRISTMAS

Warm greetings, everyone! As you read this, it will probably be a little cooler here in Georgetown, Guyana, as the rainy season starts in earnest in December. But that doesn't diminish the joy and warmth in people's hearts. No matter where in the world I am, I have seen that this is the time of reuniting, gathering with family and friends and sharing what you have with those less fortunate.

Our little three-person Mercy Volunteer community will try to do those things in a few different ways. We will continue to share our time and talents with our ministries. For me, this will include continuing to be a Programme Coordinator for five programmes that our Patient and Family Services Department maintains at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. Each programme serves our HIV+ patients and offers them support in different ways. We provide nutritional assistance in the form of education and food vouchers to improve nutrition for families who may not eat every day. We help children get the books and supplies they need to go to school, since schoolbooks are not supplied by the school, but must be bought each year by the parents (this is the public school system). I coordinate specialist consultations for patients with conditions and infections that, if untreated, could be a fatal strain on their already weakened immune systems. I also coordinate dental consultations for the same reasons. And lastly, I monitor antenatal care services for HIV+ mothers who are part of a programme of antenatal care and treatment at delivery which decreases the risk of transmission of HIV from mother to child at the time of delivery. All of these are services which the patients could not otherwise afford. Managing these programmes for the many clients who need them has been a very rewarding ministry, and it's always great to know that people are really getting the care they need and cannot afford because of the thoughtful vision and sharing of others.

Another part of my ministry is taking about 12 boys from the St. John Bosco Boys Orphanage swimming every Saturday morning, and barring the pouring rainstorms that often fall in the mornings, we should continue to improve our strokes and dives this month! Our community will also share our home this Christmas time with several of these boys. Last year we hosted three little guys and had a ball playing, singing, baking cookies and going for walks on the seawall and in the park. I particularly loved sharing our favourite Christmas carols and telling them "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" on Christmas Eve. Two of them were asleep before I finished. It's so nice to give them a different place to stay, and it's lots of fun to have them around!

We will gather for several Christmas parties. Nearly every interest group has a Christmas party, so for choir, for the ministries and for friends, we will have many lovely places to gather. I sing and play percussion (tambourine and maraca) with the choir at my parish, and we will be singing a lot this month with masses and special seasonal concerts. I've also been forming a children's choir in our parish for the last few months, and they should have some delightful numbers to sing for the Christmas concert - complete with choreography!

We'll also enjoy a Christmas luncheon with the Sisters and friends of the Sisters at Meadowbrook Convent, our "family" here in Guyana. They bless us so richly with their love and care at this time of year when it can be so difficult to be far away from our real families.

As if that weren't enough, I am blessed to be able to welcome my real family for a visit just after Christmas this year. We have been practicing songs to sing for whoever will listen - something we always do when we get together. My sisters and I grew up singing together, and my parents accompany us on guitar and accordion! It should be lots of fun, and a wonderful gift to be all together again after such a long time.

So, as you can see, the months ahead will be busy, busy, busy, and full of the love and blessings that sustain us here as we grow deeper in our host culture, our community life our ministries and our spirituality. May your advent season glow with the light of the many blessings in your life. If you're in a good place for it, enjoy the patterns of frost, snow on your tongue, hot cider, and (my favourite) swiss miss cocoa packets with the marshmallows included for me :o)

"Please for a chocolate cone, Miss!" Helping my friend Petal count her chits for an ice cream cone at the Mercy Hospital Christmas Fair, an annual fundraising event.

Doing research ... with a smile! Helping Reverend John (background) and Andrew with their nursing school student retention study after work. Never never thought I would be so geeked to do qualitative research again.

Checkin' in with my boys at the Plaisance Church Fair (BIG day out!). Meg, Gavin and I all chaperoned small groups of boys and helped them count their money if they needed it. A fun time.

BACK TO THE DARK AGES

Yes, that's Kate and Gavin making scary ghost story faces in the dark during our most recent blackout.

It's been a while since we had them, since well before elections at least. But now they're back again, bringing their candelit ambience to at least 5 nights in the past 3 weeks. They can last anywhere from a half hour to three or four hours and normally affect a whole section of the city at a time. Little known fact: cooking roti and tacos by candlelight is actually quite enjoyable business!

So what on earth does one do when one gets home from work and there is no electricity ... again? Well, we're proponents of the following:

Making up scary ghost stories about the rasta man's ghost who wanders the old railroad road selling sugarcane (see photo of Kate and Gavin above).

Modeling in the dark (like Meg, there). An exceptionally brave gentleman told her in the fruit and vegetable market the other morning that her smile could stop a rainstorm in Guyana (meaning it was so bright and lovely). Wow, Meg!


A twist on the category above: modeling with Guyanese tacos in the dark (Guyanese because the taco meat and homemade salsa - with HOT peppers - are wrapped in roti instead of soft taco - ssssssh! don't tell ANY Indo-guyanese that we've mutated their treasured recipes!).




Experimenting: see if the world looks different through the hole in the heel of a sock in the dark. Answer is not really. You see how simple living and hand washing are affecting me?! ;o)


And .... finally ... there's praying the rosary together. Not the whole rosary, mind you, but we have committed to saying a decade each night on the weeknights, focusing on special intentions as we pray. This is different for me, since I've never been keen on rote prayer, and haven't had too much exposure to praying the rosary. But I'm finding that the chance to pray together is so satisfying that it trumps my discomfort and unfamiliarity with the format. So here's to turning over new leaves this fall ... in the dark!