Christmas 2010

A Christmas Camel

This Christmas was different than any other. It's quite warm this time of year in Mombasa. Even with the coconut tree swaying outside the kitchen, Christmas seemed a bit more real as we made cookies and prepared plates of treats for friends and neighbors. The spirit of the holiday was present as I entered the Cathedral grounds for the midnight Mass, with music playing, lights strung high above and people visiting outside the church before the celebration. The impressions I will remember from this celebration include: mothers dancing, the choir singing, the drumbeats resonating, the metalic decorations swaying with the electric fans, irridescent sequins sparkling on the fabric draped throughout the church, and a light shining through a paper star when the baby Jesus was put in the manager.

Although most of the celebration was in Swahili, one message I understood. God came to us in a simple place to be with us wherever we are. The bishop spoke of how dirty a place the manger would be. I realized I had sanitized the manger in my mind, so that lowly and humble seemed pure and clean – not messy and complicated like our lives tend to be. I heard how God came to be among us, even in the slums of Mombasa, in the dirt and dust of animals and spaces too small for the inhabitants. It has been a blessing to be here. Not always easy or straight-forward, but a blessing.

Photo Memories from December:

The month started with World AIDS Day - and my first trip to Taveta, inland & near the Tanzania Border. The bus trip had a few adventures ... including the resourcefulness of the driver, cutting a rope with two rocks to tie an exhaust pipe together to get us on the road again!

Photo op during the bus break-down. My roommate Susan is the one in the middle.

Chasing the bus after the driver got it running again
Julius & Kevin pushing us ahead ... just kidding. Totally posed.
Back on the road again
Other road warriors are donkeys. I was impressed this guy seemed to know where he was going by himself. He also reminded me of the Christmas story as I don't see too many donkeys in Mombasa town.
A common Kenyan sight - the unique baobob tree that has a huge hollow trunk.
Upon our arrival at the festival (a few hours late), we heard various performances about preventing the spread of HIV. This group had impressive harmony.
This little girl came up to me to chat while we were listening, then took my hand and followed us as we walked around town. I think she wanted to go home with us, but she would be missed. Many people in town greeted her on our walk.
Interesting sights on the way back home ...
December also brought a workshop for the AIDS Orphans I serve. We had a favorite dish for lunch - pilau.
One of our team-building & problem solving activities during the workshop

December brought another gift - of a rooster for Susan. Unlike my rooster Zanzibar, who I kept as a pet in Uganda, this one found his way into a feast for Susan's birthday.I love birthdays! I had an adventure making angel food cupcakes from scratch. Next time I'll know so much more, it won't take 4 hours...
I spent Christmas eve with my colleagues from the Community Based Health Care center, which serves people affected with HIV/AIDS. We had to figure out how to get across a crocodile & shark infested river with 4 crates. My team all got eaten. This was the beach where I saw the Christmas camel. He's there almost every day for tourists to ride, but it being Christmas and all ....
You can see who didn't get the memo about which shirt to wear....
Our Christmas tree
We had a feast with three great guys from Ireland, part of the Kiltegans.
Lucy, who cooked for us, & I were the only ones who wore our Christmas crowns!

Wishing you an incredible new year!
Mary

Oh the places you'll go, the stories you'll hear

Tonight I was reminded of a Dr Seuss book about "the places you'll go". I have been spending a lot of time with the AIDS orphans this month. It's been busy, but good. I am trying to get to know them better and learn about their aspirations - their hopes and dreams for the future. Part of this effort was a Career Day that we held with the Marianist Development Project, which offers vocational courses to young people at a reasonable price.

Today was my last "office day" before Christmas. The next two days I'll be paying school fees and buying books and school supplies. I spent the day visiting with a number of the children and guardians and even a few new people looking for last minute assistance before the new school year starts on January 3rd. So the book I would write from today would be called "Oh the stories you'll hear ... "

The missioner who led this project before me told me that it is a ministry of listening. Sometimes all I can offer is an encouraging word and prayers for a way forward for them.
Some of today's stories:

• A mother of four now caring for three more of her siblings children, one just 3 yrs old and HIV+
• Parents who died not just of AIDS, but of poverty since they couldn't buy enough food or make it to the clinic.
• A young man who watched his sister die last week.
• Another boy who is struggling to pay his way through high school and worried about his mother who traveled three weeks ago to get his birth certificate from their home area and hasn't yet come home
• A girl who loves biology but isn't doing well and was having a hard time putting words around her struggles.
• Another boy who, since his mother's death, stays with a elderly step-father who is partially paralyzed and spends his days begging by the side of the road.
• A boy who has to transfer to another high school due to lack of funds for boarding school and says that he doesn't mind since he'll reduce the financial burden on his sister.
• Another who has great passion for cooking and wants to be a caterer so badly - but if he's missed the deadline to start a course this year, will take any other course so he can find work.
• A student whose dream it is to be a television broadcaster with grades that could take him far.
• A young girl who's top of her class in a competitive high school and dreams of being a lawyer.

The days have been hectic and the stories many. I have to leave these young people in the hands of others and in my prayers. This season is a time of many memories of the stories of my own life and the story of a baby born so long along who changed the world. It is a time of hope - hope in a love so much bigger than us which has, can and will continue to change us, to draw us deeper in love. May this love change your world this Christmas.

Career Day - Dec 9th

Dreaming and drawing about our future ... to be an artist, a tour leader, a pilot


I'm pondering how we can start a successful local greeting card business while Neema is planning to become an international doctor.

John from the Marianist Development Project shows the students who've just finished 8th grade some of the Metalwork equipment.

We brainstormed a bit about careers.

Hoping for a bright future ...

One of our success stories - top in her class in two subjects

Some of our guardians literally making a joyful noise (singing in Swahili) at our guardians' meeting last week.

The time of advent is coming to a close. Here represented by four candles - four weeks of anticipation for Christmas. For us it is a reminder of our interconnectedness, with evergreen from our Muslim neighbors and a native tray woven in Kenya and given by dear friends.

Hoping this is a sacred time for you and your loved ones!
Mary