Shots from the Ward with Your Gifts

As I noted in the previous post below, Mercy was so thrilled with everything we were able to contribute that she insisted that we head over to the ward and share some of the things with the mothers and children.

The first photo is of a Masi mother and her child and she was showing me her special copy of the bible in Masi - a very unique language.

The next couple of photos are just some of the children with the balls that were sent over. The first one with the happy face looks like she's intentionally showing the happy face. Many of the children have either traditional Masi names, Christian names such as Judah, Hosea, Samuel, and even one boy I met today was named Blessing (which he obviously was to his mother) or Muslim names if they are Somali such as Mohammed. The girl holding the pink ball with the happy face's name is...Brenda! We laughed when I told her my name. I didn't expect to hear an Irish name on the ward. She was great! The boy below's name is Dennis and as you can see, he has a fairly developed case of hydrocephalus but is in to have shunts put in.

In the last photo, I met this boy and his mother outside the unit and he was wailing away - I'm sure you can see the tear stains on his cheeks. I was unpacking the bag at the time and was able to produce a toy car which seemed to brighten things considerably at that moment. Nial was able to snap that shot.

I hope things are well back in Oakville and everyone remembered to turn the clocks back. As a result, I'm not 8 hours ahead of you here in Kenya. I'm writing this at 11:30pm but it is only 3:30pm back in Canada.

I'm off to Joytown again tomorrow and will be delivering the rest of the contents of the bags I brought over. For Joytown, I am bringing soccer balls, pencils, and reading books for the library which I noted was a big need based on my visit there last Thursday. I look forward to sharing your generosity with them.

Dr. Pinero is the surgeon you met in the spring when he visited us for an assembly at St. Vincent. His mother passed away on the day we arrived here in Kenya and so the funeral was conducted on Saturday. It was such a well attended funeral and was very African from the singing at church to the procession to the grave and the ceremony at the grave site. What was most striking, and what I thought you would be interested in, is how such an occasion is such a community focused event. Everyone in attendance walked by and sprinkled the red earth onto the casket and then most in attendance took turns completing the burial with the earth. The reason for this is that the culture here is very community oriented - everyone helps one another. When one family is grieving, the whole community grieves and no one is left to shoulder burdens alone. The sharing of the roles at the funeral was ceremonial, but a lovely way of paying tribute and doing so as a community. It was a very unique cultural experience which I was privileged to have the opportunity to participate in.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the weekend and looking forward to another week at school. I look forward to Joytown tomorrow and to sharing more with you. I feel like my time is running out here and I have so many more stories and experiences to share - hence my multiple postings each evening. I do look forward to seeing everyone later in the week back home.

I have posted twice again this evening. Please read on below and if you haven't followed over the weekend and are only tuning in on Monday morning at school, please continue reading below. I've got at least 6 new posts since Friday...