Whamning Squaddy?

Thanks for the Assistance and Friendship

Dennis is in the air as I write, heading north and homeward to Greenfield, Massachusetts.   He did get to say goodbye -several times.  Here is his "speech" at the end of our last Problem Based Learning Day.

[I hope you like the video as it took me hours trying to post it.]

It was strange in many ways having Dennis here and not simply because he is strange .....    I don't want to say too much about his time here because he promised to be the Guest Editor for the next blog on November 16th, but .....  you can learn a lot from someone's toothpaste.  Can you imagine trying to live with someone who uses a fortified paper clip to keep his tube looking neat, rather than the free spirit squeezing of a mature male?   Don't miss next week's post!

Divali Festival and Parade

This is the Hindu Festival of Lights - in many ways similar to festivals shared by many cultures/religions around the world.   The festival's main figures are Lakshmi and her brother Ganesha who is portrayed as an elephant  (see pictures of the floats).  Lakshmi is my favourite as she has blessed me with many of her qualities - wealth, prosperity (both material and spiritual), fortune, and the embodiment of beauty.  I may have to offer more prayers for the wealth part.     One of the Bajans (Hymns) sung during the festival is one that could be sung by many other faith groups in the world:

Asato maa Sadgamaya
Tamaso maa Jyotirgamaya
Mrityorma Amritam gamaya
Om Shantih, Shantih, Shanti

Lead me

From untruth to truth

From darkness to light

From death to immortality.

(No, it is not Ganesha.)
The crowds  are huge and the parade goes for miles.

While Guyana is by almost all standards a developing country, it seems to me to be way ahead of the North in its tolerance and acceptance of other faiths.   While I have been here the country has also celebrated the holiday of Eid Mubarak (an Islamic Festival), and the country is already geared up for Christmas...  The religious leaders have been a combined voice for peace for many years.    All are welcome to participate in all the festivals, including flying kites on Easter Monday.

I don't want to get too romantic about all the tolerance and equality of faiths, as most Guyanese of whatever faith do not know much, if anything, about the other's religion... and yet they are friendly and hospitable to all. It's not totally different from North America:  there people don't really know anything of another's faith but they fear them. I guess I like the Guyanese choice better.

More Canadians

 Over the years there have been dedicated lay volunteers from the Scarboro Fathers; it just seems this year that I have had more contact with them [though Sylvia Wilvert was around in 2011].  This year there has been Donna Joy Tai and Beverly Trach.  If you are considering volunteering a year of your time, both Bev and Donna say that the programme is a good one - community and support.

Beverly and Donna having dinner at
The Princess, Taju's Fine Dining Establishment in Durban

Proprietors of The Princess,
my friends: Allison and Taju 

Double Beverley's at St Ann's

Actually, Bev was here in 2011 and working at St. Ann's with the girl's homework almost every afternoon.  (Wow, I get there usually once a week and am tired.)  Before that she was with Scarboro in Brazil, and now one of her main responsibilities is ministering to the Brazilian population here in Georgetown.

Donna is a newish volunteer as she came down in the Spring of 2013 and has signed on for only one year with an option of more.   I first met her when I had scheduled my students to go on the Hospice Ward at Mercy and they told me that there was this "old nun" leading hymns.   Well, the nurses had it partially right: she does come to the hospital (I think twice a week).   And she is a daily volunteer at the Boys' Home in Plaisance, John Bosco.

Dennis explaining to Donna at Bosco,
"I was that small once.

Donna going incognito at Bosco

Donna's main work is running games
 of chance at local Church Fairs.

St Ann's Photo Contest

The first [and maybe last] Father John's Photo Contest has closed  and all the Finalists have been chosen by me.  They are all posted on the walls at St Ann's in the four categories: Girls at Play, Girls at Study, Girls at Work and Action Shots.  I am arranging to have special outside judges -as I do not want to be responsible for the sad faces of the girls who don't win!  The winner in every category will receive an MP3 Player and everyone else will get nothing!   Yes, I have already heard from the girls that it is really unfair .  Some of the more creative Social Justice girls have told me that every one of them should get an MP3 Player even if they didn't enter a photo because didn't I think they were all special?    Nice try; they have brilliant legal careers ahead!  I was going to have a "vote-online" winner as well but I wasn't tricky enough to figure out how to do it!

My Nursing Students

I have made another life-saving change to the PBL schedule and philosophy .....  I have combined several pages into one.   When I counted the days remaining before I leave I found I could either omit a whole problem, compact several pages into one day's work, or delay my return until I properly finished the pages.   Well, the last one would have involved my death, so that was the worst option.  Now with that gone, I chose the lesser of the two evils .....  So instead of only researching two questions, they need to do three questions!  The students seemed to like it as they responded with a huge outcry ..... which I took to be positive.

We also had the annual Rite of Passage to the Georgetown Public Hospital Pathology Department and the autopsies.  Dennis joined us as he wanted to see what had changed since Dennis and I had seen our first autopsy 45 years ago at Boston City Hospital.   I can still remember the man's name on the autopsy table - Jim Bishop.   It must say something since I can't remember any names today.   I'll let Dennis do the reflecting on his experience..  Stay tuned til next week.

Outside huddled together waiting for the experience to begin.