How Many Days in a Week?

This Week's Pictures

I still can't get that slide show working 

So click on  This Week's Pictures.

And No, I did not get to St Ann's

And Yes, I feel guilty!

Another Blog?

See, you aren't the only one who says that.   I really thought that I had just finished the last one and what the hell am I going to write about this time.   However, the first task is to remember what the hell happened this week.   Oh yeah, now I am starting to remember.    I do know that I really start to feel the pressure of time once I pass the halfway point... and instead of finding new requests exciting, I find then overwhelming as I know there will be so much already on my plate that I won't get done before I have to leave.   Well, I'll just resort to my favorite Latin expression, "Que Sera, sera."

The National Psychiatric Hospital Field Trip



The buses were loaded just a little late, but early by Guyanese time.   All the students [except for Bailey who is getting married today and she used the excuse she needed the time to get ready and Bamidele who hasn't been seen or heard from for a few days], a couple of tutors, two free-loading Mercy Volunteers [whom I actually invited] and me ..... Almost forgot Rodney, one of our usual minibus drivers.  He has been doing it for so long, he even remembers Dr. Tony and Rev 2, Dennis.

It was an uneventful trip except no one has told the government that if you double the number of cars and don't increase the number of roads ..... you get traffic jams.  Not on the scale of Toronto or New York, but there really is only one road to get to Berbice...

As we turned into the still used street name "Berbice Madhouse"... I realized after almost ten years of going, I have unfortunately gotten used to the conditions but the students were overwhelmed.   They were more adventurous than some years as they were all outside the bus when I returned with the Head Psychiatrist, Dr. Mayda Grajales.  She welcomed everyone and took time from her clinic to lead the group to our first cottage, the Women's Chronic.   As the students entered, somewhat glued together, I imagined a scene from one of those gladiator movies, where the Christian prisoners are all huddled together before being tossed to the lions.

I remind them of my first rule. "You are to spend 15 minutes visiting with just one patient." That is it.   And every year I realize how difficult that is. "The patient doesn't say anything", "she walks was from me", "she makes no sense", "she just stares at me"...  Yes, 15 minutes!

 It is really like herding cats... I need to drag some from the central mass and introduce them one at a time to their person.  " Good morning.   I was hoping you could spend some time teaching one of my best nursing students [with only two dozen students they are all one of the best].    I get then all matched up and then look around and the middle huddle had reconstituted itself and prepared the above excuses ..... and back I shove them.   And to prove my scriptural depth, I think Jesus said, "Can't you watch one hour with me?"    I think he was expecting too much; I had trouble with 15 minutes.

Time is such a strange thing... on one side 15 minutes was very long and stressful for the students and from the other side it is about 1.04166667% of that person's day.  And I doubt if even my sister, Maggie, could figure this one out - some of those women have been there for 30 years... And, yet to some, 15 minutes was an eternity.     Those women know what an eternity is.

                      






So much for philosophy.  "My Students" -- yes mine, now that they have started interacting with the people there as human being -- began to explore what it was like for them to be there more years than they are old!   My prayer is that they remember and the "taste remains on their tongue and mind for a very long time".  [Kind of stolen from My Name is Asher Lev].    Though given the amount of giggling and laughing and singing -- not real religious songs -- in the minibuses on the way back, I may be a little optimistic about their memories!

We did stop at the little Jumbie Tree [the larger one died] still in the middle of the road because no workers would cut it down.  It is a silk cottonwood tree.  The Dutch brought them and so they are not native to Guyana.   And there are so many stories about them now that have passed from story or truth to myth.  As I told the students, as the story goes, the slaves had to dig a big hole and then a slave was put in the bottom - some stories say already dead and some stories alive. Then fertilizer and then the tree... so the spirit lives on as the Guyanese equivalent of a zombie; however, these are real.   

I tried to find a picture of the students feeling
 for the heartbeat of the dead slave
where none of them would be identifiable.

They were enjoying my story so much, I had to keep going.  I said that if you placed your hand on the roots you might be able to feet the still beating heart of the dead slave...   Don't you just love legends... I wonder if I can copyright my version.  

Add caption

On the way to New Amsterdam, we were driving through Enmore, so I casually asked, "Does anyone know why Enmore is famous?" To which I received the typical student response of the blank stare indicating that I must have switched to some unknown language.   So I asked Rodney if we could pull over on the way back to stop at the Martyr's Monument.  Once there, I began my "you need to know some history of your own country."  It is a longer story, but in brief: five sugar workers were killed by police in order to protect property -- and break the strike.   This event sealed Cheddie Jagan's resolve to fight for the independence of Guyana.   

My impassioned speech was met with their return to taking selfies.    On leaving the grounds, one of the students asked if she could leave now as her home was just down this road ..... and she had never visited the monument, which had been there before her birth. So much for ancient history.  And what shocked me:  it happened after I was born - - yes, ancient history indeed.

Payback for the Free Phone

For many years now the Lutheran Church in Guyana has lent me one of their phones.  This has really been essential for me as my flats have not had land lines for many years -- "Just now" they are coming .....   However, I have not really done much with the Lutheran church in thanks for such a gift.  So when I returned the phone last year, I told Davy Ram that if they wanted,I could do some presentations.  [They already know that I really can't preach.]  He suggested doing something for the youth group; sure, that sounded good.  I said, How about sex and relationships?   It really did seem like a good idea at the time.   It is a big topic, eh?  I asked for the youth to write their questions for me and I would organize them into a coherent whole.   Well, the only questions that I got back I thought came from all the adult advisers.  Some of the question submitted were:

•         Sexual acts acceptable in God's sight?
•         Oral  and Anal sex,  should I adapt or refrain?
•         Does the church support and scripture basis for polygamy, polyandry relationships?
•         What Bible says about homosexuality?

And then I discovered I was going to do it twice:  once this past week in GT and tomorrow back in New Amsterdam.   It was good ..... and the most amazing thing that I learned was these youth - some in their twenties - had no sexual education at all.  They received none from parents,  school, church, clubs except from their equally literate friends on the street.  Actually, that is kind of how I learned and it was also as wrong as theirs.  This in the face of the second highest teen pregnancy rate in the Caribbean and South America.  

Earlier in 2013, the Government of Guyana had told the United Nations Rights 

of the Child Committee that some 3,000 girls get pregnant each year. 

[or about 97 out 1,000 girls between 15 and 19] of The UN report had said 

that the Government had considered the issue a matter “of concern.”

 

I tried to answer their questions in a direct and street-language way that many found helpful; a few were disturbed by the vocabulary ..... [And I thought that I was on my best behaviour.]   At the end, some of the adult advisers wanted to know how they could continue such discussions in the future.   Anyhow, it couldn't have been that scandalous as I am still scheduled to talk to the Berbice youth this Sunday. 

I'll share one example that shocked me, but probably shouldn't have.  A young guy in the midst of  discussion about homosexuality and the Bible shared his experience of doing a Halloween skit at a youth group meeting where some of the guys dressed as women for the play.   Later, the pastor called them all in and admonished them never to do that again and had they not realized the shame they had heaped upon the congregation by dressing like "antimen".  [A really not nice word.]  

Maybe I should listen myself to Paul's words in Romans somewhere around 14, “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.  Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another."     

Just for you bible scholars who read this blog ..... there are 250 verses in the Bible about the proper use of wealth; 300 on our responsibility to care for the poor and work for justice; only 7 passages that refer directly to homosexual behaviour, none of which are associated with Jesus.   I am bewildered at what texts we hold as truths eternal and which ones we let slide into history.

The end for now... though I had a few more stories to share.  

Thanks for reading, John

"Light Dawns in a Weary World"

This post is written by Peter Kuhnert, a Lutheran pastor and medical doctor and Guyanese colleague.    He was a leader with both the 2013 exploratory mission and the 2014 Mental Health Team which worked in Guyana for ten days in October-November.  [They have a wonderful FaceBook page, "Transforming Guyana's Mental Health System".  Peter's message serves as an excellent reflection on giving flesh to the incarnating Christian Christmas message.   

Peter bends low to listen to a girl at St. Ann's 

********************************************

Three years ago, shortly after my first ever visit to Guyana, I was contacted by John.  He asked me if I thought we might do any kind of work together in Guyana.  I told John, emphatically, that I did not think there was any opportunity to do any work in Guyana.  There was no will, no energy, no finances, and no manpower.  There was no Spirit.  I suggested perhaps we talk again in one year.

Two years ago, a dimly burning wick began to splutter to life.  Perhaps a opportunity did exist for some partnership work to strengthen and support existing mental health services in Guyana.  John was now living locally in Ayr.  I had started working at Freeport Hospital.  We had met a couple of local psychiatrists who wanted to explore international mental health care in a culturally and religiously diverse context.  Perhaps this opportunity might bridge the partnership and development work of the ELCiC with that of mental health services, for the betterment of life for the whole people of Guyana.  Perhaps.  Certainly, there was enough enthusiasm to plan a needs assessment visit and begin some relationship development.

One year ago, October 2013, Ram and Brenna and Sujay and I joined John in Guyana for a week of site visits and meetings and discernment. We were graciously received by Dr. Bhiro Harry (Georgetown) and Dr. Mayda ( New Amsterdam), and by the minister of health, Dr. Ramsarran. We saw much and heard much and clearly saw the need for a sustained mental health initiative to support good people and hard work already being done with absolutely minimal resources.  Few in-patient beds.  Few trained staff.  No budgets.  Limited medications with only variable availability.   The needs seemed overwhelming. Yet the Spirit began to blow.  The candle burned brighter.  We knew we would come back.

The past year has been a year of planning and preparation.  An excellent slide show about our 2013 trip, courtesy of Sujay and Brenna, began to peak interest in this initiative amongst the local mental health staff at Grand River hospital, Homewood health centre, and the Kitchener Downtown CHC. Who would have expected that when we called a planning meeting, in March,  for those interested in a self-funded mental health trip to Guyana in October 2014, over 40 people would attend!  And over 20 would commit to this 10 day project!

The Canadian Mental Health Team at the Farewell reception
hosted by the Minister of Health

The project itself was a huge success.  19 individuals divided into two teams, working in both Georgetown and New Amsterdam.  The number of initiatives for  this 10 day trip was astounding. The re-introduction of life-saving ECT technology to the New Amsterdam hospital.  Clinical visits to community hospitals in Linden and Suddie ( including an awesome speedboat ride across the Essequibo river).   Opportunities to teach physicians and nursing staff at both Georgetown and New Amsterdam.  Community education initiatives about mental health during each of our community tours.  Relationship building opportunities with the ministry of health, the University of Guyana medical school, and the schools of nursing in both Georgetown and New Amsterdam.

Dr Bhiro Harry continued with his
on the ground leadership for our team.

Dr. Bheri Ramsaran, the Minister of Health provided
excellent direction and support for our team.

Perhaps most impressive, has been the high level work that John has participated in, to help create a national mental health strategy for Guyana.  This is coupled with an ambitious strategy for the creation of a bilateral university partnership to bring bring post-graduate psychiatric training to Guyana.  This would be a first step to creating a national human resources strategy for mental health that might eventually include nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, and chaplains.  The wheels of future possibility have already begun to turn.

Chaplain Ram Kalap was a leader
on both the 2013 and 2014 teams.

Sujay Patel and Peter celebrate the fulfilment
of all their hard work over the last two years.

What a difference a couple of years has made!  Initially, there was no hope.  There was no kairotic time- no time for illumination and transformation.  But slowly, ever so slowly,  light has dawned.  A dimly burning wick has begun to burn brightly.  Hope is being reborn and a spirit of possibility  is beginning to take hold. What began with the question of one, " What can we do in  Guyana?" has been echoed by the voices of 19 others and the possibility of systemic change is becoming real.  Systemic change for the betterment of care for the whole

people of Guyana.

What is more Christmas?

...than bringing Joy to children.

Thanks, John, for risking asking the initial  question.  Thanks, John, for nurturing hope in your own unique manner.  You have helped open our eyes to the possible.  You have inspired us.  We are grateful.

John amazing the Cuban Psychiatrists
 with his command of Spanish.

Thanks for being a blessing. Looking forward to being your partner into the future.

Peter Kuhnert MD MDiv 

***********************************************

Thanks, Peter.  I am humbled by your kind words.

PS: I have a few more themes for this blog, but I have returned from Guyana to develop my usual cough and cold. I am feeling better today.  I especially want to post the pictures and stories from the "2nd  Annual Father John's Photo Contest.'

Have a Blessed Christmas and let you light shine...

Continuity and Change - Again

Do Blogs have Prefaces?  Mine Needs This

I need one because my colleague, Kampta, who just was ordained in May of this year, died several days after taking over Emanuel Parish in Skeldon, Berbice.    I considered him a friend and my personal cultural translator.   I will miss him.  Please say a prayer for him and his family.

Pastor Kampta Karran, wife Dolly holding grandson Kadesh at Installation.

And This Too...

My colleague and friend, Helen Browman, resigned as CEO for many reasons including being back in school; she is now an Associate Administrator and there is a new interim CEO and a new administrative structure.   However, Helen has continued to look after me and arranging for a "deluxe" flat.   I look forward to seeing her again.

Now Onward

The time has come when I seem to have one foot in Guyana and one foot still in Canada.   I am physically wrapping up stuff, like soccer season [tournament this weekend] and saying "goodbye" for awhile to family and friends; however, my mind seems to have arrived already at Mercy.   [I'l end up doing this in reverse in three months.]

Ayr Under 16 Boys
I know it's a little hard to tell where I am as we all look so fit; I am on the back left.\

This year will bring many differences from my last teaching visit in 2011.  Perhaps the biggest change will be the absence of my colleague, Tony Carr.    He will not be returning as he has family priorities in his life and.. he is really old. (Well, several years older than me!)  As much as we have distinctly different world views, we made a good teaching team... And sometimes, the "Dr. Tony - Rev. John Show" reached Oscar nomination levels;  it was a student favourite.   I miss him... and he isn't even dead.

PBL Course Changes

I'll miss him for only a short time as classes will start on the first Monday with a whole new cast of students and tutors.   First among the new tutors will be Nurse Elsie Asabere (left, below) a full time Mercy School of Nursing Faculty member.   Elsie was voted the "2012 Teacher of the Year" by the students.   She came from Ghana in Africa with her husband, when he arrived as a pastor of a Georgetown Church.

We are going to share the leadership and administration headaches of the course.  

AND..
There will be many people sharing the work this year as we hope to have four graduates from the University Guyana who will act as tutors with the Problem Based Learning small groups, exam markers and special topics presenters.    For their efforts, the tutors will participate in a graduate course to be credited by St. Joseph College in Connecticut.  This part of the experience will be led by a long term friend of Mercy Hospital, Professor Marylou Welch, and two new colleagues Sister Beth Fisher and Professor Janet Kneckt.   

AND...
I will be joined by three prominent volunteers who will be with the students for three weeks each.    First, Bev Clarke, a longtime friend from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.  She is a physiotherapist and neurology researcher and recent author of On Suffering: Pathways to Healing and Health.     Bev will be the first to join us, so she will work out all the bugs between how I envision stuff to go and how it will really work out.  She will be at Mercy from September 7th to 27th. 

Then there is the mystery woman, Trish Cohen.   I haven't met her and she has absolutely no pictures of herself; however, she is Canadian and from Winnipeg and a Nurse.  She has more overseas experience than I do, but this is her first visit to Guyana.  There is a rumor that she is related to Leonard Cohen, so we will have to see if she gets him to visit.    Trish will be at Mercy from September 28th to October 16th.

?????????????????????????????????

The last colleague to join me will be one of my oldest friends from university days with Maryknoll, Dennis LeBlanc.  Dennis went on to become a Baptist Pastor and has been a Pastoral Counselor around Greenfield, Massachusetts for most of his ministry.    We have remained friends over the years and our careers have paralleled each other closely.  Dennis will be at Mercy from October 19th to November 9th.

Look for a blog post from each of them describing their experiences.    This will give them some rebuttal time for my introductions of them... and give me the week off.  

Also, in the works: there might be a few psychiatrists coming down for a week to explore a larger commitment for volunteering and increasing  mental health services in outlying areas.  They will link up with Guyana's most famous psychiatrist, Bhiro Harry.    I am looking forward to seeing and yakking with Bhiro who I have known since my first trip.    I'll keep you all posted if it happens.   Maybe I can get a free consult too?

So I am leaving on a Jet plane on Friday... Start work [?] on Monday... And the Adventure continues.  I hope you come with me this year....   John





     

An Unexpected Visit to Guyana - Sublime to Ridiculous

Michael Pryse, Bishop of Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, gave me the opportunity to be the Canadian representative to the convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Guyana.  So in a hurry I arranged a visit [with Nellie Follings of Golinger's Travel doing most of the work] to New Amsterdam and, of course, some time at "my"  Mercy Hospital in Georgetown.

With the New President, ELCG
Moses Prashad 

Looking Official 

It did take me some time to find my clergy robes and to practice looking ministerial.   As you may have guessed, finding the robe was easier.      I was excited about going to the convention, amazing as I have provided some unique excuses for not attending the Canadian one for many years.   However, from my ten years of volunteering at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and doing the occasional preaching at some of the Lutheran Churches, I knew most of the pastors and leaders by name, and now had the opportunity to get to know them better.  Also, my long-term Guyana friend was there, Erv Janssen, a child psychiatrist from Tulsa, Oklahoma  who has had an ongoing relationship with the people of Guyana for 18 years.   He has led medical and construction teams; recently, he has concentrated his efforts on resurrecting the National Music Festival and the opening of the Lutheran Music Academy in New Amsterdam.

The "New" Reverend Kampta Karran
who was one the four ordinands.

The "Old" Doctor Erv Janssen
with the sign proof that I was there.

One of the benefits of attending the convention is that I celebrate my 40th Anniversary of my ordination.  In the pictures above the cross that I am wearing was given to me at my ordination by another "old" best friend, Dennis LeBlanc.   However,  my form fitting robes of 1973 had to be replaced by a more forgiving one-size-fits-all.   And my stole is a custom made one by Rev. Gloria Sampson.  I was at Mt. Zion, Sand Hills, and was fascinated by her making a rag floor mat... I said, "Can you make me a stole like that?"  After a few minutes of bewilderment and laughter, she agreed to make me one.   I like the servant symbolism of the stole, plus I no longer have to check what the liturgical colour is for the day.

June 10,1973 St James Lutheran Church, Hespeler, Cambridge, Ontario.  l-r: Sister Margaret Kreller; My Dad, John; my Mother, Jane; Sister Florence Weicker; Me; my Daughter, Kristin Margaret; Sister Anna Ebert; my Wife, Joan Bauer.
John Aaron hadn't made the scene yet.  Joan was a Deaconess with the others before she had to leave to marry me.
[*Kristin pointed out that everyone in the picture is dead except the two of us. Guess it has been awhile, eh?]

Another bonus of my surprise visit is that I got to connect with many at Mercy Hospital.  Helen Browman, CEO, and her team, found a flat for me to stay for the days that I wasn't in New Amsterdam.   *** Advisory Note to all Prospective Volunteers ***  I stayed in Doctor Daniel's old flat and there was no fridge, no stove and I showered like an "almost" Indian; I stood up rather than sat while I pored a bucket on my head; it did have screens in the bedroom.    I was quite fine with the accommodation as it was only a few days.  Everyone was amazed that I didn't complain, but I did tell them that I was saving all my gripes up for my usual three month stay in September.    

I got to do some In-service Education with  the nurses about Palliative Care and End of Life Care, especially Do Not Resuscitate Orders.   I realized that I have been talking about DNR's for over 30 years.   I really don't think the conversation has changed in all those years.  Doctors and other health professionals don't like to have conversations with people/patients who are probably not going to do well.   So this ongoing  avoidance creates havoc when a resuscitation attempt might be called... And then - the DNR Order gets blamed... Give me a break!   Enough of that rant...

It was also International Nurses' Week and my last day, Friday, was the Nurses' Appreciation Event at Mercy.   Each of the groups of nurses and students got to put on a show:  some sang, some read poetry, a few danced and my group "tried to dance"...   the 2011 first year asked if I could do the Harlem Shake.  Well, I haven't done that since I used to play handball in Harlem and win some coin, so I had to flee to the subway!    That wasn't what they were talking about but it was too late.   I ended up as the lead dancer too.  Evidence below:  

Roberta can really dance

Alicia belting out a tune

My biggest surprise and joy was being able to present the "Most Outstanding Student" award to Lexann.   While I probably wouldn't have guessed her last... she is a tribute to the resiliency of the human spirit and hers in particular.   She was one of the few students who I have had as a student in my classes. A wonderful and unexpected daughter presented herself in 2007.  Even though she had passed my courses, the rules were that she had to take the "whole" year over again.   When she began again in 2010 our PBL programme, her world was very exhausting, so she sometimes slept through Tony presentations [Hey, it's my blog and that's my version.]  She will be an excellent nurse and I am honoured to have been a small part of her success. 

What an accomplishment.. Congratulations Lexann.

First Year Prison Shot

Before I go... I did get to St. Ann's to say hello to my girls,  I gave my camera to Olivia and she took pictures of Olivia!

Olivia with her [ and almost all the girls'] idol... who still hasn't sent them any "stuff".
They can't understand as he lives near Father John.

I do have to share a story:  When I left Guyana in November 2011, a young girl had been found with no relatives, spoke an Amerindian dialect no one understood, didn't know where she came from, and wouldn't say a word.    She was there to greet me this week and say hello, her name was Niom and would not stop talking and following me and playing games with me, including my "slap hands" which she says she remembers me teaching her.  She is such a success story for the hard working Sisters and Matrons at St. Ann's.   Amazing.

Niomi [in pink] with another girl [who will "kill me" for forgetting her name]

Way more than enough for now. Thanks for coming.  John

Thanks to Everyone and The Countdown Begins

The "Do-Nothing-A-Thon" is over and was a success.   When I finally figure out all the donations, the total will come close to $4,000.    I am now in the process of buying the computers for the students at the school.   They will need to share the laptops as even the cheapest units that will do what we want were more expensive than my initial assesments.   There will, however, be enough resources to be more than successful.   I'll keep you all informed about how they actually work down there.   As anyone knows who has done any work in Guyana - and probably anywhere else in the developing world - things never happen as imagined.

The "Laptops for Guyana" Project received a grant for one sophisticated laptop from Friends & Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Guyana (FROG)!  This will be a strong addition to the students' access in the Computer Cafe.

This is a picture of the First Year Nursing Students from 2010.

As well, an anonymous gift of two sophisticated laptops has been received.  

An additional piece of great news: a nurse educator/researcher from McMaster University will be in Guyana for six months with her husband who is volunteering with CUSO and she was looking for something to do!  Amazing.   We contacted her immediately and have her lined up to give us a try-out.   I am sure that once she gets to know us  ......  how could she refuse?!   "When" she decides, I'll share her name; till then, I may need to protect her anonymity... and from any unsolicited comments about Tony's sanity.

Random Comments About Returning:

• I leave home to meet Tony at JFK in New York City on the afternoon of 2nd of September and we arrive at Cheddi Jagan at first light on the 3rd.   Our first class will be on Monday, the 5th.
• I still have no idea of where I might be living as the parsonage at Calvary Lutheran might be occupied by a "real" pastor and the hospital is still short on spaces.  
• There will be 24 First Year Students - YES, TWENTY-FOUR!  This will place a burden on all the resources at the school and hospital.  On the other hand, it is good to see the confidence  the in the school even after last year's fire.   (It will probably take me a whole month to call the students by their right names.)
• Anne and I still have not sold our home by the sea so we can return to Ontario to be closer to family and old friends,  and that will hang on my mind ...... though I wouldn't mind moving when I am not there!  If you have some loose USD funds lying around and want a safe place to invest, buy our home: 323 Abbott's Harbour.

 Thanks to everyone for their support with dollars, prayers and good thoughts.   Our work there needs more of each.

Take Care, John

PS... If you still send "real" greeting cards consider sending some of my original ones at:  http://www.redbubble.com/people/revjoc/portfolio.   Any of my prints are availble and you can get an assortment of your choice for a discount.    All the money that I receive will go to Guyana Projects.