I Was Trying Not to Talk About This

Well... I lasted to the 4th Week

You may not believe this, but I try for some variety in my blog.   I try and think of something new to write about every week.  However, this last week has been really, really, frickin' HOT!   I think for all of the previous decade, I have started my blog with the word HOT somewhere in the first sentence ..... but this is a new level!   It seems so hot that the air warms your breath and makes you chest boil. [Okay, this is a small exaggeration.]    And if there is a breeze, it just seems to increase your perspiration..  I need a deodorant I can paint on - in several coats like painting a wall.

This year we are living in Doc Daniel's old flat which is spacious but the living quarters are a floor lower -- and in the back of the Bank House, where half the breezes come from the opposite side of the ocean -- and behind the home on the East side from where the other half of the breezes come.   We got moved so that the boxes from Materials Management can enjoy the old flat with the Ocean and East facing windows...   I know there was probably a strategic decision for this; however, it does give you a sense of your worth ..... I guess it is like that for volunteers no matter where, eh?
 

And because the Bank House now contains something valuable, the hospital has added huge outdoor security lights to keep away any thieves at night.  I know this because when I sit in my chair in the living room I stare directly at it...   I have now started a Novena that the neighbour right next door will be so annoyed with how bright it is he will tear down his house and move... and we will get some breeze!

Celebrations of Commitment  

Sister Julie Matthews, RSM

Sister Julie is really the poster "girl" for the Sisters of Mercy in Guyana.  She is Guyanese and has over her career been involved with, and mainly led, almost every activity that the Sisters of Mercy are involved with:  John Bosco Boys Home, Mercy Wings, Board of  Mercy Hospital, and she is now the head of the Sisters of Mercy in Guyana.   In addition, she is an accomplished fund raiser and has taught in University Guyana.

Last Saturday her Sister colleagues, the larger Catholic Community, boys from Bosco (present and former), and people who have been touched by her ministry and energy, all gathered for a Special Mass (it was very special because the congregation actually sang) to honour her 25 years of Consecration as as a Sister of Mercy.    Believe me, with so much sadness and tiredness in Guyana, it was an event of joy and hope for the future.

Sister Julie offering the Blessing

Scarboro Volunteers [r-l Sylvia, Ashley, Bev,
Paulina, Donna]  blocking the Mercy Volunteers
Jess and Matthew

I was fourth in line

Long(Suffering) Service Awards on Mercy Day

Also, this week the hospital took time out - and cancelled my class too - to honour the employees who have given service for the past 5 to 30 years.  I do think that this group should have received Purple Hearts for surviving the struggles in the hospital - 2010 fire, layoffs, deficits, etc.   It was a small, low key celebration but the congratulations to the awardees and supporters were enthusiastic.  It is a small community, so everyone knows everyone else .....  The CEO Bridgemohan and COO Browman presented the pins and awards to each of the employees.    And Nutrition Services served piwari and cassava.   Dr Bridgemohan gave an optimistic talk about many positive developments for the future and the atmosphere was noticeably hopeful.  And my colleague and co-leader of the Problem Based Learning Course, Elsie Asabere, received a five year pin for her time at Mercy.
 

Elsie and I: the photographer thought I looked better
with my bald head cropped and in my Elsie shirt.

    

The Mercy Star of the Week ..... Drumroll please!

Patricia Benjamin “Benji”

Benji was born in Georgetown -- lived on Regent Street and now lives in East Penitence, still in Georgetown.   In between she had 6 "amazing” children – Denise, Sherman, Colleen, Onika, Rushell and Wendy – who have blessed her with 20 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. 

Benji has been working at Mercy for over 20 years.  She started as a maid and then went to the laundry for many years.   She liked the laundry (I did have to question her sanity, as the heat from the dryers actually makes it hotter than it is already) because you had to stay on your toes with everything throughout the day requiring precise timing to keep the loads moving along.

Then she was promoted to “Office Assistant”.  Benji is on her bicycle twice a day - morning and afternoon, delivering and picking up mail and packages for the hospital.   One can see her all over Georgetown; Benji said she has limits but it really is almost all of GT.   I have trouble walking on the busy streets of the city where everyone drives like it is a Friday and they're going home for the weekend, but she has had only one accident that left her with scraped and bruised knees.

Benji said she loves this job because she gets exposed so many interesting people and places that she would never otherwise go to or see, such as the Embassies and the Ministry Buildings.

Her wisdom for my hordes of readers: “Try to be obedient and honest and truthful all the time…..  or you will end up drifting; no one can recommend you and no one can count on you.”    Well, with that advice, I had to truthfully confess that my “hordes” may not mean the same thing to her.

And in 10 years?   "I don’t really know, you know?  I hope the Good Lord leaves me around to enjoy life for many more good years."
 

STOP THE PRESSES!
 

A few days after this interview, Benji received an outstanding service award from the hospital on Mercy Day.   

St Ann's, Jerries All-Nite Bar and Traditional Blindfold Walk.

I continue "leading" the senior girls' course "Bodies, Boys, Boundaries, Beliefs" at St. Ann's; I love their enthusiasm to learn ..... Motivation is pretty easy in a sex course for teenagers!
 

I have two cameras this year which I hoped would cut down on the constant pestering for whose turn is it for the camera.  It has just made it worse, I think. Again the pictures are in the Slide Show above. Just Double Click.
 

Jerry and his wife Paula have been great supporters of the girls at St. Ann's and he has had them for meals often at his restaurant. (They actually own four or five restaurants in Georgetown area.) Well, it was their 22nd year anniversary of starting.  Jerry actually started with a push cart on the streets - a Guyanese self-made man.  Sylvia and I went to the celebration to support their commitment to the girls and while we were there we had a few beers.
 

Sylvia and Father Chris
w/o Beer Bottles

Bev and Sylvia with their Beer Bottles

As usual, the students had an experience with Disability.  They paired up and one of the students was blindfolded.  I gave them a slip of paper that had a staff member's name written on it and it said they were blind and had an appointment with that person to collect a package. The "sighted" person was there just to keep them safe from steps and cars... They had to ask strangers what the note said as well as see if any one knew where the staff member was. Some of my choices were a little sadistic, like the security guard at the front gate whose first day it was.  Well, the staff person had a package with cookies for them, but first could ask them a nursing question that they had to get right ..... and say the magic words - Please and Thank You.   This exercise always causes lots of chatter among the whole hospital.

That's it.. I will try and do less this week so I won't have to type so much... Thanks for reading.  And please keep me and my family in your prayers this week.  John

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.