Back up to Speed... for Guys in their 70th Year

Veteran Dennis Arrived and Started Running [figuratively]

After some naptime (Dennis came by the redeye from Toronto), we headed down to St Ann's to look at the site for the basketball court Dennis and his friends planned to put up for the girls.   Many of the girls remember him; they were telling the "new" girls about the parachute though the new ones were wanting to jump out of a plane!   The yard has a good concrete base and with a little cleaning up will make great courts for basketball and volleyball.

Dennis is welcomed by all the girls - little and big- who remembered him.  Paulina at the Brazilian Churrascaria remembered his love of pink umbrellas.

Sticking with Basketball

We looked at several possibilities for putting up a backboard; these included stealing an old one from from the high school next door and getting a contractor-fabricator to install it on a pole embedded in the concrete so that it would be more permanent.  Sister Leonie had showed me the new one at St. Rosa's and it is a fortress..  and yes those are 12"Steel iBeams!  Not even in New York City!

Well, after  several weeks of me doing some ground work we had a contractor who knew all about building a basketball court - until I showed him a picture -- ugh.   However, he would get someone to call me back that afternoon ..... as you guessed, no call that afternoon, nor the next day, etc. .....  It is impossible to get anything done quickly in Guyana - or so I thought. 

  

On Tuesday afternoon, we went out looking for who had these basketball backboards and stuff... one sports store had a nice backboard and rim, but no attachment kit... not helpful, but they told us that any contractor could make one ..... probably the same one who never called us back.   We wanted something that was going to outlast the balls we had!  Permanence is more of a temporary concept in Guyana ..... We got our trusty taxi driver to take us to Gizmos and Gadgets where I had seen a portable one.  It was twice as expensive as just a backboard with no attachment kit and no fabricator to make one and not a chance that Dennis or I could weld one ..... The portable one looked great and was getting more sturdy-looking the more we considered our options.

A lovely sales person, Debra, came over and had heard our concerns about permanence and answered all our other questions.  We decided we would buy it.   Debra informed us that it would come in a box and unassembled ..... frightening nightmares of holiday-gift-assembling being done into the wee hours before the kids woke up... and now we would have 40 girls waiting for us to put it together.   

Dennis blinked first and asked if there was anyway they could assemble it ..... and yes, but there would be a charge.  He didn't even wait to find out how much... better option he said.     

Would they take Visa? Yes. Great. Debra returned with the bad news ..... They did not have any more, just the floor model.  Would they sell us the floor model?  (You know:  the already-assembled one. )  Debra checked with the manager and he said yes.   Now, could they deliver it?  Yes, but they would need to take it apart.  Debra saw the tears in Dennis' eyes ..... They wouldn't have to take it all apart! Joy again ..... And now the angel Debra says, "Maybe we can give you a reduction on the (already assembled and in perfect condition) floor model.. it was getting better ..... Yup, 10% off! 

"Delivery?"  "Yes, they would deliver it the next day ..... (Are you sure this is Guyana?) .....  and it is included in the price."   Now it was my turn to shed a tear, a helpless male before the beautiful youndg woman ..... "Do you think the delivery guys might be able to put it up?  Both of us went to school for too long and never learned anything practical."   (I offered to send testimonials from my children on my capacity to make two dozen trips to Canadian Tire for one leaky toilet repair ..... it might include a whole new toilet after it cracked for some unknown reason.)  Debra wasn't sure but she would ask the delivery man.  They held it for us and we returned the next day and paid and the unit got delivered the following day .....  

The two delivery guys met Dennis at St. Ann's (one of us had to teach, eh?), and they not only carried into the back of St Ann's where the playground is, but even filled the base with water to counterbalance the weight ..... especially in case Dennis was tempted to pull one of his from-the-foul-line Michael Jordan dunks.     He did help them by finding a funnel for the water and took some great pics .....  And they did all the extra, not because we were so persuasive but, as the  delivery man said, "This is for the girls at St. Ann's."

I sometimes pick on the "Just Now" time it takes to accomplish anything in Guyana; okay:  I do it all the time. So when I come on such an experience of great customer service and super-fast purchasing and delivery, I need to share these people with you...  So if you need something when you are in GT, go see Debra and tell her you are friends with Rev 1 and Rev 2.

Was it Worth it? You Tell Us...

Thank you, Dennis and his friends who funded this ..... You made the smiles happen.

And Even Better.. They Let the Boys Play

And please don't ask: modesty prevents me from disclosing who had the most baskets....

Way More Stories, But Enough

Lots of other stuff happened this week, so just look at the slide show...  and I'll mention a few really important ones next week ..... so stay tuned.   Amazingly, it will be my last one from Guyana this year ..... Dennis will do one after we get home.

So we went out to celebrate at the Everest Cricket Club,
where they remembered the Pink Umbrellas for Dennis.

And The Winners Are...

2nd Annual St Ann's Father John's Photo Contest

 Last year's photo contest was such a great success, so I thought it would be wonderful to do again.  It should be easier; the 2nd one was great though it certainly was not easier.

I had gotten tired of the girls always asking me if they could have my camera now and right after they had just given it up.   So... I brought TWO cameras this year.   I would cut my headaches in half; wrong again.  I doubled them as they all wanted to use both cameras.   And what I didn't think about was with two cameras there would be twice as many pictures to judge.   In fact, my girls had taken over 2,000 pictures for the photo contest.

I changed the categories this year as I wanted to try and give the smaller girls a better chance of winning one of the prizes.   So the categories this year were: Happy Faces, Work/Study, Play, Abstract/Unusual and Action.   Can you guess which category had the least submissions?

I spent a whole weekend trying to sort out all the photographs and then get each category down to 10 finalists.   I couldn't do it; I had to have 15 finalists and even then it was tough.    Then, I had to go to get them finalists printed as 5x7's so they could be seen from a distance.   Usually, i am out in an hour; however, this time it was over three hours - ugh.  Off to St Ann's to put them up on a wall.

Oh the "weeping and gnashing of teeth" as I put up the finalists, the chorus began:
[They all know who took what pictures and absolutely no fights.]
"Where are my pictures, Father John?".
"I know you missed mine."
"Why didn't you pick mine?"
I have no idea of who took what pictures as the girls go off by themselves and take the pictures.   I couldn't pick my favourites even if I wanted.   This is the reason that I don't want to judge the winners... The non-winners would be unrelenting...  So I bring in some "Ringers".   They don't know the girls and the girls don't know them.     This year I brought in the highly qualified Mercy Corp Volunteers:

The Judges: Annie, Matthew, Monica and Jess

I did have to ensure them there would suffer no injuries from the non-winners and I'd buy them something to eat after at the Everest Cricket Club.     But first, they had to do their job of picking the 6 winners for the prizes.... and face the sadness and moaning of the 38 other girls who were sure that they should have won an iPod Shuffle or one of the "surprise top prizes".

I played security as the judges had some "quiet" time to pick their favourites in each category.   It is amazing that these young girls instinctively know that they should try and influence the judges and were constantly sneaking around to assist the judges with their tasks.

First a stop in Ohio
I have to tell a back story in order for you to appreciate the generosity of my supporters.    I have a chaplaincy colleague, Rev. Deborah Damore, who is now the bishop of Summa Health Systems in Akron, Ohio.  She invited me to come and talk to the Chaplaincy Staff at the hospitals.   And, one of her residents, Rev Shannon Blower, who is the pastor at Church at Stony Hill, Medina, wanted to support my efforts with the St Ann's girls so the children in their Sunday School had raised enough money for five iPod Shuffles for the 2nd Annual.

John with Rev. Deborah Damore and Rev. Shannon Blower

And my friend, Deborah, had paid for an extra iPod Shuffle.   I was going to have six categories for the contest; however, I fell victim to Sister Guilt!   Sister Barbara McLean who was the previous Director of St Ann's and now in Barbados had heard that I had these iPods "wondered" if I had an extra one.  [I can't tell you how many people think that I have an extra anything... tablet, iPod, $1,000...]   One of the older girls at St Ann's had been promoted to the  work as an assistant at Mother Theresa's Sisters of Charity Nursing Home.  Petal has an eye disease and has been legally blind ever since I have known her;  she can read a few letters at a time if she hold the book to her nose.   Sister Barbara was worried about her being in a new place as the only home she had really known was St. Ann's and would be lonely; her only enjoyment would come from music and books on tape; and Barbara reminded me how much she had enjoyed my visits over the years....  STOP... please... I figured that Deborah wouldn't mind.

Then, Sister Mary Peter another Ursuline Sister at St Ann's and one of my heroes.   She is in her late 80's and still teaching mathematics.  Just two years ago she "volunteered" to teach mathematics in the deep interior of Guyana.   [Mary Peter loved it there as they have no real electricity, so she got up with the sun and went to bed when it went down.  No getting up in the middle of the night with the girls.]   She was required to come back to Georgetown and at St. Ann's.   She wanted to come with me when I visited Petal and that was fine with me.  So we set a date for Saturday Morning...

I was working on scoring some exam from the student nurses when the phone rang about noon.  "John, where are you?",,, a familiar Mary Peter's voice inquired.   Holy S---- [Sugar of course.]  I got in a cab and we were off to see Petal.

Petal grateful for her iPod

Cheryl "Teddy Bear" an older St Ann's graduates,
Sister Mary Peter and Petal

Petal was so surprised... and it would have been perfect - if I had thought to charge the battery or even put any music on the iPod.   She was not dismayed and Mary Peter brought it back to charge the battery and put her favourite music on it.   

Back to the Judging

The judges had decided on the winners, so we were ready.    The best laid plans of "Mice and John".  I have a rule that on one can win two prizes, so they had to have a second winner in each category.. and they did, but.   Anna won the first category.  In the second category she was selected as the best, so on to the second place pic -and it was Anna's too.   Now the judges had to be a little more spontaneous than they had prepared for...  The contest had now moved from the usual chaos to a new level.    The judges did an excellent job.  I think Anna ended up winning four of the five categories.   However, we did end up with five different winners.   Now who was going to be the Best in Show?   Would you like to guess?   Anna!

Anna with her prize while John consoles
Onisha who can't believe she didn't win

Anna the 2nd Annual 
Best in Show Winner

Anna was simply amazing as a photographer in this year's competition, especially as she was not even selected as a finalist in any category last year.

Her surprise was a android tablet that was an extra one from the ones I needed for my Mercy Student Nurses.   The tablets were donated by an anonymous friend and now Anna has one too.

An Added Surprise

Jerry Bacchus, the owner of Jerries All-Nite Long and a long time supporter of St Ann's had offered a dinner for the second place winner and she could bring five of her friends and a chaperone.   This time it was not Anna, but Delly!

Scarboro Fathers Bev chaperones
Delly and her friends at Jerries.

All the Winners

The Winners and Judges
Front: Solomie, Anna, Gabriella, Delly, Malika, Aishona
The reason that Solomie is looking so sad is that - a confession - I only used her
for the picture as the real winner, Makeba, was at a school event.
Solomie still has not forgiven me.

My Partners from The Church at Stony Hill

And then there are the wonderful children from the Church at Stony Hill who made all the prizes possible. Below are the children who represented the Sunday School in presenting me with the iPods.

Winning Pictures

I did want to put the winning pictures next to the girl who took it; however, it was pretty much chaos and I was taking pictures to boot... So rather than pick the category winners, I'll put all the finalists in a slide show... Actually, all the girls were winners and everyone had a great time. And I really have no idea of which  pictures were the actual winners. Thanks.

St. Ann's Orphanage: A refuge for vulnerable children

I just came across this newspaper article from The Guyana Chronicle  via Beverly Trach.   I wanted to share it with you because the Sisters and Matrons do such a great job at St. Ann's.   However, they did not mention their great photographs with my camera that I post in my blog. St Ann’s Orphanage : A refuge for vulnerable children

Saturday, 26 February 2011 10:37   The Guyana Chronicle

THE ST ANN’S Orphanage at 247 Thomas Street has been a home and refuge for many unfortunate girls for many a years. The institution was begun way back in July of 1851, when a Roman Catholic Bishop took two girls from the Alms House to the Ursuline Convent and asked the nuns, who had just arrived in the country, to give them a home. These girls were soon joined by many others, and thus St Ann’s came into being. At present, there are 37 girls at the Orphanage, but the normal number is usually about fifty. St Ann’s has accommodated as many as 102 children at one time or the other. The Orphanage caters for girls between the ages of four and 6. But sometimes, as in the case of two newly-admitted siblings who had a three-year-old sister, an exception can be made to avoid separating the family. After secondary school, and at about the age of 16, the girls move on. In the early years, the Orphanage catered primarily to orphans. Many come today because they have been abandoned, neglected, or abused. The girls remain until they have completed secondary education. Jobs are secured, and they move on, once they can support themselves. If they wish to continue on to higher education, they are given assistance. The St. Bernadette’s Hostel was opened primarily as a ‘half-way’ home for girls leaving St. Ann’s. There is good collaboration between the Orphanage and the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security. Minimal financial assistance is received, and social workers are attached to the Home. Children coming to St Ann’s are screened by officers of the Ministry, and must be recommended by them. The Ministry offers training courses, which are attended by staff of the Home. St Ann’s has no definite income. Some generous people continue to give donations each year. The Home depends on ordinary donations of food, clothing and money. Each day, without fail, people arrive with cooked meals, bags of rice, sugar, flour and all sorts of other things. Guyanese returning home from overseas go out of their way to bring very nice things for the girls. But most of the people who bring things to the Home are ordinary folks from places like Ruimveldt, Albouystown, Agricola, Sophia and Charlestown. They make the sacrifice to help. Each year, the Good Friday collection in all Catholic Churches is divided between St. John Bosco Boys Home and St. Ann’s. In times of illness, the St Joseph Mercy Hospital gives free service and medication when they have it. The girls are treated very well there, with no distinction made from any other children. Any child with a chronic disease is taken to see the doctor as regularly as necessary.   Whenever medical outreach teams visit Guyana, they often come to the Home and check all the girls. They then make the necessary diagnosis and prescriptions. A local pharmacist has offered to assist the Home. She has examined all the medicine chests to ensure everything is in order. She assists in purchasing whatever is necessary. Many children arrive at the Home with academic problems. Some have missed school for two to three years or more. There are even those who have never attended school. In one case, a child of thirteen had never gone to school. She did not even know the alphabet. If these girls are sent to government schools, they are placed according to age chronologically. Because they have missed school for some years, they cannot follow what is being taught in class. This leads to much frustration and plenty of disciplinary problems. Many of the girls at St Ann’s attend the Marian Academy. Each child going there has to have a sponsor to pay the fees. Many people have given generously to this cause. There is a firm in Georgetown that currently sponsors five girls. Many times the people who help are those who have lived at St. Ann’s as small girls. They are usually married, and have done well for themselves. They write to the Home and offer to help a child. Help comes from places as far away as Australia, Canada, the USA, Venezuela and at home here in Guyana. All the girls learn responsibility by doing chores. Each child has a department to look after. They sweep, dust, mop and wash dishes. Duties are rotated regularly, so everyone gets a turn to do most things. Even the little ones learn to help, by picking up paper. They are taught that cleaning their surroundings is a part of life and a daily duty. The girls at the Home are more fortunate than many others. They eat very healthy meals each day, they have plenty of clothing, they get all their school books, shoes, uniforms; and their education is assured. The staff is comprised of very devoted and capable women who play a major role in taking care of the girls. These are ordinary women and mothers who dedicate themselves to serving the children and being positive role models. St. Ann’s continues to keep its doors open through the kindness and generosity of caring Guyanese. Each day, a miracle unfolds with a simple knock on the door, and a small donation of some kind. You can offer your help with something as simple as taking a few children for a walk at the weekend, or spending an hour playing with them at home.

Dr. Charlie, Nurse Cathy and my Girls, of course...

Almost all the pics of the girls they ave taken themselves.

This week has been defined by the presence of our colleagues from Canada and, specifically, McMaster University:  Charlie Malcolmson, a pediatrician with whom I spent the better part of my time in an intensive care unit, and his wife Cathy Lee, a nurse practitioner who has spent a big chunk of her career working in family doctor's offices in Hamilton.  They reminded me that I had officiated at their wedding some time ago, as well as the weddings of a couple of their kids.   In some moments, I do realize how much of myself I left at the hospital with colleagues and patients and families... and how much they are with me [or more spiritually... "are me"] today.   There are so many stories... some remembered by all , some remembered by just one of us .... and probably most of our stories forgotten by all.

Charlie had been here last year for a week to look around to see how he could participate and was all set to help develop a pediatric residency for UG and the Public Hospital; however, it was delayed and will be starting "Just Now." [For those illiterate in Guyanese, a translation is "It sure isn't now and don't hold your breath waiting".  

Charlie knew what Tony and I were doing and jumped right in with our students.  So did Cathy, who is on her first visit and is exploring future possibilities for how she might be helpful if  when she returns.  [Anyone else who'd like to explore possibilities is invited to contact us.  As Sister Sheila used to say, "I haven't met a volunteer I couldn't use!"]   Charlie and Cathy have both been a welcome addition to our tutor corps as their experience and expertise have energized the students.  As well, they are kinder than two of the tutors - and the two aren't Marysia or Claudette.

 

 We took them out to worship last Sunday, to Dr. Daniel and Tabitha Mallampati's mission congregation [LEFI] near the university.  Tabitha is now the Director of the Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing programme at UG and has already begun recruiting Cathy for next year.

They also had the gourmet experience of Taju's Princess Kitchen.   Tony demanded that they go there as a way to hide his addiction to the ice cream. [Taju's ice cream is getting ever-better, even though some unknown and un-appealable Canadian immigration bureaucrat refused his visa request because ice cream and nursing don't go together.  Actually, Taju has gotten over it; I, on the other hand, am still mad at my own government.]  Tony has also begun teaching Taju's daughter and son, Althia and Tommy, how to play the guitar and keyboard respectively .....  he gives their lessons within sight of the ice cream ......

Of course, we all got to St. Ann's to visit with the girls and Sister Barbara who chatted with the visitors for a long time about the home and the girls.   They got an insiders' tour from Alma who was quite thrilled to have such an important responsibility.   

I don't think that I mentioned it last time, but Tony and I were over at St. Ann's earlier to get two of their computers working and connected to the internet, so the girls can do their homework.  Well, within a week, one of the fixed computers blew a monitor and so I switched it with another old one.  This is the pattern here:  many donations are used well before being donated [and donations are still a good thing] which usually means that their "trouble-free" period is quite short.  

Stream of consciousness:  orphans, girls, boys, old computers, new computers, Mercy, School of Nursing, wireless, IT department, new employee  --- Ah, to the point:  Hansel!   When I first got to Guyana, he was just a little weenee at John Bosco Home in Plaisance; and, now he is on the IT staff at the hospital - some very good things do happen!

Hansel, with Jennie, the IT Boss and the always helpful Dr. Tony

I started my cute(?)  "rat's tail" in the early 90's because it was trendy then, and then kept it just because it annoys people.  Now I think I have discovered its real meaning:  people all over Georgetown know me and remember me!   At the Brazilian barbecue place, I didn't recognize anyone- the owner, the waitress, the cooks... however, a beautiful young woman came over and started playing with my tail and saying, "I remember you... "  If there was ever a great pick-up line ......  and I was ready .....  She went on to tell me, "And you like your breasts rare" ..... Whoops -- I  think she actually said, ".... beef rare," and yes, I do.  

Many of the taxi drivers know without asking that I am headed to Mercy.  And yesterday on my travels I ended up yakking with a woman on the street because she remembered my conversation with her daughter when the girl was a patient at the hospital.  She recognized me by the tail; however, I am sure my words touched the child deeply!  And then at Bosco, one of the teachers knew me; she was a Lutheran and remembered --- the tail.   Speaking of being Lutheran, I am preaching across the river tomorrow and following up on the Revival Meeting of a week ago.  [I'll write about the whole experience next time.]  

And I really can't leave without a Tony Story.  We are getting along like an old married couple.   However, he still has some quirks [now fewer than 100] that I am trying to understand.  For instance his toothpaste roll.  I thought that I could go to the web and gain insight into such a seemingly violent approach to squeezing; however, I found that this particular pattern has yet to be described.  I have asked for help from the sites, but please feel free to comment.

Tony's Toothpaste Roll and used only for two days.

Thanks for getting this far... Take Care, John