Guyana 2015: "Continuity and Change"

Different #1: Me - Off to Mercy Again

It took me some time to decide about my return to St Joseph Mercy Hospital, School of Nursing.  While my time there  has been part of my life for over a decade, nothing ever stays the same.   I have decided to go again, but instead of three months I am going for two.   I will be there for the start of the classes with First Year Nursing Students and leave by the end of October.   I will be doing just about the same stuff; just I will be there for less time.   Those new students are going to have to learn faster too!

Different #2: the School of Nursing

The School has a new Director, Elsie Asabere.  Elsie has been at the school off and on for many years.  She is originally from Ghana.  I know that because she doesn't come to school when Ghana is playing a match in the World Cup.

Director Elsie has been a constant support for my classes
as well as other volunteers who had joined me over the years.
Here she is with Dennis LeBlanc from last year.

Elsie has been excited about learning Problem Based Learning and tried working through a few problems by herself earlier this year. In November and December she will continue the course that Tony Carr and I wrote some years ago    I am excited to see how she will shape the Nursing School.   She has her B.Sc. Nursing from The Netherlands and has practiced in several countries before coming to Guyana with her husband, Victor, a missionary with Lighthouse International, and their three children.

There are also two new Faculty Members - Roberta Binda and Azalia Luke.   While they may be new faculty, they are old students.  I didn't have any "current" pictures of them as B.Sc. Nursing graduates, so their old "prison" shots will have to do.   Both Azalia and Roberta have been small group tutors in PBL -- and both have gotten way better marks in university than I ever did!

2005

2007

Different #3: My Flat

This is an old picture as there are now two bedrooms on the left
and a new shower on the right as well as a fixed up kitchen,
 and the stairs in the front are gone...

 Actually, it is the same flat I had last year, but "flattened".   The upstairs will now be used to store supplies for the hospital, so I will have just the first floor.  This will be more than enough as they have added a second bedroom and a shower to that floor.  I have only asked for a few things in my flat: window screens, internet access, a shower that works and a fridge to keep my vegetables [and other stuff] cold.

There is really only one problem with one floor: I have not been able to attract any volunteers to join me because some one has spread a dirty rumour that I snore - loudly.   So if you don't believe that I could be that loud, or you are deaf, please think about joining me.

Different #4: The Hospital

Mercy seems to be on the upturn.  CEO Dr. Bridgemohan, COO Helen Browman [and all the staff] have been working hard to improve the facilities, recruit physicians and retain the best nurses.   Old condemned buildings have been torn down and new construction is underway.  One of the interesting additions is an Outdoor Café.

Sandra was an Executive Assistant, but now is the Maître D’.

I hope she has been working on her  flambéing skills.

If you wish to learn more about the positive changes, the hospital has a FaceBook page and a Website.   

  

Different #5: The Country

In May of this year, there were national elections, and a new party, A "Partnership for National Unity" and "Alliance for Change" (APNU+AFC) is now in a majority Government.  Previously, the Peoples' Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) had been in power for the last 23 years.  It will be interesting to see if their leadership will bring improvements for the people of Guyana.   As a visitor and guest in their country, I don't have a public opinion, though there are promising signs.  I do know that the previous government was a good support for the Canadian Mental Health Team led by Sujay Patel, Peter Kuhnert and Ram Kalap who are colleagues from Canadian hospitals or organizations.   I hope that the new government will also be supportive of their volunteer efforts.

The 2014 Canadian Mental Health Team with Guyana Colleagues

*Moses Nagamootoo who in now the Prime Minister & First Vice-President wrote an autobiographical novel, Hendree's Cure (2000, Peepal Tree Publishers).  I have seen it available for years but never ordered it because it was pricey, but now that he is the Prime Minister I am reading it -- it will give us a lot to talk about if I ever meet him.

More Continuity than Difference

These are my friends, colleagues and "old" students whom I look forward to seeing each year.  I won't start naming them as I am sure I would leave many out that deserve recognition and thanks.  I would not have been able to accomplish so much in Guyana without their support.

I will make an exception for Guyana Christian Charities Canada (please write "O'Connor-Mercy Projects on cheques, etc.") as these are friends to whom you can send a filthily excessive donation for my projects at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and St Ann's Girls Home. This year the donations will go towards the tablets for all the first year nursing students, some special projects at the school and outdoor recreational supplies for the girls. I do not use any donation money for my own needs -- travel, insurances, food (including beer), and such.

Thanks for any donation you are able to make; and, if you aren't able to make a donation,send me your good wishes in an Email or on FaceBook. 

Have a blessed summer and I'll write again later in the season.  John

Donation or Investment – Part Two

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”   Dom Helder Camara

A reason that I do not like asking for donations is that whatever we contribute to  has a remarkable way of staying the same ….. no matter how much money gets thrown at it.

There seems to be a literal acceptance of Jesus’ words, “The poor you will have with you always…” [Mark 14, 7] and this almost always comes as a handy absolution for people who are in not poor.   I do not like it and I do have to include myself in this radical accusation.

One of my heroes from my university days and my first missionary zeal was Dom Helder Camara.  He was a Brazilian bishop, better known as the Bishop of the Poor, who wrote about the link between poverty and violence.   He also wrote a small book called “Spiral of Violence” that supported my opposition to the Vietnam War and placed it in a larger religious context. 

I remember him now for his perspective on understanding social injustices by suggesting a needed paradigm shift.   He wrote, “When shall we have the courage to outgrow the charity mentality and see that at the bottom of all relations between rich and poor there is a problem of justice?”

Not only do I see poverty as “a problem of justice”; I see that justice is a problem for us all by itself.   Charity implies kindness and voluntariness while justice calls for duty and obligations.   Being charitable makes us feel good and virtuous, while doing our duty well is just that – doing what we should.   There are no “virtue” benefits; however, a failure of duty leaves us shamed.  Not good.     

It is no wonder that we prefer the world of the charitable rather than the demands of justice.    Who feels good about paying their taxes?  Obeying red lights?  Getting to work on time?  Feeding your children?   Who gets a reward for doing what they should?   In fact, when we are told what our duty [or fair share] is, we get downright hostile.    I would rather have the feelings that I get from doing good deeds that are outside, over and above the realms of obligation.

Since Camara and others have been unsuccessful in making any significant changes with their logic, let’s just pretend the demands of justice do not exist.  

 

Recently, I read an article by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett from the Sheldon Chumir Foundation.    I liked the article because it agreed with me, but was better at expressing my beliefs.  I‘ll just stretch some of their local and country-wide conclusions to a world application

The evidence shows unmistakably that more equal societies – those with smaller income differences between rich and poor – are friendlier and more cohesive:  community life is stronger, people trust each other more, and there is less crime and violence. So the deep human intuition that inequality is divisive and socially corrosive is true.

While the authors were speaking of a city or a country, I think their conclusions are applicable to the whole globe.  This is why I wrote in my last blog, “I am not asking for saintly altruism; I can accept ‘informed selfishness’”.    A world that has a more equitable sharing of its resources will benefit everyone at home and abroad.  If we want to improve our lives – social, health, economic, that improvement may be intimately connected with the improvement of everyone’s life.  

Ever since those days of youthful idealism, global problems seemed past my comprehension and certainly my abilities to fix – Vietnam War, Civil Rights, Farm Workers.   I focused my energies first on improving the small darkroom of a Chicano newspaper, then a small department in a hospital, and now a small school of nursing in a small hospital in a small country.     I know I will not change the world, nor Guyana, nor even the nursing school.   I have already changed, and will change, the lives of a few students.   They will have to change the hospital and health/health care in Guyana.   

I need your help to provide these two dozen students with the best resources and tools possible for their studies, and for their future responsibilities to make Guyana a more equal society with all the benefits that come with that – safer, more peaceful, less violent, friendlier and healthier……

And since we agreed to pretend that you don’t have any obligations to make a donation, just think of how virtuous you will feel!  

Here, however, is another thought from Camara:  “More and more I pray for the Prodigal Son’s brother… The Prodigal awoke from his life of sins. As for his brother, when will he awake from his life of virtue?”

Enough …… I’ll try a Part Three later...

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

Bits, Bites [including bran] and Big Thank You's... and Reconstruction - Erv's Nose and the Hospital Plant

Joy! Joy! Joy!   

I remember many years ago one of my children was having a terrible time with Genetics in university and had to wait for the final mark to arrive in the mail.  There was a Happy Happy Joy Dance on the kitchen floor after reading the report card.   Well, the first year students were equally excited about their new laptops!

It has taken a while to get everything organized, so the students could use the computers immediately.  Most of the setting-up, modifying, adapting, etc. [for example we loaded a free virus software and Open Office] was done by Dr. Tony.   I knew he was in charge because he was always yelling at me about something, e.g., "Now you have really screwed it up."   He did praise me, though, as being an excellent "dummy" to discover the problems...

On Tuesday morning, we borrowed the morgue trolley to transport the computers to the classroom.  Earlier we had distributed and explained the contract.  Basically, the hospital owns the laptops until the student graduates in 3 plus years with an RN and then the computer belongs to them.  There was no student who owned their own computer, though several had home access through a parental one.

Tony showing muted amazement that we were ready to distribute the netbooks

John handing out the computer boxes

The computers [netbooks] that many of you donated some dollars towards are from a company in China, Hongkong Fortruth Technology Co., Limited.   They are 10" netbooks in five colors, 1 Gg Ram, 250 GB Hard DD, Wifi card, etc... The costs per unit were approximately $210 US, including shipping.  All the computers are working satisfactorily ..... Amazing!

It was Christmas in September when we arrived at 11 am.   As we distributed the boxes, there was so much expectation in the room it was electric.   We tackled the most important task first ..... Choosing a color!  If you wanted a different colour you had to swap with someone who wanted yours ..... and the next miracle of the day was everyone got the colour that they had wanted!

Tony and I had spent the previous afternoon setting up and locking the router and extension cords in the classroom.  Now they could take it out of the box and record the serial number on the contract.  Then, Tony led them in a step by step process in a way that only a true obsessive can achieve...  Small problems, but no major difficulties; all the students were soon online with their own accounts.

Red, Yellow, Black, Pink, White

"Yours looks exactly like mine."

 

"Do you think Dr. Tony and Rev. John will know we are on Facebook?"

I have written many times before about the gratitude of the Guyanese students and on Tuesday it was overflowing.  They wanted to write THANK YOU! notes to everyone...  It meant that I had to find snail mail addresses.  So they are writing as I write this.  I don't think I missed anyone, but if you do not get a note within a month tell me and I'll get another one written to you.

Speaking of "Thank You"s, we cannot forget a couple more:   Guyana Christian Charities Canada through whom the overseas purchase was completed, and who along with the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas issued tax receipts to all who wanted them; and, finally,  Mr. Taju Olaleye who shared his shipping company as well as his living space to store all the computers till we arrived. 
Also, we have furnished the Internet Cafe at the School/Hospital with three large laptops for student and staff use.   The computers that we [I use the "royal we", as it was Tony mostly] had rebuilt, did not fare well in the humidity and heat even though the cafe is air-conditioned in the daytime.  The three new ones will be enough along with a few that had been donated from other sources.

Peace Corps Grant Computer

Anonymous #1

Anonymous #2

Two were received anonymously from Canada and one was from a grant by the FROG group of the Peace Corps.  They are present and past Peace Corps volunteers who had made the grant available.
The future work/study that these students will do will be the judge of the benefit of your sacrifice to make these donations possible.  I know that as their teachers, Tony and I are very grateful.

Speaking of Tony:  there is now a bran shortage in Guyana; major supermarkets have reported barren shelves where there were various packages of bran cereal.    The papers have indicated that it may be speculators in bran futures, drug cartels hiding the merchandise in boxes no one actually uses, or someone has been building a two story home made entirely of bran.   The answer is  -  it's Tony!

Morning Mound [for perspective:  that is a serving spoon and platter].

One of our bran shelves in the kitchen.

Finally, and probably most importantly...our colleagues, Dr, Malika Mootoo, a Mercy Pediatrician; a nurse, Dianne Daly, just starting to teach a critical care certificate course, and Dr. Erv Janssen, the senior statesmen of volunteers to Guyana, were involved in a car accident on Tuesday night.  They are all recovering; Dr, Erv took the worst of the collision and has been a patient at Mercy Hospital since then.  He has had some bruising and a broken nose that refused to stop bleeding, so required surgery early Wednesday morning to pack his nose. 

Who is this Masked Man?

 And then on Thursday, to cheer him up, we gave him the opportunity of teaching all the first year students in his room.  I had spent some time with them to get a couple of questions, but there was no need!  Erv was in good form and might still be teaching except that the students had to go home.

Always a teacher...even when on the "other side".

In the picture above, there is a sculpture on the wall - coloured balls.  Tony bet me I couldn't make up a story: So  just so you know, it is The Three-Eighteen Helix, a human gene that is responsible for human caring and it is commonly known as the Dr. Erv Janssen Gene...  The students were in awe of such a great man; however, Erv being a Good Lutheran and  overwhelmed with the need to tell the truth, said, "No, none of that is true!"  At least it was a good story.

Yippee! The CEO's new office

May I have a "finally" finally?  The shack above is a most welcome site at the hospital as it signifies the start of the rebuilding after the Fire of May 2010.  Much more in following blogs.

More than enough; thanks for coming with me.

Jam-packed with Old Friends and New Students

"Not as funny" last week?  What happened?   I have sat and thought about that at least as long as I have sat and thought about nothing.   And I have concluded that Guyana is now so familiar that there is nothing that jumps out at me as strange or different.  Minibuses, canals, puri, noises, cold showers, clean-ups, heat, school: they all blend in to my awareness -- though our shower does have an orgasmic tendency as it starts and spurts, and I am developing some sensitivity about how a cervix must feel .....  They are all just a part of my normal living like a Cape Sable accent, Sterling's golf swing or a Pubnico Fog at the Creamy Treat.   Maybe it just means that I am getting old, or/and maybe all the differences we see when we first encounter a stranger or another culture are really not important, or at least not as important as the people who become like us as we become like them.

It is a good thing that I still have Tony to provide material!   Tony has slowly been introducing "rules" -- really, more like personal commandments that will guarantee good health.  For example, we now have two communal towels: a bath towel in the bathroom that is for hands only, not bathing; and a hand towel in the kitchen that is never for hands.  The ritual purity of these will no doubt offer a comforting aura to the germ phobias one of us has.   Given that there is mould all over, on every surface in the country which has not seen a detergent/antiseptic near it for a decade, we will have no fears.   This commandment is not without difficulty as I have run into a real quandary:  I have not figured out how to dry the dishes without touching the hand-towel-that-is-not-for-hands with my hands.   I had thought of buying a carton of sterile gloves, but that does seem a little over the top.   I have, however, been very careful only to use the shared bath towel for my hands, as I think Tony sends samples to the lab.

All joking aside, Tony and I have lived and functioned well together so far with way more pleasure than frustration.   We both share a desire and commitment to make our students the best that they can be.     And we both look past the strangeness of the other to achieve our goals.  

The first two weeks have been filled with "Hello Again".   There are old students - and their children, staff (present and past), members of Lutheran churches here, acquaintances in all parts of Guyana.   I could have spent the last  two weeks visiting, eating and liming with them all.  ("Liming" is roughly to casually relax with a group of close friends or family, and it sometimes occurs in the presence of alcoholic beverages.)    This would have been the case, except that I have also been meeting and liming with new people.  Claudette has introduced us to her circle of friends and we have been upscale-liming.

Helen Browman, Ian Donnelly, Nikki demonstrate advanced liming techniques at Claudette's home.

Speaking of old friends: I miss my companion/colleague of the last eight years. Pastor Richard Young - "Dick".  He left last year and wanted to retire to his farm in Oregon and serve the church part-time; however, there is no longer room for old missionaries, so he packed his bags and headed to Africa.    It is just not the same here without him.  Be well in Africa, my friend!

Our PBL experiment [The Sequel] has been going better than expected in that we seem to have generated some interest in the approach beyond Tony and me.  Claudette and Marysia have brought a Guyanese and Nursing perspective to the small groups.   And our "guinea pigs" from last year asked me if they could actually sit in to help the new students in their groups some day!    Strike while the iron is hot I say ..... always a good thing considering my memory, too.    So in less than a flash they were added to the first year groups that afternoon.   Supportive upper class students ..... I almost fainted!  

The second-year students in my group were great imitators of Tony and me.  They asked questions and supported the first year students' wonderings, and even asked new questions for themselves about the story they had explored last year.  This is another clear violation of the purist PBL rules, but it worked out great.  (I will now have to concoct a descriptive rationale so it seems planned rather than just "a good idea at the time".)

Speaking of changes, we had our students go to the wards to spend 30 minutes with a patient - just chatting and understanding what the world of a patient was like.   When I went to the wards to arrange this, I figured that I'd get the "overworked, too busy" stuff and I did -- AND I got "Sure, Rev"!  So on the following day, Tony and I led out 20 students to be thrown alive in front of patients and upper classes and staff... No one died - at least, not right away.   The working nurses greeted the students and took them to the best talkative patients on their floor and guided them with respect and interest.     Amazing!  No hazing, no intimidation; I figured that I would wake up at any moment.   Nope, it was really happening.

I took some pictures during that time and had them ready by the next day's class, in which the students had written individual thank you notes as a homework assignment and were giving them to "their" patients.   One or two patients had been discharged home and one had received the "Ultimate Discharge" and died.
Our student was devastated to find out her patient had died; and, she with her thank you note and picture in hand.   The first person who dies in our careers sometimes leaves significant marks on us.  (The first for me was William C. Rae... not bad 40 years later for someone who can't remember a name 10 seconds later.  I guess it was important.)

I chatted with the student, and her batchmates supported her, and with some encouragement she shared her experience and personal feelings with the whole class.  And she went back to the ward to get the address of his family to write a second thank you note.   She had almost not talked to him as he was very sick, but Tony sent her back to be with him.   She had held his hand and smiled at him and asked him lots of questions to which he nodded.  I guess having a beautiful young girl pay attention to you and hold your hand is not too bad a way to die ... but he was only 26 .....  And so the first scar appears on her nursing soul... She will remember him and herself... as I remember Rae and my own journey.  

We have added a new student, Zaheeda, who was a Mercy Graduate before my time even.  She is doing her Masters through St. Joseph College in Connecticut. (This is an unpaid announcement:  the nursing school/faculty at St Joe's College has been extremely supportive for Nursing in Guyana.)  Zaheeda has been asking us all sorts of theoretical questions -- I usually send her to Tony.   In true McMaster style, she moved from observer (actually, she hadn't even got to observe a group yet) to tutor, in order to gain a better perspective.  ( It may have also been that we were short a tutor .....)   She survived and is returning, even though she has filled the requirements of her course.   

You know this succeeding is so un-Guyanese... I should be worried, but hey, I can be depressed another day... Today we are winning.

I didn't get to write about my girls at St. Ann's, my Elmer Gantry impersonation, the gratitude for (and use of) the donated computers,  my "sons" Julian and Rashleigh - who always find me ..... but enough for this time.

Thanks for remembering me...

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.

"Nothing" Accomplished - Thanks

All my hard training paid off as I kept my edge for the whole grueling event.  It will take some time for me to get a total of funds raised as there is a post strike here in Canada.
 All in all, it was probably not my greatest idea and definitely not my worst.   What I tried to accomplish was bring some attention to Tony and my efforts to get our students connected to the great electronic resources on the net.  
While I clearly didn't raise enough money for netbooks for each of the first year students, we will have about 6 new well-equipped laptops for the students at the Cafe.   Maybe we will restrict the new computers for students only - otherwise it seems that they are confiscated by staff. 
I'll include a picture of me in my uniform: a custom-designed Guyana T-shirt, official government hat and my own special touch - "Golden Arrowhead" pants.   I had to search all over for the yellow, green, red, black and white.  I am in conversations with an international clothier about taking the design global.  

Notice: The well-used "Couch Potato" pillow...

Only two months left before we head back to Mercy... Thanks for your support.