Wrapping up our immersion experience

This is the most challenging thing I have ever done and yet the most rewarding. I am filled with a lot of different feelings. The people here are extending such hospitality, warmth, and love to us. I also see such gratitude in their eyes for everything they have. Listening to the praise and worship in the church makes me cry with joy. We are so blessed in our country we take so much for granted. We need to do a better job teaching our children gratitude, respect, and love…gracious behavior. Why is it the children here who have so little act like they have so much and the children at home who have so much act like they have so little? I hate to say it but….we need to look at ourselves…..

Our American culture is disheartening in so many ways…..

Monsignor snuck away and went golfing today…after celebrating two Masses…..!!!!!  He never stops!! The people here love him as much as our Saint Monica’s Community does! I was glad he had some him time J He loves each one of us and demonstrates it constantly. I like how he keeps asking me how I am! I am glad to be cared about by this great Father.

I am grateful for my shepherd Arthur. . . .  He’s been wonderful!

                                                                    - Katherine Chrisman Halfenberg

Kids in Dandora live near or even on the trash dump site.

Children at the Boma Rescue Centre were grateful to receive
clothing funded by last year's St Monica pilgrims, as well as
new and used sports equipment.  Stickers handed out made for
an extra bit of silly fun!

Celebrating two Masses on Sunday

Today we had the pleasure of celebrating Mass in two communities. After the Mass at St. James we were presented with gifts, I received this beautiful dress made with African designed cloth. The students in the sewing class at St James School made all the people from Santa Monica Parish a magnificent custom made dress or shirt. We were so grateful for their love and affection for us.

                                                                                - Barbara Sandusky

The children of Boma Rescue Centre

Because of the amazing hospitality of our friends and the incredible resilience of the Kenyan people, it can be easy to forget that there is profound suffering in Dandora. On Monday at the Boma Rescue Center, we received a clear reminder in the simple words and actions of a child.

Felicia, a young girl in the program at the Centre this year wanted to a share with her visitors the story of so many found living on the dump and now coming to Boma. She began so strong with a few props to reenact the search for recyclables or other items of some value in the raw garbage dumped each day. With alternating verses in English and Swahili, she presented a story of a single parent, unable or unwilling to work sending out the child to pick through the dump to find enough to earn enough for some food. She spoke of the hunger, the call first to try anything to push down that hunger--usually sniffing glue, and then the addiction that quickly follows. She spoke of the risks and violence and then as suddenly as she had started, she collapsed into tears--her props dropped, shoulders heaving, and her strong voice suddenly quiet.

Felicia with Monsignor

This is not a bit of fiction--just some sad story--to her, but instead the story from someone who has lived immense pain.

While now in a better situation because of Boma, the children there have help in breaking their addictions, regular meals, and help in working on a pathway into proper foster homes and back into school, but the experiences these children have already had to bear in their young lives is almost impossible to contemplate.

Boma itself is a hardscrabble place--a small plot right on the edge of the active dump site. It provides a place  of safety and community for children who are usually found living full time on the dump. Over the course of a year, they are aided, coaxed, and cajoled to spend their days at Boma. They are fed, they learn a few basic skills, and whenever possible, they are placed with supportive family or a foster family, and they are lead back to school.

Our brief visits to Boma are usually greeted with a lot of joy because the kids embrace the new clothing and toys that we bring along with the opportunity to simply be with an adult who is focused, if only for a moment, on one person, but Felicia helped us remember what's important.

                                                               - Christopher Bell

The children smile almost unaware of the poverty surrounding them

I am so honored to be a part of this experience and to have gotten to know my fellow travelers.  And I am so proud of the work my cousin, Father Bob Dowd, has done towards helping the wonderful people of Holy Cross by bridging the gap between them and America via St. Monica’s.  It was very surreal seeing people pick through the endless mountains of garbage alongside the pigs and goats, yet not appearing to stand in judgment of each other.  Another lesson in judgment was the children in their school uniforms, some of their shoes barely had soles, yet their joy and laughter were the most stable foundation any of us could possibly hope for.

                                                               - Paula Andersen, Louisville, KY 

Arthur (medical researcher) and Paula (registered nurse) give medical supplies
to the staff of the Br Andre Dispensary.

Dandoran kids learn at an early age to be generous to the Church

The children of Kenya are taught at an early age to be charitable.  Yesterday during our Mass with the St. James school children, every person including the youngest children gave a donation, however small, for the Mass.  The children were also charitable to each other.  During a salsa dance performance by the older children two four year olds joined the production.  They were welcomed and encouraged to join the group!  What lovely values the Kenyan’s have!
                                                                                  - Patti Summers

The feast, the party, and friends

During a break in the celebration,
Monsignor checks in on his namesake Lloyd

The St James feast celebration is a big one for the school, but even after all of the songs, poems, dancing, reviews, fashion shows, and even a few games, the day represents a great demonstration of the way Holy Cross and St Monica come together in the most fundamental ways.

Like kids everywhere, the children of St James just wanted to sing and play and dance and were happy to have some fun with the visitors from far away. We also were able to enjoy a special lunch with faculty and parents to experience what makes this school so special from their perspective.

It was also a great chance to meet with many old friends, reflect on past visits, and lock in some new friendships too. (Plus where else would one get a chance to play the Kenyan version of Duck, Duck, Goose with an audience of cheering kids?)

- Christopher Bell

Kids warm the soul

We had an exciting day at the Holy Cross Dandora parish, celebrating the Feast of St. James with the children of St. James School. I got a great laugh from watching the children interact: at Mass, during the talent show, and during the fashion show. They had some big personalities, but were definite troopers, sitting patiently and showing great respect for one another. I was dragged into the performances on two occasions by the students, removing all doubt about my terrible dance moves. The students, on the other hand, showed great skills, including some talented four-year-olds. I thoroughly enjoyed the infectious joy of the students today and look forward to seeing them again later on in the week.

          - Nathaniel Miller