Joy’s Tales from Thailand 2020

Tales from St. Helena’s Bay #2

Greetings, dear readers, from my current home here at Island House. Do you ever have the feeling that you are at the zenith of your life… that all your prior experiences have prepared you for this precise one? That’s exactly how I feel, most mornings here….

Tales from St. Helena’s Bay #1

My friends Fakier and Tim and I drove north, up the western Cape, through many national preserves, which were mostly ocean-side chaparral with a few ostrich and springbok and flamingoes and ibis.. Everything is dry and it looks like yet another drought year coming, to the farmers’ dismay. Finally, after a few hours, we found Eiland Huis (Afrikaan, for Island House), outside of St. Helena’s Bay.

As my American friend Jimmy Whitfield, who spent several decades as a missionary all over sub-Saharan Africa, wrote me: Truly that part of the Continent is one of the most beautiful places ever created.

So what is a sporadically funded non-profit home for severely disabled children, many of them indigent, doing on a piece of fabulously beautiful beachfront property, you might ask?

Tales from Capetown #1

Greetings, dear friends. And welcome to my initial peek into the world of Cape Town and this year’s adventure….( read about Joy’s first week in South Africa and her discovery of her place of service ….”In St. Helena Bay, a little village three hours north, with no transport other than by car, is a small hermitage set aside for developmentally disabled children (Polio, Down’s Syndrome, Birth defects) who can’t speak and need to be fed.”

Prologue to Tales from Capetown

Hamjambo, marafiki (kiswahili for howdy, friends)! I know that many of you are patiently waiting for this second year’s installment on “Tales From Tanzania” – And I had my air ticket, my visa, gifts and clothes for the kids, lunch dates with friends in Dar Es Salaam and Mwanza….. when I heard from Sister Helena that: “the Busega police are very angry with you…they say that you are a spy..” And, from a certain perspective I guess that is true: I am a photo-journalist. And, at Sister’s request, I did report on the political...

Tales from Tanzania #10

Above is a combination songfest and talent show. The kids voted on who should accompany Sister Helena to a government conference in Mwanza last week. Contest categories included: Volume, Clarity, Behavior, and Endurance…since the field trip would be a twelve-hour day, without food, or naps…. Click here to read the full Tales from Tanzania #10 including Valentines Day project, Nehma’s story, and the farewell songs and blessings for ‘Mama Joy’.              ...

Tales from Tanzania #9

And how do I leave these exquisite children behind me, when I have a personal little tradition or a special sound or a clap-game or a memory that only we share? Friends who know me wondered how I could leave the orphanage in Thailand last year, knowing I wouldn’t be back. Or Cancer Village, in the north of Thailand, or my Buddhist community in Bangkok? Usually there are tears involved, on both sides…. and my profound belief in “annicca” – the Buddhist principle that everything is always shifting…whether I stay or go….....

Tales from Tanzania #8

Remember Beheveh, who ran away from his schoolwork in the last Tales? He has spent many hours here, in front of the the numbers chart, reciting…. early morning, afternoon, and evening, with someone to monitor, assist and support him. Some evenings, Sister Helena will collect pens or plastic bottles, and he will count those instead, to make the numbers three dimensional. Beheveh can now count to twenty. The first time he did it, without help…..the kids intoned one of their favorite chants: Yes! We can! We are people! We can do it!...

Tales from Tanzania #7

Everybody over two years old shares the work, here at the Center. Tasks are done very, very carefully. While watching Habi fold clothes, I realize how sloppy I am, … Each fold has to be perfect. Sister Helena is demonstrating and teaching the children perfection, speed, and endurance. Survival is not assured here in the bush, and Sister wants these children to succeed! If someone over two years old falls asleep, they are advised to stand, and jump up and down. The children will help each other to stay awake. Their day starts before...

Tales From Tanzania #6

One of our recent rituals is pictured above: Sister Helena is passing out a hunk of raw ginger, dipped in salt, for every child to eat. The kids are sick, because one child returned from the holidays with a cold. As Sister said recently, There is no escape…. We don’t have running water or, of course, kleenex or toilet paper, and all the kids blow their nose on the same crusty rag and wash their hands in the same bucket of water before and after a meal. But kids still want a hug, of course, and tiny children are not interested in the...

Tales of Tanzania #5

Zeru Zeru Simama Sasa! is the name of our website, although the Center’s actual name here in Lamadi is: Mary Mother of God Perpetual Help Center. “Zeru Zeru Simama Sasa” is Kiswahili for Ghosts, Stand Up Now! Edward Fabien died last week, overwhelmed with gastro-intestinal imbalance. He was 35. I went to his funeral yesterday, and cried a lot, though I never met him… Edward was born to the Ulluo tribe (which is more predominant in nearby Kenya). He grew up in the mountainous, remote valley where we attended the funeral….his mother...

Tales of Tanzania #4

Two hot news items to report, friends: **Sister Helena is now sure that Jesus and Mother Mary have finally returned from their long sabbatical, and are back on the job. She sees signs of miracles all around. It started when she heard a voice telling her to go on the website and surf for albino children in Tanzania. She discovered that a local politician in Parliament (Titus Kamani) was bragging online about having received a five million shillingi grant (nearly three thousand dollars) from the Prime Minister for “his” center for disadvantaged...

Tales of Tanzania #3

Actually, I can’t give you the full picture, friends. On that motorcycle (below) was : Little Violet in front, the Motorcycle driver, then Sister Helena, then the chicken, then me…. We wound all over the mountainous hillsides on sandy tracks, avoiding the swampy rain-filled ditches, past bullock carts, goats and flocks of sheep, bicycles piled high with firewood… It was such a marvelous sunny breezy day! We spent it (many days, actually) visiting albino children who live WAY out back, delivering sunscreen, checking in, with Sister...