It Feels Like Home

As strange as this sounds, it feels like we are home. Early yesterday afternoon we arrived at Bethany, the place where we will be living and learning for the next thirteen weeks. Everyone that we have met thus far is great.

We were met by Dorothy, the full time resident. It's her job to look after the building in a house mother type role. She was a great welcoming committee. Just as she was invaluable when we were snowed in last December (helping us find food to eat, computers to use, Mass to attend, transportation to the city when we had found a flight out, etc.) she filled us in on our home for the next three months.

Bethany was originally built as a summer home for the wealthy. It burned and was abandoned. The Maryknoll Sisters bought it and 26 acres. Since families of nuns couldn't stay on convent grounds, it was used as a guest house for their visitors. Then they saw a need for assisted living and a nursing home for the aging Sisters. They added on a wing to meet that need. In the 1980s it didn't meet Medicare standards so they decided to build an entirely new building on convent grounds. The Maryknoll Fathers bought it from them and used it as a headquarters for the new organization, Maryknoll Lay Missioners. We are now in the process of buying the building from the priests.

Remember moving into the dorm during college? Bethany is shaped like a capital L. The ground floor has a huge institutional kitchen, dining room and classroom where we will be meeting, laundry room, and computer room. The first floor is taken up with offices and a chapel. The second and third floors are living quarters. One wing contain tiny rooms for single people (newest addition) while the other one has apartments for married couples (original building). Our apartment is small and cozy. We have a tiny kitchen, living room and two bedrooms. Since we are on the top floor, we have tiny dormer windows. They add great character to the apartment.

We are sharing the third floor with Steve, the only other male. John is thrilled to have someone to talk sports with. Ever since Andrea left home, he has missed being able to share games and talk strategy. I'm afraid that I just don't speak the lingo. Steve is an environmental engineer that will be going to Kenya. Together we discovered a great Chinese restaurant last night. The girls all are down on the second floor.

We had just gotten our belongings moved up to the apartment when there was a knock at the door. It was Bill and Eileen, the regional coordinators of East Timor! What a delighful couple. They invited us down to their apartment for tea. Time just zipped by as we chatted the afternoon away. They told some wonderful stories about their time in East Timor. They admitted that is has been their most favorite place to live having also served in Tanzania and Cambodia. You can tell that they love East Timor.

I'm not going to get all of the details correct, but Bill related this story about how they got involved in making tricycle-wheelchairs for disabled. Polio is a huge problem. There aren't recent cases, but many disabled people are living with the results of having had it as a child. One gentleman was working with Bill in his workshop making prosthesis. He lived in an outlying village and rode a horse to work each day. He could not walk and had no muscle control in his legs, so riding a horse was extremely difficult. At least four different times he fell or was knocked from his horse getting seriously injured with broken bones or needing stitches. He finally gave up and decided that he could no longer work.

That got the others in the workshop thinking about what they could do to improve mobility for this man so he could continue to work. They had seen wheelchair vehicles from other countries, but knew that they needed something more sturdy due to the difficult terrain in East Timor. That led them to design a unique chair. They now make about four chairs a month. It has drastically improved the lives of many Timorese. It has also made an impact in their society since these polio victims are no longer a burden to their families, are able to leave their homes and hold jobs. In fact, in Dili an NGO organization holds a 5K run each year to raise funds. They now have a wheelchair division!

Last night there was another knock on our door. It was Nan. We met her last July when we were here for the Discernment Weekend. We made a real connection then and spent quality time visiting. It was interesting to hear about what she has done in the last year that lead her here. She did a great job summarizing what we have found to also be true, "Everyone here is so joyful. It's a great place to be!"