St. Mary's Mission Hospital - Rift Valley

The shores of Lake Elmenteita is where you will find St. Mary’s Mission Hospital - Rift Valley run by a Maryknoll priest and doctor Fr. Bill Fryda. It is a beautiful setting with the lake framed by extinct volcanoes on one side and the escarpment of the Rift Valley on the other.

Lake Elementeita is a soda lake famous for flamingos and pelicans. It has no outlet so only tilapia fish are able to survive in its salty water. During the dry season when the water level falls, people “harvest” the minerals from the shore to sell to livestock owners for salt licks. It is a beautiful place. We wish we had brought along our binoculars. We could see patches of pink in the distance, but weren’t close enough to be able to see the birds.

The guest house.
We spent two nights there while I had a medical test. They have a guest house where people can stay while seeking medical treatment yet don’t need to be hospitalized. As we were checking in we were asking about the lake so they gave us a room on the second floor lakeside so we could view the lake from our window.

The mission hospital is extremely impressive. It’s only four years old. Fr. Bill Fryda is not only a Maryknoll priest but also a doctor. This is the second hospital he has established during his time in Kenya. His hospitals treat patients at cost in the Nakuru and Rift Valley area. In order to attract doctors and other medical personnel away from the big city comforts, the staff is provided housing for their families on the hospital grounds. Another amenity is a club house and a swimming pool for relaxation.

The women's ward.

We had a chance to meet Fr. Bill the first evening we were there. He was riding in his golf cart with his adopted granddaughter back to his house. We had a nice chat and he explained a little more about his work. His first hospital was built in Kiberia, the largest slum in Nairobi. (See our blog dated ********.) Once that hospital was running well, he felt called to open another hospital to help the poor in a rural area. Both hospitals are called St. Mary’s Mission Hospital.

Not only has he started the two hospitals, he opened a secondary school three years ago on the hospital grounds in Kibera, St. Mary’s School. The majority of the students in this school are bright street children who have been able to stay away from drugs, alcohol, sniffing glue and other vices so easily available to those who have no parents to guide them. They are on scholarship. During the month of December these students have no home to return to. So they go to St. Mary’s Mission Hospital – Rift Valley for the month where they are provided with housing, meals, meaningful work, free time and a beautiful setting away from the slum and streets. During the morning, they volunteer in the hospital. In the afternoons they enjoy free time including access to the swimming pool. Fr. Frieda laughed explaining they built the swimming pool before the chapel. Therefore they call themselves the church of the splashing water. The chapel is now under construction.

The day that we arrived was also the day that the 60 students from St. Mary’s School - Kibera also arrived. They stay in 8-man tents located on the hospital grounds. One of them, Kennedy, helped us check-in to the guest house. He later took us down to the pavilion near the lake so we could get a closer look. He was very articulate and a pleasure to chat with. Both evenings we watched a football (soccer) match between some of the staff and the high school boys. Some things are universal! What an opportunity for these young people and how lucky they are to be admitted to St. Mary’s School.

Confirmation of St, Anthony's Students

Since June, I (John) have been working with boys on Thursday afternoons after class

who wanted to join the Catholic Church. The boys also had another session after church on Sunday mornings with another teacher. During October and November they also met with a nun on Tuesday afternoons. I had decided between the Sunday lessons plus a daily CRE (Christian Religious Education) lesson in school that I would use my time on a more practical approach than theology. Besides, most Kenyans probably know the Scriptures better than I do. So, I used most of my time on what it means to be a Christian in daily life.

You have to realize Kenyan culture is very different from American culture. First, having open discussions with students is not a common thing here. Instruction is basically lecture or giving answers back to the teacher straight from the book. So it took awhile for most of the boys to feel comfortable participating in a discussion. One discussion was about taking an item like a pen from someone without asking and then keeping it. Another discussion is how to deal with a friend who does thiefs (steals) from you. I showed the boys how to pray the rosary. I made a copy of my favorite prayers and gave to them. Somehow I miscounted the number of boys and did not have enough. The next day I had a couple of boys who did not get their own copy of the prayers ask me for theirs. Many times I felt my time with the boys gave me more insight into the Kenyan youth culture.

November 12, thirty-seven St. Anthony boys were baptized and confirmed into the

Catholic Church. Another school, Manor House, was also having a group being baptized and confirmed. Since many of the boys’ parents do not live near, there were few relatives attending the ceremony. I was privileged to be the godfather to 2 boys and sponsored 4 boys who were confirmed. After the ceremony we had a group picture of all our boys, sponsors and relatives in attendance.

We had refreshments consisting of a soda and what you would know as a dinner roll afterwards. I gave each of the boys a rosary as a gift to welcome them into the faith. One interesting note to this is that you will see people wearing rosaries as a necklace. The next morning as Cindy and I attended Mass at St. Anthonys we could tell who was baptized the day before by who was wearing their new green rosary.

Recessional led by the liturgical dancers.

Saiwa Swamp

Minh, a fellow Maryknoll Lay Missioner serving in Bolivia, came to Kenya to visit Mary and us, during November. We had a wonderful visit during the four days she was in Kitale. One day we visited Saiwa Swamp National Park located only about 20 miles away. It is the smallest national park in Kenya with an area of less than 3 square kilometers. There are no vehicles allowed in the park so you see everything on walking trails and observation towers built at strategic spots within the park. The park has a typical African wetland climate with two rivers, the Kipsaina and Kapenguria, feeding the swamp.

The national park was created to protect the habitat of the endangered sitatunga antelope and de Brazza’s monkey. Over 372 bird species have been spotted there. We saw many, but don’t really know much about birds. There are many small animals in the park including otters, aardvarks, civit cats, and servals that we didn’t get to see. However, we saw the rarest and most famous.

The sitatunga antelope has splayed hooves that allow it to walk on submerged vegetation. It is reddish-brown in colour with very large ears. It spends most of its day submerged resting in shaded areas. When in danger it submerges all by the tip of its nose. We were able to see one from a distance from one of the observation towers. It was a good thing we had brought our binoculars!

When you hear rustling in trees, look up because it is probably monkeys in the

trees. We were able to see De Brazza’s, colobus, and sykes monkeys. The de Brazza’s monkeys are also called swamp monkeys. They have rarely been captured because they are so good at camouflaging themselves when in danger. The colobus are easy to sight because they are black and white looking very much like a flying skunk. The sykes’ monkey is also called the blue monkey because its fur is grey to black in color.

Minh was a great guide. She was able to spot small interesting plant life along the paths including mushrooms, lichens, different type of mosses, and orchids. We picked up several varieties to bring home and plant in our garden, but I’m afraid most of them have died because it just isn’t moist enough right now. Perhaps if we were still early in the rainy season.

It was a fun outing that provided plenty of exercise and interesting things to see.
To see more photos click here.

Thanksgiving

It has been the tradition of the Maryknoll Lay Missioners to hold their annual regional meeting in Nairobi over Thanksgiving weekend. It gives us the chance to celebrate this American holiday with fellow Maryknoll priests and sisters. We arrive by Wednesday evening. Thanksgiving morning is a retreat of the lay missioners. This year it was led by Judy who helped us relax with yoga and meditation. That afternoon you are on your own. John and I went to the Nigerian High Commission to pick up our visas for our Christmas trip to see Katrina. The evening meal is the traditional Thanksgiving feast as best as we can do in Kenya.

We though you might like to see some photos from our celebration.

The Society House chefs and kitchen help: John, Jothem and Paul.

Mary visiting with Father Lance and Father Dick.

Ilona, Pat, me, Coralis, and Father Dick.

Kathy and Susan leading our sing-along.