New England Friends Women
United Society of Friends Women
February 2005
Rural Service Programme
This issues appeal is for the Rural Service Programme in Kenya.
Since Mary Juma's visit this past summer Karen and Stan Bauer of Iowa Yearly Meeting have gone to Kenya to help set up the beginnings of a dairy farm on land that has been given on a long term lease from East Africa Yearly Meeting. The Bauers were the interim directors at the Friends Theological College between Sandy and Rich Davis and Mary Kay Rehard and Patrick Nugent. They have continued to feel called to help in Kenya. With their background in farming they were an excellent choice to help oversee setting up this new initiative.
Most of the money raised for this venture has come from New England and New York Yearly Meetings. It is a wonderful opportunity to have Quakers from many Yearly Meetings come together to help. The Bauers are planning to go back to Kenya in the spring/summer, as may I at the same time.
Darcy Drayton
Presiding clerk
Excerpts from Karen Bauer's Kenyan Journal.
Why did we
come back [to Kenya]? What is Rural Service?
Last summer,
sponsored by Darcy Drayton, Mary Juma came to the US.
Mary who works for Rural Service invited us to Kaimosi
to start a dairy project on the East Africa Yearly Meeting Farm.
Rural Service is a Kenyan Quaker organization funded mainly by German
Quakers, AFSC and Bread for the World.
Their work is to educate people about clean water use, growing more
food for families and developing micro enterprises. These things help
people become more self sustaining. Rural Service works with the
entire community and does not discriminate. They serve Quakers,
Catholics, Muslims, it does not matter. While doing the field
work, Rural Service has seen a need to develop new programs as a
result of the increasing number of widows and orphans from the AIDS
epidemic. It is their hope that these new programs including
feeding programs for widows and orphans would be funded by money
raised from milk sales from the dairy project. Rural Service was the
first to ask us to come and help. That is why we were back in Kenya.
The conversation about the dairy farm was most interesting. Many Kenyans hoped we would stay and bring the farm back to its original glory when the Musungus (white people) were serving the mission farm. Imagine their surprise when we said no, that the development would need to proceed slowly and the Kenyan people through RSP would be doing the work and growth would depend on their success. It was our hope to help provide some of the starting capital (Cows, Seeds, materials). We assured them that they ( Kenyans) had the knowledge, talent and skills to make the farm very successful and that they really did not need us to ‘run’ things.
Statistics on HIV in Kenya are very depressing. 2001 figures indicate that a child born today has a 1 in three chance of dying of AIDS in its lifetime. It was reported that 700 Kenyans die of AIDS every day. Their life expectancy has been reduced from 63 years to 48 years.
We visited our first widow and orphan group on January 3. We went to Kitale and met with the Nyasi Central Orphan Care Group. The group has 25 adult members, 4 widows are HIV positive and three orphans are HIV positive. The main aim of the group is to encourage one another by helping them work on their farms, sharing the word of God, and creating HIV awareness in the community. Their main challenges are to find ways to continue to provide funds to educate the orphans. Of the 33 orphans, 6 are in secondary school, which requires the payment of school fees. Providing clothing, food and shelter is also a challenge. Ten widows have been left without property, because after the death of their husbands their property was taken away. The group would like to find ways to provide home based medical care to those who are HIV positive. The current group activities are making table clothes for sale and growing sweet potatoes and vegetables for sale. With all their tragic stories they still had joy; they were alive and helping each other. They were singing joyfully and shared warm sweet potatoes and showed us their work. We told them that we came to see RSP and are looking forward in the next six months to evaluating how RSP has helped them.
When visiting the widows and orphans groups we discovered that the needs of each group are overwhelming and in many ways similar. The stories are heartbreaking. In all, I visited 12 of the 28 widows and orphans groups that RSP has identified. My message was always the same. I hold a burden in my heart for them and I care. We hope to work with RSP so they can provide some of the support they need. We are looking forward to coming back in June to see how RSP has helped them. The need is evident. We will need this time to help us discern how best to go forward. My biggest concern: How many will die before we return in June?
My last story is about a woman named Kristin, a beautiful woman, who in superb English told how she was a teacher. Her husband died of AIDS and she also is infected. The school administration and parents became fearful that she would spread the disease to the children and fired her. Now, jobless and displaced, she lives a very lonely life. Ostracized, the only people she can turn to are the widows and orphans in her group. She wanted me to understand that her own people do not acknowledge her and fear even touching her. She feels alone.
When the meeting closed, I knew I needed to shake her hand. I wanted her to know that I was not afraid to touch her. I thanked her for sharing her story. I wanted her to know that I cared, I wanted her to know that God cares and I would pray for her. I hope I will see her in June. Perhaps I will not.
In the story about Jesus feeding the five thousand, I am impressed that even when He wanted to be alone, Jesus had compassion on the sick and He healed everyone who was sick.(Matt 14:14) The widows and orphans who are victims in one way or another from the AIDS epidemic could be compared to the lepers in Jesus’ time. How I respond to these needs is a demonstration of the Christ testimony that is in my heart. Clearly I can not ignore my love for the people of Kenya. I hurt for the women and children who are victims of AIDS, abused, oppressed, and displaced. How much of a nation must be lost before the culture changes to something more life giving and respectful toward everyone? I continue to struggle with the question of where God is leading me.
Karen Bauer
Welcoming Children, Boisterous and Gentle
People careened into the special Meeting for worship with wings on their feet. Some Quakers stumbled in, refusing any help from the family members accompanying them. Others babbled in high soft voices as unconsciously as speaking in tongues. One came in purposefully, and with a steely lower lip sat apart from her family. Some wore smocked dresses and lacy socks; others wore faded jeans, holey T-shirts and tall sneakers, untied.
A called meeting for the welcoming of new babies had begun. About 60 people filled the benches, half of them under twelve: crawlers, snufflers, peepers and a tiny puffball only 2 months old.
Jared, two-and-a-half-feet tall handled the occasion like a circus master. He circled around the inner square of benches like an airplane curving in for a landing.
Children gathered with a rousing song, This Little Light of Mine. Next, names were said as each voice was recognized in the circle. Dozens of eyes set themselves on each child: one murmured “Emily”, then one rang out “Justin”, then a silent one gave a downward glance and a tucking-in of the chin until the father spoke for him, “Keith Westwood”. The invisible baton of God’s love touched every head.
Julia’s tall body swept up from the bench. Speaking for First Day School, she proclaimed this as a day of joy and largess. She seemed a celestial mountain amongst clattering shooting stars at her feet. Gifts of large red books were presented to the 0, 1, 2 year-olds by the 7, 8, 9 year-olds. The books were a huge success: the 2-year-olds craned their necks to look, more interested in reading their neighbors’ books than the ones in their own laps. The 1-year-olds tried wielding the flat rectangles like boulders. The newborns stared widely at everything but the books. The newest born shut out the commotion with a nap, no doubt able to listen better to the Light Within when he went inward.
We settled into silence. We were praying. Many were making noises. Julia invited us to tell stories to each other. One story was of a Jewish boy who played the violin beautifully before serving in the military in WWII. On his return from duty he put the violin to his chin but couldn’t move the bow across the strings. His soul couldn’t bear the music after the horrors of war. Decades later, as he retired, he was looking for new interests. So very gingerly, when alone in the house, he repeated the motion of putting the bow to the strings, with much force of will. Slowly the bow stroked one note after another, music issued forth and so his heart was mended. In what ways do we take time to revive ourselves as parents?
How do we learn from that of God in our children? Sometimes they shout at us to stop, and listen. Sometimes they scamper about the day and we need to figure out what children need without them telling us. Tess shared how since Sam was born she’s had trouble regulating sleep, eat and cleaning–the basics. But she noticed that Sam has no qualms knowing when to eat or sleep or get clean (a rare event). So parents and grandparents relearn old lessons, reordering their priorities. How do we keep close to our nature, which is the same as our spirit?
Dear parent God, do you give us children to teach us lessons more than any physician could instruct us? We give thanks that they come to worship in the way they know best.
Minga Claggett-Borne
Children & Youth
Imagine a World With No Heaven or Hell
During the last few months while observing several events occurring on this planet,I found myself compelled to abandon restraint and convey to those reading this article, the possibility of a universal experience in this world, beyond the scope of common understanding, calling for our absolute attention and concern. But first, a story:
1984 in Washington State: On the tip of the Olympic Peninsula, bordered by the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Ho Rain Forest on the other, was a tiny strip of National Forest offered by the Macah Nation that laid claim to this sacred area, a rugged shore with reefs and tide pools, sea otters and their narrow water slides that provided quick access to the shore at night There was a small island you could walk to when the tide was out and a larger island accessible in a minus tide where the dead were buried from the Macah Nation.. In the eighteenth century a mudslide had descended upon the aboriginal people's village that resided there and all the people died beneath the earth. The Native Americans allowed the University of Washington to excavate some of the archaeological remains until the elders said, "No more.” The artifacts were placed in a museum on the reservation and a long house erected on the shore in memory of "those who have come before.” A bench was inside the long house for sitting and waiting and watching for the presence of “those who have come before” to teach you as you focused on the waves and the islands. It was here our family met Jim, a village elder, whose home was erected from drift wood. He was the "watcher” of the land and sea while strangers camped on the shore. Jim became friends to our family. We came three years in a row and each time he remembered us, let us use his drinking water, spoke to us about the difference between 'looking' and 'seeing' and taught our children to carry water jugs on a pole,over their shoulders. He told us how to find the rock carvings of his people, a library of great events and deeds in that community. He taught us the earth mother is upset, restless and ready to speak to the people who inhabit her body. He told us that when she speaks it will be very uncomfortable for the people of earth.
1993 in Massachusetts: We attend Peace and Dignity Camp to learn the sacred teachings of the Aztec Peoples as taught by Aztec elder Tlakaelel. He teaches the people about the "fire circle” where the group gathered in a circle around the sacred fire. The "talking stick" is held and you can hold it and speak as long as you walk in an "earthrise direction" [clockwise] to be in non-resistance with the earth and speak only the leadings of truth. We came to learn the fire is likened to the holy spirit or the light within. We were gathered in unity and minister to one another as the spirit leads. We listen to the teachings of Tlakaelel which speak of the earth cleansing every 12 thousand years or "the shift." He warns us our abuse of this planet is so great the time for the cleansing is at hand.
1996 in Fonda, New York: We visit the Mohawk nation and speak to spiritual leader Tom Porter. We traveled to learn about the beatified Mohawk/Algonquin Kateri of the Catholic Church to know what her true story was. Tom Porter spoke to us down by the shore of the Mohawk River at dusk, with the busy interstate on one side and the sacred tobacco leaf crop on the other. The story Tom shared with us is not to be shared here but he did speak of the clans of the Mohawks, the matriarchal structure of the Mohawks, and the "Clan Mothers" of which Kateri was one. He spoke to us of the degradation that occurred to his people in the "boarding schools". He shared that this intentional community is to bring the language and traditions back to their young people in preparation for the "earth changes coming soon.” He told us the only books he has in the bookstore from non-native peoples are from Quakers, “because they often think as a native does, they were kind, offered help to us from their hearts not their greed” Our friendship with Tom becomes a blessing.
December 2004: When the Tsunami arrived the earth moved an inch off its axis and the magnetic poles were affected. No small thing! Last week the shores of California had hundreds of dead squid washing up from the waters of the Tsunami. The scientists did not know why. Volcanoes are becoming active. Mud slides and heavy snows are falling in California in amounts and patterns unusual to my childhood state. An ice storm grips Georgia. Bodies of land in the water have been altered both in Florida from the hurricanes and in the region of the Tsunami. Yet, scientists come on the news and say, “Not to worry, this is all normal.” Are we to believe them? Or do we believe the native elders whose ancestral traditions have witnessed this before? Should we sit complacently continuing to consume and indulge or should we be gazing at the stars, the ocean, the green grass and asking, “How can I help to ease the suffering of the mother earth and bring in the new age on earth of peace and balance with the mother earth?" We watch the leaders of our country tear and infect the planet's crust with gashes and chemicals from explosions. Crumbled homes are a common sight on nightly news. We watch the leaders of our country worship a strange god, one of domination, greed, and approval of death to the innocent. Are we, as our forefathers did, ready to declare independence from an evil far greater than anything King George could dream of? Are we ready to listen to the nations of indigenous peoples who, even after the abuses they endured from us, are trying to warn us to save us from ourselves? The First Nation Peoples know and accept, they do not fear and neither should we. Remember the animals in the Tsunami, none perished because they listened to the mother's warning and moved inland. They listened to their inner voice. The strains from the music of John Lennon still ring so beautifully clear. Can we "Imagine a world with no heaven or hell?"
2004 Canyon DeChelle. Arizona: A Navajo elder woman sits in the back seat of our rented car. We are taking her back to her humble house after picking her up on the road. As we separate she grabs me and hugged me, kissing me on the cheek and says, "Remember! The church is within you!"
Christine Lundquist-Wozich,
Christian Service
Minute Excerpts: United Society of Friends Women Fall meeting- 3 October, 2004 Held at Durham, ME Meeting
Attenders: Angela Hopkins – Acadia; Ileana Matamoros, Gate West - Cambridge; Carolyn Miller, Katherine Mulhern, Barbara Sturrock - Dover; Helen Clarkson, Dorothy Curtis, Bernice Douglas, Dorothy Hinshaw, Clarabel Marstaller, Nancy Marstaller, Sukie Rice, Margaret Wentworth – Durham; Christine Holden. - Lewiston; Marian Baker, Darcy Drayton - Weare
History of USFW . Clarabel explained briefly about how USFW began with women who were involved and interested in missions. More recently it is has broadened its focus to include peace and social concerns as well. The name changed again to reflect its international membership
Kitsie Hildebrandt and Cathy Mulhern were appointed to get more copies of the Handbook of USFW, and the book about the history of USFWI for those who are newer to USFW, and to bring them to our spring meeting. for sale.
Report of USFWI Triennial. Angie, Dorothy, Darcy, Minga, Ann, and Marian all attended. There seems to be an increasing interest in USFWI to form spiritual relationships between USFW's from other cultures. NEYM's minute about its sister relationship with Cuba and with Kakamega USFW helped encourage others.
Next issue of Newsletter.
Outreach to others in New England Yearly Meeting
Report from Dorothy Hinshaw, our representative on the USFWI Board. -The first meeting was held recently in Richmond, Indiana. For the first time we have a Kenyan woman on the executive committee, Gladys Kangahi. -Cynthia Steele of Wilmington YM was appointed as an assistant presiding clerk. -The next International Triennial Planning committee will be led by Judy Kendall and Lois Jordan of Indiana along with Karen Bauer of Iowa. -The budget for global ministries projects to be supported by USFWI will be listed in January Advocate. All were encouraged to subscribe to the Advocate to keep up to date on international activities of USFW. -The minute from NEYM to the Triennial got referred to the executive committee. Concern arose about the effect of raising funds for USFWI projects that would compete with raising funds for sister relationships. They will encourage intervisitation and sharing of hospitality and spiritual sharing between groups, rather than any financial sharing.
Invitation to visit Cuba USFW in March. If there are those who are feeling called to go (and who follow the proper procedure of getting clearness from the monthly meeting, quarterly meeting, and yearly meeting permanent Board), we would endorse such to go ahead. We brainstormed who might be interested. Carolyn Miller with Minga and Ileana's help are asked to facilitate the preparation of a group to go.
Winter appeal Since less than usual has come in so far for the previous appeal( Mary Juma' s work with Rural Service Program), we decided to give friends a second chance to give this winter and include an update on Rural Service Program in our Winter newsletter. Friends were also encouraged to hold bake sales to support a project, or to invite other local meetings to your meeting for a potluck and a time to learn more about the Rural Service Program and its work with widows and orphans of Aids. Darcy might be willing to come to such events.
Spring Appeal. We will have Ramallah Play Center as our spring appeal.
Budget. Clarabel presented the budget in writing. We decided to increase the newsletter budget by one hundred and decrease the contingency fund by one hundred. We approved the budget as corrected with thanks.[see next page]
Nominating Committee
Spring Meeting. We decided to meet on Sunday, May 1, at Cambridge Meeting. Gate will check on availability and will contact Wellesley as a backup if needed. -We will honor two more of our older ladies from southern New England. -As a theme we decided to follow-up on our program- A sharing of our own stories around relationships across differences/ cultures. We are especially interested in looking at the challenges that we have overcome in our lives in dealing with people of other backgrounds, economic levels, race, culture etc.
Travel Minute Endorsements from our USFW. Marian shared that most of her ministry in Kenya and Jamaica is with women, She wondered if USFW New England would be interested in adding an endorsement to her travel minute. We approved that endorsements be written for:
Marian Baker, for her ongoing ministry amongst Kenyan and Jamaican women
Darcy Drayton, and Suki Rice for their ongoing ministry among Kenyan women
And for all those who travel to Cuba USFW on our behalf. Darcy will write the minutes with help from Dorothy Hinshaw, Asst. Presiding Clerk.
Thanks were expressed for the warm welcome and hosting by Durham Meeting USFW, and prayers were offered for our travels homeward.
Meeting adjourned, purposing to meet again on 1st May, 2005.
Marian Baker
Recording Clerk
Part II: Telling Stories/Sharing Culture
When we decide to write about personal narrative, I believe we are exploring the meaning we put to our lives. As I look back and remember my experiences of the third grade, feeling colored and alone in the class room, afraid of my own voice, I am reminded that this is how I exist today. In fact, it is the way I have existed through the years at NEYM. Through reading the long list of my life exploration, you can see it has not been as smooth as it initially looks when you are only staring at my face. Others, who read my last piece, and even those in my actual third grade class, have mentioned that though they may not have the description of “being colored” but this experience brought up their similar memories of feeling different. For them, and for me, there was a hesitancy to share personal thoughts and experiences because we fear being marginalized. We fear being made into an example that proves to be something we would otherwise avoid, an unacceptable angry reactive person, not one who holds weight, not someone who needs to be heard. Ironically, while I explore my own experiences, I have learned that my life does give meaning to me, to my children, my friends, my co-workers, and even my mother about the thread of common possibility. Who knew?!!!
Women’s Ways of Knowing: A Theory and an Intervention, was written by Blythe McVicker Clinchy, while at Wellesley College in 1988. She worked to explore how women build knowing; exploring what women understand of culture and its connection with the woman’s personal story. As I read through her writing, I realized that there are many times, even in our liberated and open Quaker society, that we remain closed to women’s emotional intelligence. In this book, Clinchy mentions that the women she studied come from “invisible colleges.” She explains that when we really listen to each other, we begin to create new theories based on real experience and liberate the knowledge often left unexplored. She describes that general knowledge is obtained in many ways: 1/ We gain knowledge through attending school, and she labeled this received knowledge (through a classroom); 2/Others may rely on the subjective, looking inside themselves for their personal truth, relying only on their emotions. These women have little trust in experts, and believe that their feelings are what Clinchy calls “infallible.” 3/ Connected knowing is a way to disagree with someone while trying to see why they say what they say. It is not about abandoning your own beliefs, but asking questions that might prove to expand our knowledge of the other person’s idea, or belief system. Lastly, the separate knower refrains from judgment, not showing any feeling, keeping a more traditional view.
I began hearing voices. Yes, of being told that because Quaker women hold positions of responsibility we don’t experience such problems. Also, because we are Quaker women, violence does not happen in our lives. We also expect Quaker women to express their intelligence, share their skills, and engage in their communities. If that is so, why and how does it happen that at many of the Yearly Meetings I have attended do I notice that it is easier to ignore a woman standing to speak than it is to ignore a man? How many times have I seen men give an impassioned message in meeting—talking about our propensity to war, our wastefulness of nature, and we listen patiently? And, in a similar vein, a woman gives a message loaded with the struggles and wars of her life, and she is eldered about the position and tone of her message. Is it true that we can agree to pledge and keep the Peace Testimonies while denying the emotional, physical, cultural double standards that happen in our meetings? More than just a feminist complaint, I want to understand what meaning it gives to those of us who are afraid to stand and to make our thoughts and intentions known? What do others say about writing our stories? Why are they so important?
I have come to appreciate a listener who is willing to ask questions and hold negative judgment, resting our relationship in trust. I am growing less patient with the person who believes that they know better about what I think and experience. Our greater society has not taught us enough about how to communicate with one another, especially when we have disagreements, and we are feeling different. As an individual, one stands within ones own boundary and on ones own history as though the path were a carpet or grass underneath ones own feet. This history rises up into us, as we breathe, experience, and speak our issues and beliefs. Two people brought up in the same family do not have all the same experiences. My own brother, who I adore, will tell others who are surprised that we are even related, (because of our differing familial experiences) that we grew up with different parents. Marital partners work on ways their individual birth family made decisions; this often ends up in conflict until new expectations are constructed. When listening to the next person, it is important to not only look at them, listening to the words, but to also remember why we are together. What is the intention; what is our connection? It is important to speak to this, sending our words up, as though we truly are speaking to that of God within us. When this happens, it is powerful to also see that way does open.
Anita Mendes
Peace and Social Concerns
Fall Program of USFW of NEYM: Ways we can work cross culturally and share spiritually with other cultures.
Gate West had many questions when she began to visit the prison with others in her meeting. She was moved by an outgoing young man in prison who had the ability to bring out the best in others. It took a while but gradually the sharing deepened. Later Gate took a leap of faith and drove the mother of another inmate to see her son who had been transferred. Gate and the mother found they were both of similar age, both social workers, both single moms. Relationship and trust developed and they could then both kid, laugh with, and trust each other. These two friendships, one a young man in prison and one mother of a prisoner, have greatly enriched her life.
Angie Hopkins was raised as a missionary Baptist and did not discover Quakers until 2001. She read some of the literature, especially of early Friends, and realized that "Oh this is what I am!" Why aren't our faith communities more diverse in color and background? Why are Sunday mornings the most segregated hour in the world? . Authentic relationship building is the essential path we need to go down. The greatest gift we can give in building a relationship with others from a different background, culture, race, etc. is our presence, our willingness to listen and learn from others in mutual ministry.
Marian Baker
Report of my recent travels in ministry in Kenya - 1-18 November, 2004
It poured heavy rain when I arrived in Malava, Kenya (showers of blessing). Crested cranes and colobus monkeys made my bumpy journey on the back of bicycles to Kalanda enjoyable. I first spent time in getting to know the eight aids orphans that Agnetta and James Injairu had adopted. They also have a group of widows who gather together weekly for prayer, fellowship, and support of each other, since the many different churches they belong to do not help them. (In African tradition, widows are shunned, and with Aids causing more widows, the problem is doubled).
The theme that developed this journey was James 1:27- " Pure religion is one that takes care of the orphans and widows, and which keeps you undefiled from things of this world".
I sat in on a leadership workshop for all YM and USFW clerks led by Aquavis, a very encouraging time. Later I met with Kakamega USFW women in the new orphanage at Amalemba, Kakamega. The women were well organized, began with worship, and held a good meeting and finished with a meal together. Meanwhile, the men of Friends Church Kenya slowly drifted in for a meeting upstairs, spent much time on introductions, and didn’t finish their meeting until almost 3PM and then hungrily ate the leftovers from the womens lunch! When Dorcas Luseno, Treasurer of USFW Kakamega gave them a report, (she had served as treasurer for their large triennial last spring), she gave such an accurate written report and had managed to have 10,000 shillings balance that the men clapped in amazement. Meanwhile, for the first time, a woman, Leonida Mugofwa, has been appointed as an officer of a Yearly Meeting, as treasurer of Vihiga YM. Everywhere I went I was impressed by the clever ways women are dealing with the difficult places they are living, finding ways to stretch the money and to feed their children and help others.
I visited four projects, Msamaria mwema (a project of Elgon, Elgon East, and Kitale YM USFW’s), Kakamega USFW Orphanage Project, IcFEM--an interdenominational center started by Ann Lipson in Kimilili, and Mahiakalo Project run by Elizabeth Irungu Malenje just north of Kakamega. Msamaria mwema feeds hundreds of children in six villages, as well as trains school leavers, orphans, and widows in tailoring. Kakamega runs a feeding program in the city as well as works with widows and orphans out in villages and has been given land that they will use for growing cows and vegetables for the orphans. IcFEM, following their motto of "Holy Living and Hard work", offers a library and training workshops for all pastors in the area, has a dispensary, and helps widows and orphans in the area. Irungu’s center provides tailoring, metal work, and carpentry training , and provides mini microenterprise training. They also teach children how to plant and grow food and then give them seed to take home in exchange for their bringing back a small amount of the harvest which in turn provides food for the children at the center! As I learned from one center, I shared the innovative things with the next project I visited.
I spent time at Friends Theological College with Elizabeth Yano, Dean of Students, and with Mary Juma of Rural Service Programme. It was a special blessing to attend a Bible study with all the women students of the college along with Eden Grace and Pat Shrock. It is not always easy for women to be active in ministry as pastors or evangelists in Kenya.
Thanks, God for the many blessings of this journey, and thanks to all who enabled me to take this journey.
Marian Baker
The following poem was recited at one of the widows and orphans groups visited by Karen Bauer. The young girl is home because she no longer can afford secondary school fees. She is struggling to find enough food. She said that she was waiting to die.
A poem on Aids
by Esther Karumwa
Aids Oh Aids
You are a deadly Monster
You have taken our fathers and mothers
Homes are full of graves
Children are orphans
Women are widows
Men are widowers
Why? Just because of you
Scientists have gone to the moon
Made nuclear weapons
Yet your cure has defeated them
Aids do you have mercy?