My Final Post

We have now turned over our clinic, counseling/medical/HIV/AIDS/obgyn and all Mission Statements and all files to The Chief of Medicine at the hospital. We all had sadness while turning over the fruits of our labor. We shared building the clinic from square one to a functioning clinic that hundreds of people now welcomed into their lives. How humbling this was for the four of us. Our first day off was wonderful, we all woke up at 6 am. by habit, then we all slept till 11 pm that night. Two days left, we chose to travel to the ocean. Three buses later and several hours, we arrived at the Indian Ocean. We stayed there as long as possible, swimming, playing by the sea side, till we had to return by bus and return to Narobi. Tomorrow we pack and prepare for the car to arrive. Should arrive in NYC past the date line being ahead of North America, on the 26th, sh. When I am in Manhattan, I will call everyone.

In My Heart,
Joe

Candians watching the sunset

This is the sunset we watched last night. We have not had a full day off from the clinics to date.
The demand for clinic time has overwhelmed the four of us. 6 am. till 7 pm. Long hours, and at times we feel that we are not helping enough people. I schedule intake for 15 minutes, to identify acute needs, then refer out to the other doctors in our clinic or to in house doctors. I also red tag client files needing counseling, all aspects, that I will conduct therapy with. So far I have 90 clients, plus all the intakes I must take as head of clinical psychology.
When we have the possibility of sight seeing, we all claim to by Canadian, with accents to match. I gave Lance, Remy, and Sheri Canadian lessons. Americans are now well liked and several kidnappings have been reported on the local news. Every country I have been to seem to not care for Americans reporting they dislike P Bush, thus all Americans in general.
We have named our hotel suite Canada Central. We are greeted in a friendlier manor, so we continue to lie about our nationality.
We are picked up from the hotel lobby and herded into a suv, dark windows, and arrive at the hospital with dozens of patients already waiting.
Tonight when we return to the suite, we are having a "Canadian Party" "A". We all have to speak in kind. There will be Canadian beer and White Trash food. Should be rather fun.
A good release for the stress and hundred of files that go into the general files of the hospital.

Have to leave,
cheers,
Joe

Another Blessing


Monday 2:45 am.


" Yesterday we sat among pines and thorns Writing metaphors while birds filled the woods. Stop one brief instant while branches mourn, Hiding grief and shame among many moods, The group of us with dirty feet, torn nails, Life placed carefully beneath the roots of a tree. I remember Tuesday night because it hailed although watching through the window, I failed to go outside and gaze up with the others; the fire kept me inside, loving the flames. Later the warmth of soft and safe covers blanketed me from the day's rainy games. The day kept me in sync with my soul each time I write I am closer to whole."

The poem allows my legion of thoughts settle into the dust of the day.

We four, Remi,Lance, Sheri, any myself reside in a comfortable hotel suite, living room four bedrooms with baths, opening into the living room. We have our privacy this trip but, we spend most of out free time in the living room.

We all arrive safely to our home, our "bastion" were we can relax. Our next mission will be dinner down stairs, being yelled at, must go.
We are all blessed this day,

Love
Joe

Kenya Time Table

Well another day. my current revised Clinic Plan of Operation has been approved. The clinic is up and running by 80 per cent tomorrow. We even have air conditioning. Weather has been 50's during evening hours, and 70's in the daytime. A huge change from 110 degrees at 6 am, in Chad.

Today we have seen 87 clients with diverse needs. Psychological services, living assistance of hard supplies as well as soft supplies were rendered. Several medical referrals were made to our staff along with severe physical injury/trauma referred to ER of hospital. We also managed child care for some of the patients. (14) children from 12 to 16 years old. All is well by the hospital Supervisor stating, "Great, you did not kill anyone" interesting man. So many demands from patients and from my staff, a little green. I am sitting in on several of their sessions w/ patients, and assisted the counselor to present conclusion of a difficult conflict.
I seem to be named Doctor Joe, I hear it in every direction. I am honored. Exhausted from the day. My computer is on states time, so the time stamps are wrong. I have entered two Kenya clocks to give propective times. Here is is Wednesday, a day ahead. Time to rest.
Blessings,
Joe

Kenya Time

Our beginning in Nairobi

After arriving at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the southeastern region of Nairobi it felt like living in the air for days. This area is considered poorer slum areas. Remie, Lance, and Sheri all want to take a Wildlife Safari, so numbers rule, on our next free time.

Dear Max, thank you so much. My field supervisor has the report and wants to add two more elements, so it is out of my hands. My main focus lies on setting up our clinic in Women's Hospital part of Nairobi Hospital. Our hotel, Hotel Embassy is close to the Hospital, but we will continue to travel with armed rent a cops. Leave it to our resident Lesbian to find a crazy bar named Gypsy' Bar. It is said, this is probably the most popular bar in the Westlands, pulling in Kenyans, expats and prostitutes. It's as close as it gets to a gay friendly venue in Kenya. Should be a hoot.


Our first day was spent cleaning up the clinic we will be using. Word traveled fast of our arrival. Patients were even helping up clean and set up the med room, the treatment rooms, as well as the counseling suites, moving desks sittings rooms e.g. We all watch these kind, beautiful people became more comfortable with us and hopefully spread the news of the "Women's Clinic". We had time to sit at times and just be and allow the people to acquire a sense of what we are tyring to set up and our desire to help.

After a 10 hour day, we four are back at our hotel room. This being a handsome room compared to the two hundred year old hotel with rust stained showers, rats, and snakes in beds. A restaurant resides in a side lobby with interesting menus that change daily. So after showering, we are dining while we plan tomorrows activities. We all seem to feel such a wonderful sense of positive energy with this assignment.
Good night from Kenya.

MSF/Doctors without Borders/

I forgot to include the activities of MSF in Kenya. Da.

Kenya

The primary focus of MSF in Kenya is on treatment for people with HIV/ AIDS. In projects in the slums of Nairobi and in the rural areas of Busia and Homa Bay, MSF provides more than 12,000 people with anti-retroviral treatment (ART). Increasing emphasis is also being placed on an emerging and drug-resistant form of tuberculosis (TB).

Homa Bay, located in the western Nyanza province, was MSF’s first HIV/AIDS program in Kenya, opening in 1996. With an HIV prevalence of approximately 35 percent, the densely populated Victoria lakeshore is one of the worst affected areas in the country. Initially focusing on TB and on reducing HIV transmission through health facilities, free ART was first introduced in 2001.

In July 2007, 4,741 people are under care, with 3,567 of those receiving ART. With a planned merger of MSF and Kenyan Ministry of Health (MoH) activities, and the opening of three more HIV health facilities on the periphery of Homa Bay, this figure will continue to rise. MSF also provides resources and technical assistance in the piloting of a one-stop service for people with TB/HIV co-infection, including the development of the third TB culture laboratory in the country.

In Busia District, situated on the Kenyan border with Uganda, MSF runs an HIV/AIDS project in the main district hospital and nine rural health centers. In addition to the clinical services within these facilities, the project provides a system of home-based care, utilizing over 140 volunteer community health workers and running an information and education program that targets people living with HIV/AIDS and community groups. It is estimated that over 10,000 people from the district are in urgent need of treatment. The project began providing ART in July 2003 and treats 1,850 patients, 140 of them children.

In 2007 MSF is handing over three ART sites to a development partner and supporting the MoH in establishing two more in health centers, increasing the access to treatment and prevention of mother-to-child transmission in the most remote and highest HIV prevalence locations of Busia district. In Nairobi, MSF also provides comprehensive HIV/AIDS care in the Mbagathi District Hospital. In early 2005, MSF built a clinic on the hospital grounds, allowing integration of the comprehensive MSF and MoH HIV/AIDS activities. Now more than 3,314 patients receive ART, with a further 811 being followed. MSF is gradually handing over this project to the MoH.

Linked closely with Mbagathi hospital in the sprawling Kibera slum, MSF runs a project that integrates HIV/AIDS and TB into primary healthcare in three clinics. A focus of this program is the empowerment of people and communities living with the virus. Covering both Mbagathi Hospital and the slum, which has a population of over 600,000, MSF treats 4,744 people with ART and provided approximately 103,000 consultations in 2006/2007.

In Mathare, a second slum with a population of over 300,000 on the eastern outskirts of Nairobi, MSF runs a project known as the “Blue House,” located in a renovated old hotel building. The project offers free comprehensive treatment for HIV/AIDS and with a co-infection level of approximately 70 percent, MSF also treats patients with TB. In late 2006, an extension was added to the clinic to treat increasing numbers of patients with multi drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), an emerging strain of the disease that cannot be cured with firstline TB drugs.

The number of affected people continues to rise in slum conditions that create a perfect breeding ground for the spread of the disease. Approximately 2,751 people living with HIV/ AIDS are under care and the clinic is testing approximately 300 people per month for HIV. MSF also provides many of its patients with health support in the form of key nutritional supplements.

The start of my program

Counselling
Counseling services are offered to survivors of rape and domestic violence because they suffer from psychological and emotional distress. The counseling services are offered to help them recover from the traumatic experience and help the survivor to develop positive coping mechanisms after the ordeal.

Counseling Unit has several activities that take place.

* Rape support group which takes place once a month whereby rape survivors come together to help each other grow and learn through sharing of experience as group.
* Supervision of counselors by a visiting supervisor. All the GVRC counselors attend; share their difficult cases and through that they are able to open up and relieve their burn out that enable them to work effectively. The session takes place once a month.
* Continuous medical education (CME) where the counseling department organizes monthly short courses for counselors and other staffs in the hospital. The courses are normally facilitated by a visiting guest and this helps the counselors to have in-depth knowledge of relevant topics that prevent themselves in the counseling set up.
* Counseling services - This is an on going activity done six days in a week. The services are given to both rape and domestic survivors; the Unit also deals with other counseling issues like, HIV / AIDS, Adolescent crisis, Terminal illness counseling, grief counseling and other issues. These services are given to the clients to enable them deal with their issues positively and counselors are able to assist the survivors in emotional & psychological healing.
* The Unit offers Voluntary Counseling and Testing services
* Referrals Counselors refer cases for further assistance, to different organizations mainly for legal aid and shelter especially to rape and domestic violence survivors.

This is the Front page of what I will present to the medical board of the Hosiptals.

In Manhattan,

This would be me dealing with stress of the journey (me on the roof of the Dakota where we are staying)
Arrived in NYC yesterday late afternoon. bill payments arranged, doctors appointments changed, domestic details. e.g.

Personal notes
To Leia,
I received your text message, thank you. Tried your house phone and left a vm, I also called your cell number, so dear friend, I hope your move to the dessert was bearable, hope your new house is beautiful. I watched the temps out there and Wow. Mrs. Major King-Carr. Please email me when you can, after the moving in trauma. I love you, Joey

To Lorrie, Enjoyed our cell conversation, was great, I will let you know when I return to Orr's, and I am happy that you coming up to NYC to meet Orr, and me. You can stay as long as you want, just think of Rob's anxiety knowing You and I are in NYC "again" shopping. Remember the last trip to NYC, I thing Hillary Clinton's Birthday party at the Roseland Ballroom. I seem to remember we shopped and upon hailing a taxi, we could hardly put out bags in the trunk and back seat with us, and what an expression the cabbie had on his face!
I will mail the lemoncello, and yogurt recipe while I am in NYC.
In my heart, Love Joe

Here is the general regional information of Kenya, It's worth reading, honestly.

PROFILE

OFFICIAL NAME:
Republic of Kenya

Geography
Area: 582,646 sq. km. (224,960 sq mi.); slightly smaller than Texas Cities: Capital--Nairobi (pop. 2.9 million; 2007 est.). Other cities--Mombasa (828,500; 2006 est.), Kisumu (322,000; 1999), Nakuru (219,366; 1999), Eldoret (193,830; 1999).
Terrain: Kenya rises from a low coastal plain on the Indian Ocean in a series of mountain ridges and plateaus which stand above 3,000 meters (9,000 ft.) in the center of the country. The Rift Valley bisects the country above Nairobi, opening up to a broad arid plain in the north. Highlands cover the south before descending to the shores of Lake Victoria in the west.
Climate: Tropical in south, west, and central regions; arid and semi-arid in the north and the northeast.

People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Kenyan(s).
Population (June 2007 est.): 36.9 million.
Major ethnic groups: Kikuyu 22%, Luyia 14%, Luo 14%, Kalenjin 11%, Kamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 5%.
Religions: Christian 80%, Muslim 10%, traditional African religions 9%, Hindu/Sikh/Baha'i/Jewish 1%.
Languages: English (official), Swahili (national), over 40 other languages from the Bantu, Nilotic, and Cushitic linguistic groups.
Education: First 8 years of primary school are provided tuition-free by the government. In January 2008, the government began offering a program of free secondary education, subject to some restrictions. Attendance--92% for primary grades. Adult literacy rate--85.1%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--57.4/1,000. Life expectancy--55.3 yrs (2007 est.).
Work force (1.95 million wage earners): public sector 30%; private sector 70%. Informal sector workers--6.4 million. Services--45%; industry and commerce--35%; agriculture--20%.

Government
Type: Republic.
Independence: December 12, 1963.
Constitution: 1963.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state, head of government, commander in chief of armed forces), prime minister, and two deputy prime ministers. Legislative--unicameral National Assembly (parliament). Judicial--Court of Appeal, High Court, various lower and special courts, includes Kadhi (Sharia) courts.
Administrative subdivisions: 69 districts, joined to form 7 rural provinces. The Nairobi area has special provincial status. The government has gazetted 37 new districts. The process of establishing these districts is ongoing.
Political parties

Economy
GDP (2006 est.): $22.8 billion.
Annual growth rate (2006): 6.1%.
Gross national income per capita (2006): $455.
Natural resources: Wildlife, soda ash, land.
Agriculture: Products--tea, coffee, sugarcane, horticultural products, corn, wheat, rice, sisal, pineapples, pyrethrum, dairy products, meat and meat products, hides, skins. Arable land--5%.
Industry: Types--petroleum products, grain and sugar milling, cement, beer, soft drinks, textiles, vehicle assembly, paper and light manufacturing.
Trade (2006): Exports--$3.1 billion: tea, coffee, horticultural products, petroleum products, cement, pyrethrum, soda ash, sisal, hides and skins, fluorspar. Major markets--Uganda, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Egypt, South Africa, United States. Imports--$7.2 billion: machinery, vehicles, crude petroleum, iron and steel, resins and plastic materials, refined petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, paper and paper products, fertilizers, wheat. Major suppliers--U.K., Japan, South Africa, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Italy, India, France, United States, Saudi Arabia.

PEOPLE
Kenya has a very diverse population that includes three of Africa's major sociolinguistic groups: Bantu (67%), Nilotic (30%), and Cushitic (3%). Kenyans are deeply religious. About 80% of Kenyans are Christian, 10% Muslim, and 10% follow traditional African religions or other faiths. Most city residents retain links with their rural, extended families and leave the city periodically to help work on the family farm. About 75% of the work force is engaged in agriculture, mainly as subsistence farmers. The national motto of Kenya is Harambee, meaning "pull together." In that spirit, volunteers in hundreds of communities build schools, clinics, and other facilities each year and collect funds to send students abroad. The six state universities enroll about 45,000 students, representing some 25% of the Kenyan students who qualify for admission. There are six private universities.

HISTORY
Fossils found in East Africa suggest that protohumans roamed the area more than 20 million years ago. Recent finds near Kenya's Lake Turkana indicate that hominids lived in the area 2.6 million years ago.
Swahili language, a Bantu language with significant Arabic vocabulary, developed as a trade language for the region.
.From 1952 to 1959, Kenya was under a state of emergency arising from the "Mau Mau" insurgency against British colonial rule in general and its land policies in particular. This rebellion took place almost exclusively in the highlands of central Kenya among the Kikuyu people. Tens of thousands of Kikuyu died in the fighting or in the detention camps and restricted villages. British losses were about 650. During this period, African participation in the political process increased rapidly.

A small but significant leftist opposition party, the Kenya People's Union (KPU), was formed in 1966, led by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, a former Vice President and Luo elder. The KPU was banned shortly thereafter, however, and its leader detained. KANU became Kenya's sole political party. At Kenyatta's death in August 1978, Vice President Daniel arap Moi, a Kalenjin from Rift Valley province, became interim President. By October of that year, Moi became President formally after he was elected head of KANU and designated its sole nominee for the presidential election.


On December 27, 2007, Kenya held presidential, parliamentary, and local government elections. While the parliamentary and local government elections were largely credible, the presidential election was seriously flawed, with irregularities in the vote tabulation process as well as turnout in excess of 100% in some constituencies. On December 30, the chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya declared incumbent Mwai Kibaki as the winner of the presidential election. Violence erupted in different parts of Kenya as supporters of opposition candidate Raila Odinga and supporters of Kibaki clashed with police and each other. February 28, 2008, President Kibaki and Raila Odinga signed a power-sharing agreement, which provided for the establishment of a prime minister and two deputy prime minister positions, as well as the division of cabinet posts according to the parties' proportional representation in parliament. On March 18, 2008, the Kenyan parliament amended the constitution and adopted legislation to give legal force to the agreement. Negotiations are ongoing regarding longer-term reform issues, including constitutional reform, land tenure reform, judicial reform, and the need to address poverty and inequality.

GOVERNMENT
The unicameral National Assembly consists of 210 members elected to a term of 5 years from single-member constituencies, plus 12 members nominated by political parties on a proportional representation basis. The president appoints the vice president; under the power-sharing agreement, the president with the agreement of the prime minister makes the initial appointment of cabinet members from among those elected to the assembly. Subsequent cabinet appointments are made by the president in consultation with the prime minister, in accord with the power-sharing agreement's proportional division of cabinet positions. The attorney general and the speaker are ex-officio members of the National Assembly.

The judiciary is headed by a High Court, consisting of a Chief Justice and High Court judges and judges of Kenya's Court of Appeal, all appointed by the president.

Kenya maintains an embassy in the United States at 2249 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel. 202-387-6101, website: http://www.kenyaembassy.com) and consulates in Los Angeles and New York.
In 2007, horticulture exports rose 65% to U.S. $1.12 billion, surpassing tourism as the largest foreign exchange earner. Tourism earned Kenya U.S. $972 million in 2007, up from U.S. $803 million in 2006, followed by tea exports of U.S. $638.9 million. Africa is Kenya's largest export market, followed by the European Union (EU). Kenya benefits significantly from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), but the apparel industry is struggling to hold its ground against Asian competition. Ninety-eight percent of AGOA exports are garments, and Kenya's AGOA exports fell from U.S. $265 million in 2006 to U.S. $250 million in 2007.

Kenya faces profound environmental challenges brought on by high population growth, deforestation, shifting climate patterns, and the overgrazing of cattle in marginal areas in the north and west of the country. Significant portions of the population will continue to require emergency food assistance in the coming years.

Media
The key independent print media in Kenya are the Nation Media Group, the Standard Group, People Limited, and the Times Media Group. The Nation Media Group publications, which include the Daily Nation, the Sunday Nation, the Business Daily, the weekly East African, and the only Swahili publications, Taifa Leo and Taifa Jumapili, have the largest circulations. The Standard and the Sunday Standard, published by the Standard Group, are also popular newspapers, although with smaller circulations.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
Despite internal tensions in Sudan and Ethiopia, Kenya has maintained good relations with its northern neighbors. Recent relations with Uganda and Tanzania have improved as the three countries work for mutual economic benefit.

Kenya maintains a moderate profile in Third World politics. Kenya's relations with Western countries are generally friendly, although current political and economic instabilities are sometimes blamed on Western pressures.

U.S.-KENYAN RELATIONS
The United States and Kenya have enjoyed cordial relations since Kenya's independence. Relations became even closer after Kenya's democratic transition of 2002 and subsequent improvements in human rights.

More than 9,000 U.S. citizens are registered with the U.S. Embassy as residents of Kenya. In 2006 a record 86,528 Americans visited Kenya, up 17.6% from 2005. About two-thirds of resident Americans are missionaries and their families. U.S. business investment is estimated to be more than $285 million, primarily in commerce, light manufacturing, and the tourism industry.

Al Qaeda terrorists bombed the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi on August 7, 1998, taking hundreds of lives and maiming thousands more. Since that event, the Kenyan and U.S. Governments have intensified cooperation to address all forms of insecurity in Kenya, including terrorism. The United States provides equipment and training to Kenyan security forces, both civilian and military. In its dialog with the Kenyan Government, the United States urges effective action against corruption and insecurity as the two greatest impediments to Kenya achieving sustained, rapid economic growth.

U.S. assistance to Kenya is substantial. It promotes broad-based economic development as the basis for continued progress in political, social, and related areas of national life. The U.S. assistance strategy is built around five broad objectives: Fighting disease and improving healthcare; fighting poverty and promoting private sector-led prosperity; advancing shared democratic values, human rights, and good governance; cooperating to fight insecurity and terrorism; and collaborating to foster peace and stability in East Africa. The Peace Corps, which usually has 150 volunteers in Kenya, is integral to the overall U.S. assistance strategy in Kenya. Peace Corps volunteers were withdrawn from Kenya due to instability and civil unrest in early 2008, but the program will likely resume in late 2008.

TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION
The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program advises Americans traveling and residing abroad through Country Specific Information, Travel Alerts, and Travel Warnings. Country Specific Information exists for all countries and includes information on entry and exit requirements, currency regulations, health conditions, safety and security, crime, political disturbances, and the addresses of the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. "Travel Alerts are issued to disseminate information quickly about terrorist threats and other relatively short-term conditions overseas that pose significant risks to the security of American travelers. Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel to a certain country because the situation is dangerous or unstable."

For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://www.travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Alerts, and Travel Warnings can be found. Consular Affairs Publications, which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a safe trip abroad, are also available at http://www.travel.state.gov.

The Department of State encourages all U.S citizens traveling or residing abroad to register via the State Department's travel registration website or at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. Registration will make your presence and whereabouts known in case it is necessary to contact you in an emergency and will enable you to receive up-to-date information on security conditions.

interesting,
Joe

A Mosque in Narobi

This is a Mosque we wish to visit if we arrive early in Kenya.
Well it's time to share my next field trip with you. For weeks I have been reading field journals and back up research as to how to meet the needs in the Women's hospital I am assigned. Again my dear friends Sherrie, Remmy. and Lance will be joining me in New York from San Frisco, L A and Boulder, Co. We have been conference calling three to four times a week. We are combining our hospital plans of action to integrate into a action model of organic regional care for the women,daughters, and me in a 50 mile radius. We, Remmie, Lance, and Sharrie will deploy from JFK between the 2nd and the 3rd. More details to follow.

Kenya Time table

Current Time Table

New sights

May 28, 2008

Catch up

So far, my year has been active. I travel for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
A month in Washington, DC with my friends, Lorrie and Rob. Lorrie and I had 14-hour shop-a-thong, pack every inch of the car with efficency. Dinners, long hours of talking and sharing. I especially note the sense of family and belonging. A wonderful exit from my life.

For Christmas

I flew to Seattle to spend the Christmas month with my second family, Leia and Darrel. I had the honor of meeting other Special Forces families and being welcomed with warm hearts. Christmas and News Years, plus staying at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast. I shared a wonderful time with Darrell and Leia. Expericing all the holiday festive activities. We agreed it was time to be together and share time together, as we have spent many holidays.
I flew home on the sixth, and Orr and I went to Italy, The Tuscan Valley and rented a villa with a cook for a month. Traveled to Turin,
Milan, Rome, but I most enjoyed exploring the villa, grounds vinyards, reading and writing. It was definitely the most marked birthday I was ever experienced. We stayed just under a month. We came home and I stayed in NYC with Orr for another week to rest from the constant traveling.

Soon, I will be leaving for Kenya, Africa on field mission for MSF for a month. A set up a psychology clinic, run it place locals as staff and return home then write a 50 page federal Field Report to The Secretary Aide of the UN and MSF as well. Field placement should be in mid June, or July.

Next bog will be closer to my Africa field deployment
May 28, 2008

Catch up

So far, my year has been active. I travel for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
A month in Washington, DC with my friends, Lorrie and Rob. Lorrie and I had 14-hour shop-a-thong, pack every inch of the car with effency. Dinners, long hours of talking and sharing. I especially note the sense of family and belonging. A wonderful exit from my life.

For Christmas

I flew to Seattle to spend the Christmas month with my second family, Leia and Darrel. I had the honor of meeting other Special Forces families and being welcomed with warm hearts. Christmas and News Years, plus staying at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast. I shared a wonderful time with Darrell and Leia. Expericing all the holiday festive activities. We agreed it was time to be together and share time together, as we have spent many holidays.
I flew home on the sixth, and Orr and I went to Italy, The Tuscan Valley and rented a villa with a cook for a month. Traveled to Turin,
Milan, Rome, but I most enjoyed exploring the villa, grounds vinyards, reading and writing. It was definitely the most marked birthday I was ever experienced. We stayed just under a month. We came home and I stayed in NYC with Orr for another week to rest from the constant traveling.

Soon, I will be leaving for Kenya, Africa on field mission for MSF for a month. A set up a psychology clinic, run it place locals as staff and return home then write a 50 page federal Field Report to The Secretary Aide of the UN and MSF as well. Field placement should be in mid June, or July.

Next bog will be closer to my Africa field deployment

th

It’s Three am

It’s three am and again I cannot sleep.
Waiting for time to fix some part of me that keeps on breaking.
Already thrown out the paper, washed the left over dishes.
Nothing to due but sit here and think.


As I pay action out side the window, The Snow makes the world look a new. Orr confronted me with lounging for two hours making up three hours, back to Manahan We took a scenic adventure down south the Manhattan. I enjoyed the scenery, Orr was much more involved with the environment. We stopped before the mountains and had Winter Picnic, space blanket to sit on and two to cover up from the cold and snow, hot chocolate with vintage snopps, (sp) scrambled eggs with butter, chives, and pink truffles.
What a glorious time with great photos of us, camera timer.

Upon arriving to NYC, I took along bath, and wrote the frame work
Foe my pre-report assessing Kenya, now with Political unrest, and to the best of my MSF data bases, very extensive, I will make assessments of political neutrality, and safety. If approved, my team and I will travel to Kenya for a month. Emotionally I feel unable, but upon meeting with one of the head staff doctors, who urges me to go and see if my emotional/physical status changes, T have an out to leave if I feel overwhelmed. I have three wingmen who are close friends, from Chad, and India.
I leave April 15.08 I hope I am ready. I seem to function outside my life.

Life is what you make it

...if people have compassion, naturally that's something they can count on; even if they have economic problems and their fortune declines, they still have something to share with fellow human beings. World economies are always so tenuous and we are subject to so many losses in life, but a compassionate attitude is something that we can always carry with us.

...Of course, in attempting to explain to someone the importance of compassion, in some cases, you might be dealing with a very hardened, individualistic, and selfish person, someone concerned only with her or his own interests. And it is even possible that there are people who may not have the capacity to empathize with even someone whom they love or who may be close to them. But even to such people, it is still possible to present the importance of compassion and love on the grounds that it's the best way to fulfill their self-interests. They wish to have good health, live a longer life, and have peace of mind, happiness, and joy. And if these are things that they desire, I've heard that there is even scientific evidence that these things can be enhanced by feelings of love and compassion.

...educating someone about these facts and scientific studies could certainly encourage some people to cultivate a more compassionate state of mind. But I think that, even aside from scientific studies, there are other arguments that people could understand and appreciate from their own practical or direct everyday experience.
For example, you could point out that lack of compassion leads to a certain ruthlessness. There are many examples indicating that at some level deep down, ruthless people generally suffer from a kind of unhappiness and discontent, people like Stalin and Hitler. Such people suffer from a kind of nagging sense of insecurity and fear. Even when they are sleeping I think that sense of fear remains...these people lack something that you can find in a more compassionate person--a sense of freedom, a sense of abandonment, so when you sleep you can relax and let go. Ruthless people never have that experience. Something is always gripping them; there is some kind of hold on them, and they aren't able to experience that feeling of letting go, that sense of freedom.

...There are always different degrees of benefit that one might receive from practicing various methods and techniques, depending on one's particular circumstances.... First, through learning, thoroughly understanding the value of compassion--this gives you a feeling of conviction and determination. Then, employing methods to enhance empathy, such as using your imagination, your creativity, to visualize yourself in another's situation. And certain exercises or practices that you can undertake, such as Tong-Len, serve to strengthen your compassion. But I think it's important to remember that these techniques...were developed to help as many as possible, at least some portion of the human population. But it was never expected that these techniques could help 100 percent of people, the entire human population.

...the main point really, if we are talking about various methods to develop compassion, the important thing is that people make a sincere effort to develop their capacity for compassion. If they make their best efforts to be kinder, to cultivate compassion and make the world a better place, then at the end of the day they can say, "At least I've done my best!"

Another day pronounced

And this Day Begins:

For Will.......

" Yesterday we sat among pines and thorns Writing metaphors while birds filled the woods. Stop one brief instant while branches mourn, Hiding grief and shame among many moods, The group of us with dirty feet, torn nails, Life placed carefully beneath the roots of a tree. I remember Tuesday night because it hailed although watching through the window, I failed to go outside and gaze up with the others; the fire kept me inside, loving the flames. Later the warmth of soft and safe covers blanketed me from the day's rainy games. The day kept me in sync with my soul each time I write I am closer to whole."

March 7, 2008

Snow clings to the trees around the house as I waited for UPS to deliver Kansas City Steaks all day. I did find the package on the front pouch at 5 pm. Go figure.
Another week of doctors, new glasses, I look charming in Armani.

A week of loss. Yoska, Paul's sweet dog died yesterday. Paul is feeling the loss severely. My heart went out for him as he told me about the passing.

The poem above is dedicated to my dear friend Will. Will passed away two days ago.
His parents, from Manilus, NY. My heart again has experienced another serious crack. Will and I have been very close friends since 9/11/00. I will mourn his self imposed death. Will was having difficulty coming to terms about "us" and started sleeping around and met a young man from Paris only later to become infected with HIV/AIDS. After a month, he took his life. I will always hold a certain amount of guilt about his death. My heart cries, my chest withers. Another "thing" to carry privately in my head and heart. So, for Will, I write this poem. Tonight the world seems dark and confusing. Loss and gain mean nothing. I guess we all have our times of loss and great loss. I stopped counting friends dying from Denver days, at 87. Many more passed, but I stopped counting because of pain. I enabled countless to cope and survive for their months, days left.
Now the lesson is for practice for my survival. So many gone, and I still breath and live. I have decided to seek seclusion for my mental health. I am shutting off all phones and staying mute for one week. I shall read, and write from bottom of my broken heart and decidedly make sense of my world at large and regain my footing and balance. I promise to contact everyone after my week of rest.
Blessed Be
Joe

Loss

My friend Paul came to my door and with vacant eyes, told me Yosha had died.  The night before Yosha was unable to walk.  She seemed to not be her self.  Fourteen years she used the most to explore her world with gusto.  Paul was experiencing guilt as he told me he had just put her down, cremated, ashes to pick up later.  The loss of a loved friend that leaves .  What can a friend offer to another, when grief and loss are so deep.