K A R I M U

This has been such a busy season, Thanksgiving, trip to Virginia to get info for the Endowment for Msalato, Art Show, Christmas, Wyoming then New York City! I hope now to have some time to THINK. Sandy sent this photo of happy memories from this past Autumn in Tanzania which now seems so long ago.

Tally and I will go to the Diocesian Convention this weekend and hope to interest more people in KARIMU, and the Endowment. We would love to have more churches involved, not only in their outreach, but even volunteers who would like to go and do some work there.

Times are still hard for most poeple, but inspite of that, our donations keep trickeling in and we thank you for that. With people who have not had to struggle in the past, this new experience of worry has also heightened awareness of what those who are barely surviving must be facing every day, year after year. It certainly has for Tally and me, and we grateful for your empathy.

We hope to expand the piglet project to a brand new village which will make four villages now. East Africa is finally getting much needed rain so draught conditions are abating at last. We will talk with some women about the possibility of gardens (where there is water available). We can help with seeds, fertilizer and perhaps some implements. Small solar lighting is also on our list ($22.00) a light. This would be a good project for children!!

Thanks – Jessie

Word came yesterday from Father Moses Matonya that the women in Ikowa Village are busy with agricultural works on their farms and that the piglets are growing “big and healthy.”  Further, he said that the piglet project (what we call the Wilbur Project) has brought new hope and power to the women in Ikowa.  The women are returning to Church and they are accepting responsibilities and duties  that women have always done in our churches in America.  Believe me its the women who will save Africa.  Those of you who have bought piglets  and especially St. Mary Magdalene’s Church that held a bake sale in late summer and raised nearly $1,000 to buy piglets, please know what an impact you are having on the women and children of Tanzania.  Actually, even the men are happy.  Moses’ words went straight to our hearts:  “Tally and Jessie, the depth of your love to us is immeasurable and is beyond comparsion.  It is a gift that is graciously flowing from God and we are blessed by it.”  We truly do believe that it is from God and we remain humble and thankful for the privilege given to us and for your abiding love and help as well.   Rain has come!   Moses will visit Ikowa in late January and will take pictures of the newest little oinkers!

Jessie and I will have a KARIMU booth at our diocesan convention ~ should you be there as a delegate, guest or clergy, please stop by and visit us ~ see the work that is being done and learn how you can help.  Is it too late to say Happy New Year?

Tom, and the people from St. Andrews all say hello to our friends in Tanzania. I just returned and am “rat-legged” so will write about the trip later. But, it was a grand time seeing old friends again, stay tuned… Jessie

Ah, ha.  It IS still Christmas.  Look at our Christmas cactus about to  bloom!  The one in the window is about to bloom as well.  Those are African candle sticks given to me as we prepared to leave in October.  They are hand carved with elephants in the middle.  The picture, for the record, is Tally Pendo, Jessie’s famous Jack Russell in my lap ~ you might say we see eye to eye or is it nose to nose?

Why do you suppose some are eager for the season of joy and light to end?  Everyday should be Christmas ~ people seem friendlier, more willing to speak as you pass on the street and more willing to share and give to the poor.  Jessie keeps saying she is going to put me out on the street with a tin cup to collect coins for those in Africa who are poor beyond belief.    I threw out the holly and the ivy today but only because it was so dry, but the tree stands with all of it’s memories ~ ornaments collected for 58 years ~ each with a story to tell.

I read yesterday that the Africans celebrate the New Year with special food if it is available, primarily goat or a chicken.  And we eat beans or black-eyed peas for good luck.  Our Tanzanian friends go to church and dance and sing on New Years’ Eve.  We seem to no longer have New Year’s Eve Watch Services in our churches.  That’s a loss.

Moses wrote that the women in Ikowa Village have bought the pigs for another group of women, thanks to the good people of St. Mary Magdalene’s Episcopal Church in Seven Lakes.  All piglets are doing well.  It started with a meager amount of money and has blossomed into a business for the women who will use the money to see that their children go to school.   Primary education is free, but there is the cost for transportation, uniforms and books and supplies.  Many simply cannot afford those things. 

I have a story about the Wise Men which I will save until Epiphany ~ January 6th.  For a few more days we can enjoy the season and then we can hunker down for those months when we vow to keep our resolutions and to read all the books that are still stacked on our nightstand.

My resolution is to look for the holy in everything.  HAPPY NEW YEAR DEAR READERS.

Remember when we were about to move into this century and there were dire predictions that the world would come to an end?  Today I received a video via e-mail with more dire predictions about the collapse of the American economy and the dollar that will eclipse anything we have ever known before.  Something that will happen early in 2012 that will change the way we live and not for the better.  Not being an economist I haven’t a clue but it is at least scarey and makes me wonder if we should take what we have and bury it in a tin can in the backyard!   All in all, I agree that the state of the world is not very promising.  On a much happier note though, I received an e-mail from Katerina Whitley, Greek born author, teacher, church journalist, retreat leader and extraordinary human being.  Google her and read all about her.  I was privileged to once take a writing workshop with her and have read her books.  She wrote in the e-mail that she has stopped looking at the news (3-years now and hasn’t missed it) and she doesn’t “do” Walmart either!  These words were at the end of her e-mail and they struck me as words of great hope and reminded me of the brightness of the African sky at night with no ambient light.  “When it gets dark enough you can see the stars.”  (Charles A. Beard)  On this eve of a new year may we all see the stars and see wonder and awe every day. 

It had to happen.  Here we are in the Twelve Days of Christmas (Christmastide) and what did I see in WalMart yesterday?  Valentine’s Day candy!  My friend Gail says that I am a throwback to yesteryear.  An ink pen and clean piece of paper thrills me just as a real letter makes me stop my day and sit down to read words formed by hand ~ a true gift of love.  I doggedly go around saying:  Merry Christmas.  In the gym on Tuesday, Mike said:  “Christmas is over,” and a woman said:  “Thank goodness.”  That makes me sad.  Things change ~ the world changes day by day.  Technology, which I love is running wild and I struggle to barely keep up.   Everyone sits around checking their I-Phones with little conversation.  Secular takes over f rom the sacred when everyday should be  sacred.  Today is the 6th day of Christmas ~ six geese a’laying which might just mean the 6 days of creation.  I looked for my true love to give me 5 golden rings yesterday ~ didn’t happen so maybe it is just a silly English Christmas song.  Maybe this one makes more sense:  “Love Came Down at Christmas.”  The last verse goes like this:  “Love shall be our token; love be yours and love be mine, love to God and neighbor, love for plea and gift for sign.”  (Christina Rossetti).   MERRY CHRISTMAS.