Christmas Gift

The best Christmas gift I could ever imagine or wished for from our standard 4 students! The results of their national exam (first ever in a short history of our primary school) have been announced today. Our school was the first in the Kukirango ward (gmina in Polish). Out of 1002 standard 4 students who sat for the exam in all primary schools in the area, our students took the top eleven spots. All of our twenty four standard 4 students took places between 1 and 31. Our girls and boys set a high benchmark to beat for their peers in our school in future years.

We are very happy that our concerted efforts - hard work of our students, sisters, teachers and parents supported by my personal benefactors, Fundacja Kiabakari and its friends and sponsors (including 'Makulatura na Misje' dedicated team) via volunteers, educational adoption scheme, construction of the modern school, textbooks, educational gifts etc. - pay off. Well done, everybody!

Rainy Season

Finally, the rainy season has arrived to our region in full majesty. It has been raining daily, sometimes heavily, sometimes drizzling for long spells of time. Everything is flourishing, green, fresh, air is crystal clear and it is a pleasure to breathe. My water tanks are full and spilling. I brought first batch of plants and trees to plant along the paths leading uphill to the shrine. On Monday my boys will bring two more truckloads of the same. Altogether 1000 plants. A part of the upgrade of the Divine Mercy Hill greens and gardens. After all, this is Year of Faith which must manifest itself in good deeds.

How I love times like these! Thanks be to God for the priceless gift of rain! Much more precious than gold!

Late Christmas Gift

I am very happy that together with my friend, film professional and producer, Aldimilablis Novatus, we were able to complete the DVD project of the short movie on implementation of the First Aid Project in Kiabakari. Today I sent copies of the movie on DVDs via DHL to the headquarters of Foundation Kiabakari for further forwarding to people I want to get this late Christmas gift, in particular those involved directly in the project.

The Official Opening Of The New Delivery Unit

Yesterday we held a simple function of the official opening of the new delivery unit in our health center in Kiabakari. The modern equipment was donated free of charge by the Polish Foreign Ministry through the embassy in Nairobi in Kenya. We hosted the representative of the Polish ambassador in Kenya, Miss Joanna Popławska, who officiated the opening and received the project report. The photos from the occasion can be seen here. We are very grateful to the Polish government for this wonderful gift who certainly will improve the mother and child healthcare in Kiabakari and the whole Mara Region. Thank you!

Connected Vessels

Solemnity of Epiphany we celebrated yesterday gave me a lot to think about which I shared with my community during the homily of the Holy Mass last evening. Jesus gave Himself totally to us. And He proved His unconditional love to us on the Cross and in the Mystery of the Eucharist. What kind of passionate love is this to not only abandon His divine glory becoming a man like us, but going even further - abandoning His humanity becoming a Bread preserved in tabernacles across the world, most of the time left alone, visited only from time to time by few and during the liturgical celebrations in our churches...

One Of Twelve

The last day of the first month of the new year of 2011 creates an ambiance for a recapitulation of the first of twelve slices of the time given us by God as a gift and a challenge as well. Time to stop in our tracks and look back and around. Where am I? Where am I heading? What has happened in this period of time? what about my New Year resolutions? Am I underway to achieve them and fulfill them? Am I firmly on the path  of salvation with Christ and His Church? Who am I on this last day of the first out of twelve months of this year? Whom did I create out of myself in these thirty first days? Did I spread crumbs of goodness or bitterness? Did I proclaim love and compassion or envy and suffering of others? Today is the best day to sit down in the shadow of the tabernacle and ask myself these questions in the light of the Holy Spirit...

Reunion

I've heard a lot about reunions since I arrived to North America. All kinds of reunions. And people seem to get excited at the prospect of the reunion. I'm no different...

Wry Grin

It was all about the wry grin as I presented a few sweet gifts to my hosts on my arrival. I couldn't help but smile to myself as I remembered those years when we were receiving special food parcels from our relatives or friends in America - with chocolates, oranges, peanuts etc... How we were excited back then! Now tings have changed...It is us who come over to America with some nice things to enhance longing of our hosts for their Fatherland - Poland... Some special unique Polish sweets, chocolates, plums in chocolate, pishinger from Krakow, krowki krakowskie etc... Nice to make people happy so much with these typical Polish foodstuffs... I did not fall behind myself... digging into delicious Canadian pears and apples alongside special salad with crawdads... mmmm... yummy...

Useless Gift

I've just come back from Zanaki Parish, our mother parish, from which Kiabakari, Butiama and Nyamuswa parishes were born (the old Mama - Zanaki Parish giving birth to three new parishes in the spread of a few years in the nineties). The parish priest is on vacation, so I give a helping hand once a month there, and there is another priest from Musoma helping also once a month. The remaining two Sundays each month are covered by a resident catechist. It is so tough to get substitution in our diocese in times of long holidays. We do try our best to secure services for every Sunday while away, but it is not always possible. There are still very few priests in this diocese and things if improving, they improve in a snail's pace... New priests are being ordained every year, but others are dying or getting sick or simply finishing their service and going back home...

Confidence

Sitting in the church in the morning, ready to to offer penitential service to anyone who wanted to reconcile himself/herself with God before the Holy Mass, I had an ample time, as always in those minutes preceding the liturgy, to think about the importance of the gift of listening to others and the gift of total confidence and privacy, so basic, so important in my vocation, and yet - in any relationship between people.

The Essence

Back to Tarime today for the thanksgiving Mass of the newly ordained priest, Fr. Alfred Kwene. This time at home. It is a custom in the Diocese of Musoma and elsewhere in the world for a newly ordained priest to say his first official public Mass at home parish, shortly after his ordination. While in Poland we customarily celebrate our first public Mass at home parish church on the Sunday following the ordination day, here in the Diocese of Musoma, newly ordained priest celebrates his first Mass literally at home!

Greatest Gift

I have just come back home from Tarime, one of the largest towns in our Mara Region, ‘capital city’ of Tarime district. Located just 16 kilometers from Tanzanian/Kenyan border along the main highway from Mombasa via Nairobi and further on to the junction of Musoma-Mwanza highway (Kiabakari is just 20 kilometers to the south of this junction on the same highway to Mwanza). From Kiabakari to Tarime is 87 kilometers and today it took me one and a half hours of moderate driving to Tarime and back home.

Tears Away

Once I read somewhere that when someone hurts you, then God will send someone else to wipe your tears away. I have experienced this phenomenon of God's love and tenderness today in an amazingly simple and elegant way.