moments collected in a calling

Moments collected in a calling

My desire to travel and experience other cultures started at a very early age. I spent hours poring over a national geographic book called "Our world.” My Sunday afternoons were filled with imaginative vacations to faraway places.
When I was old enough to venture out on my own, these once imagined vacations became reality. I have dined in “the valley of the beautiful women” in Hungary, walked in Rembrandt’s footsteps in Holland & snorkeled in Cuba.
I began to feel called to work abroad in my mid-twenties and I began pursuing short-term volunteer trips to test my resilience and seek confirmation from God that we were on the same page.
It was not 'one' exact moment in time, but a collection of experiences that solidified this calling. It was the month of November 2005 and I spent 12 hours a day at the Mkar Christian hospital seeing patients, doing rounds, reading x-rays, then falling, exhausted, into bed every night. The gravity of HIV astounded me, the abuse of women angered me, and the abandonment of children broke me. But the joy in Bridget’s face as she hugged her pink balloon moved me, the tears of hurting women drew me in, the children's songs and games made me laugh. I knew without a doubt where I had to be personally, professionally & spiritually. I knew I was called to work in hard places that I would both loathe and love. Moments collected in a calling.

The next step...
I have the honour of being chosen to be a “Program HOPE!” intern. This opportunity ‘provides an “apprentice type” experience in Christian community development at the grass roots level.’
I will be working with Christian Reformed world relief committee (CRWRC), a relief and development organization that has programs around the world.
I will be living & learning in Eldoret, Kenya for the next two years. I hope to offer my skills of nursing, water filter construction, and perhaps even my sewing abilities to local partner organizations.
My departure date is September 2 after a summer filled with learning and training across Canada.

As I have been going through my belongings (thousands of photos...) I found these photos randomly scattered about. they reflect some of my adventures in the past few years.



in one of my favourite places on earth - kananaskis country


i can't seem to resist sick people lying on the ground.



enjoying an afternoon swing on pulau weh, indonesia


a camel ride in mahula, nigeria.


with friends in mkar, nigeria

a franciscan benediction

may God bless us with discomfort...
at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships so that we may live deep within our hearts.

may God bless us with anger...
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

may God bless us with tears...
to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war. so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and to turn
their pain into joy.

and may God bless us with enough foolishness...
to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can DO what others claim cannot be done.

amen.

a good belly laugh

forget "the secret"! i am watching channel 91, learning all about the reverend peter popoff's "new larger miracle spring water" that will completely heal me of all ailments and bring me lots of money. why would i try to think positive, or lead a Godly life if i can call 1-800-206-8909 for some free miracle spring water. except, i can't take it as soon as it arrives in the mail. i have to call peter popoff and wait for his instructions so that the "holy spirits" can first "stir" the water. it would be even better for me to attend one of the revivals where the rev. peter popoff could literally throw me on the ground and "heal" me immediately.
it gets better... apparently one woman's blood pressure was over 500mmHg consistently, but it is now "normal." what is not normal is that i have never even seen a blood pressure cuff that can even measure above 300mmHg. maybe they have those down in peter popoff's ICU...

what is fantastic, is that i have not laughed so hard in quite awhile. i almost fell off my chair. my belly hurts.

what is really scary is i have not made any of the above stuff up. this is actually being "advertised" on t.v. i truly hope that there are not too many vulnerable people being sucked into this marketing ploy being played off as christianity.

arida

arida... this is how i am advised to introduce myself in kenya, so that people will pronounce my name properly; alida. r's and l's are often interchanged, and in nigeria people would often call me arida.
someone just shared a hilarious story of pronunciation in zambia. there, they pronounce the l's as r's, the r's as l's and take the y's and e's off the ends of names. so, if your name is dave, it is prounounced davey, if your name is charley, they will call you charl.
a new girl was coming from ireland and her name was cloe. the zambian team was going to warn her that she would be called "crow" all summer, as the l would become an r, and the e would disappear. they were going to call her crow all summer. then they had the bright idea of introducing her as crow, then the people would change the r to an l and add an e to the end. and wonder of all wonders, they would say "this is my friend crow" and the people invariably said "oh , nice to meet you cloe"
so, i will arrive in the country, "hello my name is arida" and they will exclaim, "oh alida, how nice to meet you!"

this, too, is toronto

many years ago, while on a weekend trip to prague, i stumbled upon a photography exhibit titled, "this, too, is prague." it showed the personalities of prague that are not on postcards. no jewish graveyards or charles bridge in this exhibit. only skateboarders hanging on to the backs of streetcars (this is the photo that drew me into the exhibit), male prostitues from romania, a man so devastated by the death of his wife, he married a new bottle of gin everyday. i was so impressed by this collection of photography that i bought the book, and since have always tried to see new cities through different eyes. yes, the tourist attractions are popular for a reason. they are usually interesting, but what i am more drawn to are back alleys, beautiful grafitti, and seemingly everyday chores made beautiful.

i have many photos of people from my last trip to toronto (also many years ago) of "queens" on queens, the squeegie kids, and the religious propaganda on sandwich boards worn by tired looking men.

i didn't take too many photos yesterday, partly so as not to hold up the other three people i was with (most of my good friends are used to me crouching in some corner trying to get the perfect shot, but these relatively new friends are not). but i took a few in the contemplative spirit of "what is canadian?" (as the Toronto Star newspaper is asking) as we celebrate this canada day.


which country are we in?
(the beauty of a multi-cultural society)



i have branched away from the dutch palate of meat,
potatoes and kale, and into the wonderful world of flavour.
the house of spice offers plenty to keep the taste buds working.
(and is in kensington, where i have decided i will live,
if i ever move to toronto)


breakdancers on the waterfront... mmmmmm:-)