In Memory: Katharine P. Bailey

Katharine P. Bailey, born February 22, 1944, died February 14, 2009 at her home in Millerton, New York, U.S.A. of ovarian cancer.  Katharine had an extraordinary life.  She grew up in Tuxedo, NY, a suburb of New York City, went to high school in Connecticut, and attended a college for one year in Massachusetts.  She briefly worked as a secretary in New York, but soon became restless and began a series of travels that took her to most corners of the globe.  One memorable “trip” was a three week vacation to Florence, Italy that turned into a three year epic.  She worked on a kibutz in Israel, traveled to Egypt, took a boat up the Nile, went overland to Somalia, sailed on a dhow down the coast of East Africa to Mombasa, Kenya, worked for a year in Nairobi, taking safaris all over East Africa, hitched her way to South Africa, rode a steamer across the Atlantic to Buenos Aires, hitched on boats and trucks through Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Chile, south to Tierra del Fuego, back up to northern Chile to Bolivia, took a small boat 1000 miles down the Rio Maldonado to Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, and she ended up living and working as a tour guide for an animal dealer hotel owner in Leticia, Amazonas, Columbia.  After about five months in Leticia, she was flown back to New York with hepatitis in a cargo plane with 1200 monkeys and 1000 parakeets.

There were other trips that took her to India and Nepal, where she lived for some time at an ashram, and other corners of the globe.  Eventually, she settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, earned a Bachelors degree in nursing and a Masters in Psychiatric Nursing.  She joined the faculty of Nursing at Yale University and enjoyed several years of scholarship and teaching, before moving to the northwest corner of Connecticut, where she met the love of her life, Albert Francke.  She and Albert had only four years together, before cancer took Katharine from her multitude of friends and her family.

Katharine was an inspiration to so many.  She had the courage to break out and follow the road less travelled.  As she accumulated new friends around the world, she kept in touch with her old friends.  All her experiences never changed her essential character as a person intensely interested in others, someone who reached out, determined to understand and to assist others to achieve their very best.    

It is appropriate in many ways that a special fund be created as part of HEAL in Katharine’s memory.  HEAL is all about helping and caring about others, and HEAL’s  activities are targeted to helping people in Kenya, where Katharine worked, lived and visited.  Katharine the nurse, the teacher, the global traveler, the lover of East Africa, the woman known and loved by so many honors HEAL with her trust in what we are trying to accomplish.  We aim to return that trust with countless good deeds in her memory.

Kibaoni School Project – The start of a girl’s latrine!

Dear Contributors and Friends of Kibaoni Primary School,

I am pleased to share with you the news that after collecting funds for just over four and one-half months, we are seeing real results at the Kibaoni School. In December, we sent funds ($2,500) to start work on the girl’s latrine. We have the balance of the funds need for that project in the bank. The work on this project has begun in Tanzania.

In late December, we were informed that a number of Kibaoni students had passed their national tests and had qualified to attend Secondary School (O-Level). This is a four year program, but is not free. The students families must pay between $500 and $700 per year to attend. With the average family income in Tanzania being somewhere between $750 and $1,000, few Kibaoni graduates can afford to continue their education – regardless of their potential to succeed at the next level. I am pleased to inform you that with the aid of two individuals families/groups and your generous contributions, our group will be sponsoring a total of four Kibaoni graduates when classes start on January 19th.  In addition to Thomas Malinga, who we met last February at Kibaoni; we are paying the tuition costs, etc. for three Secondary School students: Magreth Andrea (a 13 year old girl); Wilfred Steven (a 14 year old boy) and Pascalina Tiehema (a 14 year old girl). There are many more students who need assistance, but this is a great start.

We thank each of you for your support.  If you know of others who might wish to help other students, we hope  to be able to cover more school fees next term – allowing each new student to reach their full potential. Let me know if you or friends of yours might be interested in sponsoring one of these scholars.  Additionally, there is a young woman, Shangwe Steven, who graduated a several years ago from Kibaoni who has been accepted at University, but cannot go on without our help. The university level education in Tanzania at a public university costs approximately $3,000 per year and would require a three to four year committment.

Following the break is an email from Kibaoni’s Headmistress Anna Mzava. In it she talks about last Sunday’s visit at Kibaoni by one of our founders, David Clapp, and a group he was leading through Tanzania. Thought you would appreciate her feelings about our relationship with the children of Kibaoni. All the best to you and yours. We are making a real difference. Thank you.  

Jim

 

 

Little Bits of Obama-Mania!!

This fall, HEAL had the great opportunity to participate in the annual AIDS Run & Walk Chicago, which is hosted by the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. HEAL members including Dr. Robert Bailey, Erin Starzyk, Justin Starzyk, Albert Plenty, Silas Ellison, and Elena Navez set up a booth to help spread the word about HEAL’s mission and work.

In order to raise money for HEAL’s current projects in Kenya, we sold Obama bracelets.  These little bits of Obama-mania were a fantastic hit with people absolutely RAVING about them.  All bracelets are handmade in Obama’s father’s hometown in Kenya, and we sold over 250 dollars worth of them at the walk. With the success of the bracelets, HEAL has continued to market through various venues, and to date has netted a profit of over 1,100 dollars.  This will, as we all know, go a long way in Kenya.  As always, all profits go directly towards HEAL’s projects which can be seen on this blog or at official HEAL website.

If you would like to purchase an Obama bracelet of your very own (and we know you do) as he is – you may have heard -
the current President Elect of the United States – contact Martha Schnell at mschnell@uic.edu.

Schooled in Tough Times: A Message from James Furner

Hello, hope you are well.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I wanted to take a minute and ask for your help. Early in 2008, Sylvia and I traveled with a group to Tanzania. While there we visited the Kibaoni Primary School near Karatu. Imagine a school with no electricity, no running water and only the boys have a latrine! With over 750 students and only 6 classrooms, classes are held in shifts. Not enough desks, not enough chairs, not enough books, not enough pencils, but plenty of need.

Now you know why I am asking for your assistance. Yes, economic conditions here are, indeed, very tough. But the children of Kibaoni Primary School really know what tough times are. Even if they are lucky enough to graduate and pass the national test, most of their families cannot afford to send their children to Secondary School – much less dream of attending University.

These are the reasons we partnered with H.E.A.L. (Health Empowerment for African Lives) to collect tax deductible funds for the Kibaoni School. We still plan to form our own 501(c)(3), which should be up and running in early 2009.

To date, we have collected $2,595 for the school. All funds will be distributed for specific projects at the school. Our first project is to build a latrine for the girls. We are over half way to our goal of $ 5,000 for the 15 seat facility. Other projects include getting electricity to the grounds; desks and chairs; water reserve tanks; books and sports equipment.

While at the school, I met a young man, Thomas Andrea Malinga. Thomas speaks very good English and served as our translator. As we were leaving Thomas pleaded for

help. He had passes all the needed tests, but as an orphan could not afford the tuition at the nearest public school (approximately $1,000 per year). When I mentioned Thomas’ plight to one of our fellow travelers, Darrell Lund, decided to step-up and pay Thomas’ school expenses as long as Thomas does well in school. Six months into the year, Thomas is blooming. He loves school and wants to be an accountant. He now considers Darrell and I his American fathers. He is able to email us regularly. His letters are amazing insightful.

No contribution is too small. Together we can do so much good.

-James Furner

The Price of Food

One hears grumbling no matter where you might call home – Kisumu is no different. Sort of a societal white noise, easily tuned out and familiar enough as to be almost comforting. That said, the general discontent over food prices has gotten loud enough that one is forced to take notice.

By personal account, the price of basic food stuffs (dairy, flour, bread, raw meat, and fruits&veg) in Kisumu has risen by about 5-10% in the 3-4 months that I’ve been here. In the situation of an affluent “muzungo”, this increase has been only now begun to register and even then seems little more than an interesting tidbit. Taking some time to speak to others in Kisumu, however, this increase in food prices has not only been noticed – it has begun to bring up questions of continued quality of life and, in some cases, survival. So, in Kisumu we hear grumbling – In some countries they have had rioting – What might be happening globally?