This school visit choked me up a bit

Posted on October 11, 2022 by johnageddes

Last week while visiting a school in Nyanza Province with Dan, I experienced a particularly touching moment.

Two schools, Nyangulu Secondary School the adjacent primary school, also called Nyangulu are in a valley (Nyangulu apparently means “a place of valleys”) that’s down a very bumpy road that gets partly washed out by the rain. It rivals a bumper-car ride at the fair to get there. The schools are virtually on the equator.

The secondary school looked orderly and well managed. We were there to bring greetings on behalf of the CanAssist Trustees and donors and to officially turn over a new 10,000 litre water tank that was already full to the brim because of the late afternoon rains we have received in the past week. While I had been visiting the district for the previous week, the mornings were often bright and sunny and hot and then, at about four, thunder rolled in the distance and brought a brief but torrential downpour. Then the skies cleared in about an hour.

Video: Typical short afternoon cloudburst in Nyanza Province.

The Nyangulu secondary school has about 700 students who all met outside during their morning break to receive our greetings. One of the girls thanked CanAssist for their contributions to the school. She requested that CanAssist help next with some kitchen improvements. After the assembly, Dan and I strolled over to see where three cooks work to provide two meals a day for the 700 pupils. It was a tiny smokey shack with a couple of huge pots and a lean-to beside it with another open fire. It was unimaginable that they could provide food daily from this environment for all of these kids.

Video: Can you imagine preparing lunch did several hundred high school students in this “kitchen”?

Then we walked next door to the primary school where another water tank had just been installed. Once again we were greeted by staff and students and I went from classroom to classroom to say hello. In once class they sang for me.

Video: Grade 5 at Nyangulu Elementary School welcome me with a song,

As we were about to leave, we were directed to a group of very young students under a tree by the primary classes who wanted to greet me with a couple of poems.

One of the poems was about being a Good Samaritan and thanking CanAssist for the contributions made to the school.

Video: Outside under a tree, a grade three class recited a poem they had practiced about CanAssist being a Good Samaritan to them.

“A Good Samaritan becomes a good neighbor. A neighbour is anyone in need. We were in need of hand-washing containers, latrines, storybooks, balls for play and fresh water to drink. CanAssist was there for us. You provided all these. You are our Good Samaritan, a wonderful partner. God bless you and thank you.”

I found this very touching. I told them that I remembered a stained glass window depiction of the Good Samaritan in New St James Church in London, Ontario beside the pew where my family usually sat when I was a their age. I probably spent a lot of time looking up at that colorful window and daydreaming during the sermon.

**This stained-glass window is like the one I remember from my childhood.**

I realized as I heard these kids and thought about this childhood memory of the Good Samaritan window that the message of that parable must have had an influence on me in choosing both my vocation as a physician and the development work that I have done over the years. I reflected on what a privilege it has been for me to be able to work with communities in East Africa, to meet so many friends there and to have unique interactions with them. My life has been incredibly enriched by these experiences. Hearing the children recite this little poem triggered a surprisingly emotional response in me as and will be a moment that I will long remember.

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My tree at Kona Baridi

Posted on October 8, 2022 by johnageddes

I have visited my friends, Liz and Stephen Moiko and thief family several times over the past 18 years. They live on a farm-like property near Kiserian, Kenya, about 45 minutes southwest of Nairobi.

On every visit (and when I have traveled with friends to Kenya) I always take time to hike up the hill to visit a tree that hangs out over the edge of the Rift Valley.

**A visit to my favourite tree in January 2012. Two weeks later, Liz had Charles who is now 10 years old. Time flies. But somehow this spot remains constant.**

The valley below is often lush and green but this time it is dry and brown. There is always peace and quiet there with a refreshing breeze and maybe the tinkle of goat bells in the distance. It is one of my favourite places on earth.

Video: Some moments with my tree near Kona Baridi in 2022.
It never disappoints.

Once again I hiked up to my tree and soaked up the ambiance, reflecting and remembering. And taking the same photo I have taken for years of the tree arched out over the valley like in a group of seven painting.

Video: Finding my tree on Google Earth. A half hour hike from the Moiko homestead.

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S.P. Geddes School in Osiri Village, Kenya

Posted on September 27, 2022 by johnageddes

In 2011 I met Meshack Andiwo who lived in a small Kenyan village near the Luanda K’Otieno ferry that takes passengers and cars across Homa Bay to Mbita Point. He told me that small children in his community were struggling when they went to Primary School because they didn’t have the basics of English and arithmetic. They were too young to walk the distance to the nearest Primary School. Once the were old enough to walk the distance to school they were behind many of their peers and they became discouraged and lagged behind. He wanted them to have some early childhood education so they would not struggle or be discouraged and quit when they were old enough to walk to school.

I told my late Dad who was about 92 at the time,about this challenge and he offered some financial support through the CanAssist African Relied Trust to start to build a school for the community and it began with one small tin classroom and a latrine. And so it began.

NOTE Some of the images in this post are videos. If you are reading this in an an email you can tap on the title of the post to be taken to the WordPress site to stream the video files

* video Come, come, come. Come to SP Geddes School for a better foundation. A young child will grow and grow and later become a doctor/teacher.

I visited the school today. There are several buildings now, a kitchen, clean new latrine, a fenced playground and a small office. There are currently about 50 kids at the school from preschool age to grade 4. They are learning the basics and being fed a breakfast of porridge and a lunch of beans or rice and vegetables, sometimes their only nutrition in a community that struggles with food security.

*Video* How wonderful is this welcome?

When we formed the CanAssist African Relief Trust in 2008, we determined that it’s mandate would be to provide sustainable tangible infrastructure and not programming or management costs (like teachers’ salaries or feeding programmes. This is for two reasons. One is that it would commit for a longer term and limit the number of communities that CanAssist donors could help. It also would foster reliance on outside help and May might foster dependency rather than encourage financial planning and self sufficiency. The latrines, classrooms, water catchment, text books, solar panels, fencing etc are tangible gifts to give the building blocks for running a school or clinic or community sanitation programme. Responsibility for managing and funding the programming is up to the recipient.

**Feeding these kids two meals a day is an important motivator to have them attend the school and ensures that they get some sustenance.**

.Food supplies for the fifty kids at SP Geddes school cost about $15-$20 per day. Parents pay a small fee to cover the cost of the food but by the end of the week, they sometimes run out and Meshack and Caroline have to dip into their own means to support this. I plan to send a bit of money every so often to help them with this expense. If you want to help a bit with this, let me know as even a couple of dollars a week would be of great value to sustain these beautiful kids.

* video Children at the SP Geddes School washing their hands before lunch.
In addition to early academic education they are taught other life skills.

Caroline and Meshack’s grandson was named “SP” in recognition of my Dad’s generosity and the school was named the SP Geddes School. I met SP as an infant several years ago and what a treat it was to see him again today. He is now 9 years old.

**Reuniting with young SP, named after my Dad.**

Meshack and Caroline take good care of the children at SP Geddes School

Tracing my footsteps through 2018

Posted on December 31, 2018 by johnageddes

My iPhone tells me that in 2018 I took over 4,900,000 steps with it in my pocket. We averaged 8.7 kilometers every day in 16 different countries. My phone and I also took hundreds of photos as we made that trek though the year together.

Here is just one photo from each of those countries.

Longboat Key, Florida, U.S.A.

Amalfi, Italy

Rotterdam, Holland

Copenhagen, Denmark

St Petersburg, Russia

Helsinki, Finland

Stockholm, Sweden

Brussels, Belgium

Berlin, Germany

Tallinn, Estonia

Baridi, Kona, Kenya

Maputo, Mozambique

Costa Maya, Mexico

Roatan, Honduras

Santo Tomas de Castillo, Guatemala

Magog, Quebec, Canada

Red Tide along the Florida Gulf Coast

Posted on November 9, 2018 by johnageddes

Wildlife along the Florida Gulf Coast has taken a hit from something called the Red Tide.

I have been holidaying at Longboat Key for 35 years and periodically there is a surge in an algae called Karenia brevis that is in the gulf water for a few days or a couple of weeks then goes away. The alga affects fish by secreting a toxin that attacks their neurological system and gills and it kills a lot of them but the outbreaks are brief and the Gulf fauna recovers quickly.

This year, however, a bloom that started in July has continued unabated ravaging fish and wildlife along the coast from Fort Myers to north of Tampa. Fish have been washing up on the beach in large numbers and the dead sealife has also included sea turtles, dolphins and manatee. I am told that in August the problem was severe and that dead fish littered the beach and the water which turns orange with the bloom. For humans, the problem is mainly respiratory. Apparently swimming in the water contaminated by Red Tide is not a health risk other than causing skin and eye irritation for some.

The Red Tide gets its name from the color it gives to the water when it blooms.

This week we have noticed a lot of dead fish on the beach even the tide goes out, fewer schools of fish in the water, no seagulls or terns and only a couple of egrets. The birds must have moved away because there are no fish in the shallow water to hunt. An occasional pelican flies along the shore but they don’t dive to snare fish like usual. The seabirds have been replaced by flocks of turkey vultures that soar in the wind currents above the beach or pick away at the dead fish littering the shoreline.

Vultures have replaced seagulls along the shore.

There are even fewer tourists than usual and I have read that the tourist industry along the coast has been significantly affected.

Our holiday this week was not changed in any significant way by the persistent Red Tide bloom. On days when the water was stirred up by waves it took on the color of tea rather than its usual clear teal green. You could tell as you walked along the beach the places where the Red Tide was more active (areas of high concentration tend to move along the shoreline) because it would cause a runny nose and a dry tickle in the throat that turned to cough.

Fewer tourists and almost no seabirds along the coast this November.

Why is it worse this year? Apparently there was a lot of rain earlier in the season and the heavier run off into the rivers that flow into the gulf brought with it pollution and eutrophication that acted to fertilize the algae. This, combined with an unusually warm season and warmer gulf water temperatures, added a bonus for abundant algal growth. Yes, effects of climate change and human pollution combined.

It will take a while for the wildlife along the gulf to recover but recover it will. One wonders, however, if – or, more appropriately, how and when – the conditions that disrupt the environment will increase as our weather patterns change in response to climate change.

I will be back to Longboat Key at the end of December and will be anxious to see if things are resolving.

Italia 2018 – Part 1 – San Michele

Posted on October 8, 2018 by johnageddes

I’ve spent the last few days visiting with friends Luca, Gloria, and Enrico in San Michele, Italy – not too far from Bologna and Modena. The district, Reggio Emilia, is famous for Ferrari and Pavarotti and balsamic vinegar and parmesan cheese, among other things.

I first met Luca and Gloria rather serendipitously online in 1999 when I was working in Bosnia and ICQ was the online chat programme that was popular then. We have seen each other several times in several places over those 19 years. I first met Enrico when he was 3 months old. Now look at him!

It’s always wonderful to spend time with them and to have the opportunity to experience Italy with my Italian family. Gracie, amici.

Here are a few photos of my time there.

Centre of Modena. The reflection in the pool of water caught my eye.

I always enjoy a hike up the hill behind San Michele for a “divine” view of the surrounding countryside and the town below.

The historic covered bridge, an icon in Pavia, near Milano.

The courtyard of the Castello Visconteo in Pavia

Downtown San Michele. Not a metropolis.

I revel all week in Gloria’s cooking. This is a ricotta and chocolate cheesecake/pie. Delizioso.

Baltic cruise

Posted on July 9, 2018 by johnageddes

In May of this year, I took a 12 night Holland America Baltic cruise on the 1600-passenger ship Rotterdam and it was a great opportunity to visit several cities that have been on my bucket list. The cruise left from Rotterdam, Holland and visited Copenhagen, Tallinn, Berlin, St Petersburg, Helsinki, and Stockholm. I took hundreds of photos and it has taken me this long to whittle them down to one per stop for this blog article.

I will post one representative photo and a short comment about each city.

Copenhagen, Denmark was clean and bright and one thing that struck me as unusual was that people just left their bicycles (and they use them a lot) unlocked without fear of having them stolen. This says a lot about the people who live there, don’t you think?

Copenhagen, Denmark

Tallinn, Estonia was a delightful small city to roam in or climb the streets up to the top of the hill for a great view. It would be an ideal place just to hang out for a week, soaking up the ambiance, reading books and drinking coffee.

Tallin, Estonia

Berlin, Germany was a 2 hour drive from where we docked but well worth the effort. A vibrant city with lots of parks and trees and recent history. The city is very open about acknowledging with a certain amount of shame, but more determination not to have it ever happen there again, the horrors and trauma of WW2 and the Nazi regime.

Berlin, Germany

St Petersburg, Russia was certainly interesting visually but the glitz became almost too much. Much of St Petersburg (previously Leningrad) was destroyed during WW2 so, although the buildings like the Palaces and the Hermitage were impressive, they really were reconstructions, not the originals. Ostentatious comes to mind.

St Petersburg, Russia

Helsinki, Finland seemed a bit drab after St Petersburg. Russians go there to shop. I spent the day there taking a ferry to a nearby island where there were no cars and lots of opportunity to walk near the sea. A refreshing change and I actually walked over 20 kilometres that day, not something you might expect on a cruise vacation.

Helsinki, Finland

Stockholm, Sweden was a photographer’s delight. The old town on the island was very wanderable with colorful alleyways and streets at every turn. The city also has a lot of canals and waterways that made a hop-on-hop-off boat trip a must.

Stockholm, Sweden

Rotterdam, Holland, where the cruise both started and ended, strikes me as a city with a shipping port/industrial past that is gradually gentrifying and becoming an interesting destination, not far from Delft and The Hague as well.

Rotterdam, Holland

Taking a cruise like this is an excellent way of seeing these spots. It is so good to have all your things in one place for the trip and have a “hotel” room that moves with you.

Where would I return? I would gladly go back to spend a few days in Berlin. Lots of culture, history, museums, parks, restaurants, coffee shops. And Stockholm was also somewhere I could hang out for a few days.

Playing with some of my vacation photos

Posted on May 17, 2018 by johnageddes

I may have had a bit too much time on the plane to fiddle with my phone. I came across a photography app that I had never used there called “Warmlight” and started fiddling with it and some of my photos from my recent trip to Europe.

I do prefer my photos to be clear and bright and honest but some of these treatments are appealing as well, just for a change. What do you think?

Street crossing, St.Petersburg, Russia.

Seagull,Tallin, Estonia

Photo shoot in front of the Reichstag, Berlin, Germany.

Nyhavn, Copenhagen Denmark

Nyhavn Copenhagen, Denmark. Looking the other way from the bridge.

Rooftop at the Citadel, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Grabbing s beer in Tallinn, Estonia.

Some of the Peterhof Fountains in St Petersburg, Russia.

Cranes along the docks at Helsinki, Finland.

Cathedral, Helsinki, Finland.

Windmill, Rotterdam, Holland.

Canal in Delfshaven district of Rotterdam, Holland.

Street in Gamla Stan – old town, Stockholm, Sweden.

Across the tracks in the new Rotterdam Central Station.

Escalator up from the bowels of the St Petersburg, Russia subway.

Grand Place, Brussels, Belgium.

A stroll through Mbita town

Posted on April 13, 2018 by johnageddes

I really enjoy strolling through Mbita town on the shore of Lake Victoria. I have visited Mbita, Kenya about a dozen times in as many years. As you can see from the photos, I am the only muzungu for miles around. I get many greetings and stop to talk with vendors or pikipiki drivers. I feel very safe and welcomed. I love the vibrant color that surrounds me there. The town also has special signficance for me which I will note at the end of this post.

The photos can speak for themselves.

Below is one other reminder of my special connection to this town. In the middle of the local hospital grounds, now behind some trees, is a water tank bearing my name. It was the first infrastructure project that I tackled in Kenya in 2005 and the benefits it gave to this clinic led me to establish the CanAssist African Relief Trust in 2008. Since that time, CanAssist has provided more than a million dollars of infrastructure support to communities throughout East Africa. Little did I know, in 2005, what a profound effect that water tank in Mbita town would have on my life for the next several years.

Ramula Shopping Centre – photo gallery

Posted on April 11, 2018 by johnageddes

Situated right on the Equator, Ramula is a colorful, little, rural Kenyan trading centre that I love to wander around and take photos. So much character. Friendly people living what appears to be simple lives but that are really quite complex given the challenges they face getting from day to day.

Here some photos of some of the shops that operate in this rural Kenyan “shopping centre.

This dilapidated van has been sitting here for the last five years, looking like this. In front of the “Palace” kinyozi (barber) hardware and beauty salon.

This fellow makes wooden tables, doors and cabinets using all hand tools. I contracted him to make a crib out of cyoress wood for little Heather Maddie at a cost of 6000KES ( $80 Can)

I asked these guys who were the other nine of the top ten. There were no others. Guess that makes this one number one.

The fellow hidden in this kiosk cage also can make deposits and give money from your Equity Bank account. In his spare time he does construction and cuts hair.

This is where the fellow above gives haircuts. The little sticker in the upper corner says “Trust in God”. Advice for clients who may not feel his skills are up to par?