Traffic jams, .... not moving,....summer heat, ..... in meetings,...... out of meetings,...... what are they saying?... I don't believe it, ... but maybe its true,...... let's think about this some more. Whew,.. what a blur of information, and in just two days in Kenya, .. looking for answers,.. finding none,.......only more questions to matters pertaining to their health care crisis. Is it pharmaceutical manufacturing?..medication distribution?...insurance access?....governmental funding?..., all or none of the above? This is like the automobile traffic jam we're in,..... not moving (especially the round-abouts,... are we going in circles?... again?) The initial confusion is astounding. But isn't this what research is about?
Two days in Kenya,... traveling with M.I.T. students who are doing a marvelous job at digging beneath the surface to look for answers about addressing health access in this country of 40 million. The scope of the mission has broadened immensely, and, unexpectedly from the initial premise of how to improve the quality of pharmaceutical manufacturing in Kenya.
But issues have been revealed that are begging for closer examination. Such examination isn't easy: Discussions are being held with experts who claim to know the system. Endless meetings and opinions are expressed on how this confusing health care system actually works and how it can be improved (sound familiar?). Those in the know will say that twenty-five percent of Kenyans have health insurance (and we thought we were in trouble). But who are these people? Others may state that the HIV prevalence in Nairobi is in the vicinity of 4%, but in other areas, as high as 18%. In a country where 75% of the population lives rurally, with no transportation, no access roads, little infra-structure, except in urban areas, it seems that it may not be easy to determine who is insured and who is not, who has specific diseases and who doesn't, when most of the country can't be reached (at least easily). So how do we really know? What are the "real" figures? The opinions expressed are from people who claim to know how things work in Kenya. But do they really? Are they really familiar with the faceless uninsured, the unreached, the uncounted 30 million who live without voices? Can't help but wonder who is the keeper of the truth, or, is there only mass denial that people are grossly under served and that we, the "keepers of the truth", have failed to respond to the needs of our neighbors, to facilitate equity and the entry of justice in health care. We all bear responsibility and accountability for these disparities. But, the question looms: are we even talking to right "experts"?
So the students have begun using an alternative and novel approach,..asking questions on these issues of other experts: residents in Nairobi,..patients at pharmacies, health care workers, people in the system rather than above and overseeing the system. People who also have opinions on how this system can better serve,... them. People who are frustrated with being witness to a system that can work but doesn't. People who have grown weary of hearing opinions from other experts who only claim to know the system... those who operate under the pretense of managing health care systems on their neighbor's behalf. So the questions being asked of these "experts" are only in the preliminary stages of inquiry. Yes, we're in the mystery of not knowing where the questions will lead. But there is little mystery in the fact that interesting yet troubling stories are beginning to emerge,.... a disconnect between what is supposed to happen and what actually happens.. in this metropolitan area of Nairobi. So, I suppose that we can add to the traffic jams, mismanaged health care systems and low allocation of funds that continue to frustrate residents, and perplex outsiders asking questions of "experts", ..those that are in the system and those that are responsible and accountable for it. One supposes that this may be another traffic jam,..of sorts. We're speculating further that somewhere in the questions posed to these disparate groups of experts, lie honest answers. But,.. if we're finding these types of challenges in the metropolis of Nairobi, one can only imagine what stories will be told when questions are asked in Mtwapa, and Majengo, where we're headed next week. The story will evolve further and the "plot will thicken". So stay tuned. These are stories that we should all hear. Stories that may provide light so that Kenyans will find the way out of their health care traffic jam.
Welcome
Welcome to All. This blog is a discussion site, looking at our lives through our experiences, our spiritual, and, not so spiritual lens, ....what our lives look like at The Front. We are and some would argue, always have been, in interesting times. Servants, past and present have been at constant struggle with whatever the issues of the day have been. Where do we even begin to name them: poverty, hunger, education, shelter, .... and did I mention poverty? Fifty-one years ago, President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty, a war by the way, we're still fighting. Then again, we've always been at war with poverty, and yet poverty has remained steadfast. Jesus apparently got it right: "The poor will always be with you." But Jesus was a smart man. Did he mean what we think? Does poverty always have to be with us. Let's talk about this, and whatever else, in real and truthful ways. Let's view our lives from The Front.
If you have come to help me, then you are wasting your time. If you have come because your liberation is linked to mine, then we will work together.
----(Anonymous) Australian Aborigine Activist
--mailto:--neilpitts@aol.com
----(Anonymous) Australian Aborigine Activist
--mailto:--neilpitts@aol.com
Contemplative Action
The Rite of Initiation: You are going to die
A shocking statement. Perhaps. But the Franciscan Priest, Richard Rohr,,who has studied the Rite of Initiation has said the following::
"Every initiation rite I've studied had some ritual, dramatic, or theatrical way to experience crossing the threshold from life to death in symbolic form. Some ritual of death and resurrection was the centerpiece of all male initiation. It is probably why Jesus sought out and submitted to John the Baptist's offbeat death and rebirth ritual down by the riverside, when his own temple had become more concerned with purity codes than with transformation. It is probably why Jesus kept talking to his disciples, three times in Mark's Gospel, about the necessity of this death journey, and why three times they changed the subject (8:31-10:45). It is undoubtedly why Jesus finally stopped talking about it, and just did it, not ritually but actually. Death and resurrection, the paschal mystery, is the theme of every single Eucharist no matter what the feast or season. It takes us many seasons and even years to overcome our resistance to death.
"The transformational journey of death and resurrection is the only real message. It makes you indestructible. The real life, God's life, is running through you and in you already. But allowing it to flow freely doesn't come easily. When you do, the spiritual journey really begins. Up to that moment it is just religion. Everything up to then is creating the container, but you have not yet found the contents; you are creating the wineskins, as Jesus says, but you are not yet drinking the intoxicating wine."
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