Amy.Gress

June 10, 2012 Tonight I celebrate seven years of working with this particular program. So does Sister Veronica and Lucy. We three have been together through some hairy times and they determined that we’ll work another twenty years together. I complain that I will have no hair left by that time, the stress is too much, the fundraising so hard. With incredulous eyes, Vero says to me “don’t give up on faith, Tanya. You must keep the faith that has brought you here today – you hear me? We will do what we can together because it is not our work that we do, but God’s.” I guess that is [...]

Do you know how AIDS is treated in children? Do you know how effective it can be? For adults, the primary combatant against the one-two punch of HIV and AIDS is antiretroviral therapy. These drugs delay the onset of AIDS indefinitely by pinpointing and undermining any of numerous stages in AIDS’ development. One type of antiretroviral drugs, reverse transcriptase inhibitors, disables the ability of the HIV virus to replicate its DNA, stopping its spread within the body. Another type, protease inhibitors, prevents human cells from replicating the virus. Yet another set of drugs, fusion and entry inhibitors, protects cells from penetration by the virus. The World Health Organization recommends that [...]

June 8, 2012 – CAR – Kenya I am writing reports and catching up on my receipt record keeping this morning, while taking brief breaks to read about the history of the wars in DRC. It is a terribly complicated history and I am not sure that I understand any more now than I did previously. All I know for sure is that evil is everywhere in this world and that it has manifested itself if such violence in northeast Congo that it makes it hard to comprehend how people continue on with their lives once they’ve faced what they have witnessed and in many cases, endured. It is also [...]

June 7, 2012 – Bangui, Central African Republic After a great night sleep, I find myself with an easy-going day. I needed this day in between border crossings and the flight to Kenya because I had no idea if I’d make the crossing on time. Because I did manage to cross in time, I have an extra day, which allowed me to wash my clothes (how will I EVER get the red dirt out of my jeans?) and shop for some amoeba and parasite medicine, should I need it later on. Thelma and I went out to a nice place for lunch because I am so grateful to her for [...]

June 5, 2012 – Gemena, DRC Today starts very, very early (4:30am), thanks to a large rodent living above my room at the Elikya Center. It is so large, in fact, that I think Rachel is having trouble moving a suitcase in the next room, although the sound is coming from above, not beside me. Either way, I go to see if I can help her and she laughs. She is coming to see if she can help me with anything! No, it is neither of us…it is a large rat of sorts. No more sleep for me, thank you very much! With hours to kill before work starts [...]

Bangui, Central African Republic (CAR) – June 1, 2012 I watch a silent concert take place and it takes my breath away. Lightning, without a sound before or after it, dances across the sky, providing us with a glimpse of the depth and width of the surrounding clouds. Sometimes, the flashes happen vertically and sometimes, it seems the lightning dances horizontally through the layers of black, grey and apparently, white clouds that wrap around the bright. It was awesome and I find myself unable to move as I watch the sky in central Africa. Tandala, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – June 2, 2012 Expecting some sort of rain to [...]

Harrisburg, PA – left home at 2:30pm – May 30th, 2012 London, England – May 31, 2012 (1:27pm EST, 6:27pm here) There’s a certain excitement that starts in my belly and moves up to my neck and finally to my face, where I feel a stupidly large smile forming. While I’ve known I am returning to Africa for quite a long time now, it is only when I actually hand over my passport to be stamped and am welcomed to a new country that I know I truly am returning. Right now, I am sitting in Heathrow airport in London, recalling the many flights I’ve taken through this city both [...]

Without a doubt, the global HIV/AIDS pandemic is a multifaceted tragedy. Many Americans may view AIDS primarily as an unfortunate consequence of individual choice, a disease whose effects are regrettable but mainly limited to those who have ‘chosen’ to engage in unprotected sex. But AIDS has terrible consequences that reach far beyond the physical discomfort and subsequent deaths of immediate victims. In addition to causing extreme physical suffering for victims and severe emotional trauma for loved ones left behind, AIDS brings down the livelihoods of entire communities and the productivity of entire nations, especially in developing nations such as those in which we serve (Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic [...]

What happens when you send a passionate Kenyan to Zimbabwe for a week? He comes back trained in Foundations for Farming and begins nurturing a one acre plot of overgrown grasses into 48 beds for vegetable production! Meet Steve (on left, with Katie). Steve is the clinic Nutritionist and farm manager of the agriculture projects that Mombasa CBHC has started. In January, half of the acre was filled with tomatoes, kale, cilantro, peppers, and cowpea. Providing an under-story are several papaya trees and a few young banana plants. Other native bushes create a natural border around the plot, overseen (and shaded!) by two ancient, towering mango trees. It's become a [...]

It's no secret, the busy pace of life in Mikindani: the shops aligning the main street, the daily football game around the six o'clock hour, the constant patter of footsteps up and own the stairs, or the swishing of water as it is splashed in an artistic manner—at the mercy of the mothers' hands downstairs. Dust becomes a cosmetic in this town, accompanied by daily perspiration. The heat is up! It's warm, its humid, and it's tropical. Yes, tropical; mangoes fill the fruit shops accompanied by pineapples and avocados, while banana trees dot the roadside. Colorful congas (designed material wrapped around the waist like a skirt) fill the streetscape and [...]