where’s Sukh….

Sukh, Mahsa, and Mike did go ahead on to Nirobi, Kenya to start the next leg of their journey. They went to volunteer at a hospital for women with AIDS. I “think” it was called “House of Love”. The hospital has quarters for families to stay in while they visit their family member in the hospital. Its my understanding that Sukh, Mahsa, and Mike will be able to stay in those quarters while they volunteer at the hosptial. On one of last days in South Africa, we got to visit a hospital and hospice for people with AIDS. We sang Christmas carols, passed out small radios, shook hands, shared conversations, and then some of us got the priviledge of rubbing the legs, backs, and hands of some of the female patients. We were told that approximately 10 people a week die at that facility, so sadly, many of the people we met that day will pass away very soon. Its easy to think that we cant do anything for people that sick, but whats amazing is that when we sang, people sat up and smiled, and some people clapped. We talked with people and they talked back. We rubbed the feet of people, who smiled and said thank you. It really felt more like we should be thanking them. We only got to stay at the hospice for a short while, but we all concluded that we could have stayed right there for the whole 2 weeks. This is the kind of journey that Sukh, Masha, and Mike are going to embark on. I must admit, I’m kind of jealous. It seems like it should be dreary and sad, and it IS heartbreaking to see people in their 20’s and 30’s shriveled up and dying of AIDS, but at the same time, the opportunity to hold a hand, hear about someone’s life, make eye contact with someone, reminds us that there is nothing to be afraid of. We’re all the same, we all need the same things, and we should all do whatever we can not to let fear get in the way of our humanity. Whether that is in helping people sick with HIV/AIDS, or making sense out of the so-called “war on terror”, standing up for social justice no matter what people think of you, or just smiling at someone of a different race or ethnicity that you pass on the street. We have to make our montra for 2005: “NO FEAR”!