St. Simeon Skete, Taylorsville Kentucky USA

With St. Simeon, the God receiver, as our patron, the skete seeks to practice the ideals found in our Rule, The Thousand Day Nazareth. In simplicity and poverty, the skete embraces the struggle of inner life through the practice of the Prayer Rope.

See our website at www.nazarethhouseap.org

Donations should be addressed to: Nazareth House Apostolate, 185 Captains Cove Drive, Taylorsville, Kentucky 40071.

Important Notice: All writings, posts, graphics & photographs in this blog are the copyrighted property of (unless otherwise indicated) Nazareth House Media, a division of Nazareth House Apostolate and cannot be copied, printed or used without written permission from NHA Media, Taylorsville, KY.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

On the road to Kabala


After a few days in Freetown during our recent Lenten Mission in Sierra Leone,
it was time to hit the road.
Loading up the car we rented from Sanu, off we go. Someday, after the compound is paid for, we MUST purchase our own 4-wheel drive vehicle
but for now we are most grateful to Sanu for allowing us the use of his car.

Although the journey is long, bumpy and uncomfortable, it is always one of my favorite times. As we travel on,
we stop and meet up with friends both new and old.
There is a bridge that has become a tradition for us to stop
and walk across.
James and I take this opportunity
to participate in some dueling camera shots.

It is a perfect time to greet the people, especially the children
who always seem to gift us with a smile.
Along the way to Kabala,
the scenery is beautiful.
The hills,
the foliage
all so green!
In the town of Makeni,
we stop to say "hello" to old friends
and enjoy a coke.
After several more miles and a few stops,
we are finally
at One Hut Village.
We see the familiar symbol letting buyers know that Palm Wine is available for sale.
I have to tell you, I've tried the palm wine, its not something I will try again. And that's all I got to say about that.
Noticing the enlarged bellies, Emily and I get ready for some medical exams and "worm treatment".
Checking the eyes
for signs of jaundice,
feeling the bellies for worms, etc.
its pretty routine.
And at any given time you can see Emily and I with a pack of worm medication in our hands - or mouths
A great number of people over there have worms - its as prevalent as the common cold in America. Looking for more who may need treatment we went inside the mud hut.
Here's your chance to see the inside

The rooms are cool despite the heat.

Emily checks out the master bedroom.


Once we treated everyone for the internal parasites,
we were presented with an infected toe.
Emily was quick to jump in and begin
to clean the wound.
NHA cannot begin to express
our thankfulness to Emily
for coming on this trip. She was such a help, such a pleasure to have with us.
This work is vitally important and we need your help, too.
There are so many opportunities for NHA to love and give to others
but we must pay off the new compound so that we have a center of operations in which to work, a place to store the supplies, etc.
While we are making payments on the house and property, our obligations to assist the people and run the NHA School continue. Please share your involvement in Nazareth House Apostolate with others, help us to grow so that we can meet the needs placed before us.

It is dear people like those at One Hut that are depending on us.
Day after day they work very hard to provide for their families, only to go to bed hungry. Each morning they wake up, hoping that something in the new day will change their lives and make it better. For now, at least once a month, Nazareth House is giving them a hand through your donations. We thank you for your support, they thank you.

We say good bye for this trip, to the One Hut Village and pile back into Sanu's little red car
and drive on to Kabala. (Thankfully, because of the continued contributions from our supporters, James and his family have already returned to One Hut Village to bring more rice to them during the Easter Holidays.)
As we travel on, Roo sings and claps to the Willy Nelson song "On the Road Again". Another 45 more minutes and we'll be in Kabala.

' See you at our next stop....