Kenya, 2002 

After six weeks at a government hospital in southwest Kenya, I headed back to Nairobi where I was greeted by the late great Fr Patrick Donnelly. Originally from Ulster, Fr Donnelly was a legend of man who had given his whole life to the service of others in harsh times, in a distant land - a feat that is now seen as a pointless thing of the past. In addition, he was also prepared to meet random strangers like us and invite them into his home. I will never forget that - it was a true act of kindness from a genuine nice guy. I often wonder would I do the same for someone arriving into my country. No is the probable answer.

At the airport we met Neil Pimley a member of the OYS like myself who was arriving in from Heathrow. After staying the night in Nairobi, we got in contact with the Sisters who were bringing us to the hospital where we were going to stay in a small town called Mutomo half way between Nairobi and Mombasa.  My lasting memory of that journey was being in the back of a 1960s van, in the presence of Neil and a lot of supplies for the hospital, including an old computer. I specifically remember the dirt track of a road, which caused the supplies to land on top of us many times during four long hours. Being in the presence Neil for four hours is difficult enough, but the added stress of no air conditioning meant the journey was a long one but when we looked out the window and a giraffe was ambling by, approximately 10 metres away. It was at this point that we realised that we was no longer in Belfast.

We arrived in a small shanty town which had built up around the hospital. The Mercy Sister we meet had created a western like health environment and school for the local people.  One sister in particular Sr Marian was a very competent surgeon and had spent many years being on call 24 hours a day, and as such was very skilled in numerous specialities. The others were nurses and administers, and worked every bit as hard with a spirit inspired by their love of God and humanity. The example of their complete and utter life sacrifice made us feel very selfish in some of the attitudes that we had thought of as important.

We spent our time doing what we could around the hospital, with my position at the time as a medical student, while Neil worked in administration. Nonetheless I can still remember some of the conditions that I seen there, including leprosy, TB, AIDS, malaria etc, all of which I have seen very little of since. The experience that I got was also very practical in nature, assisting in whatever operation I was allowed to, under the very helpful eye of a first class Irish surgical registrar volunteering for a year in Africa. However our role was more of observers to take in and experience, the community life and the inspiration of the sisters and local community. We definitely took away more than we contributed, including some top class stories.  We really enjoyed our time in Kenya, which was inspired by the people we met, not only the friendly, caring local Kenyans, but also by Irish men and women as well as other nationalities who had come from a past generation when self sacrifice, love for others and great faith were paramount and which we carry around today in our minds and hearts.