Late last year, the Guide wrote about the inspiration behind starting a new stewardship opportunity for Kantolomba in 2025: Bridge to Africa. Since then, opportunities to engage with the difficult realities of the world seem to have grown exponentially. One example of this in Kantolomba is the local health clinic.
For many years, the closest health clinic to Kantolomba was a 30-minute walk away (with no one in Kantolomba owning a car, distances are measured in walking minutes). It was a profound blessing when a USAID clinic was established in the area. Suddenly, local health care became available just a three-minute walk from the Living Compassion property, along with free medications: HIV and malaria testing and treatment, vaccines—game-changing.
On January 30 of this year, the clinic was abruptly closed following announcements from the U.S. government. The prefab clinic was dismantled, and its components are being carted away. A nurse at the clinic, a close friend of Theresa’s, reported that they had to surrender HIV and malaria kits. This is devastating for the medical staff who are losing their jobs and ability to serve the community, as well as for the thousands of people who relied on the clinic’s services.
Fortunately, the Living Compassion team members who depend on HIV medications are connected to the neighboring Lubuto clinic, where they are currently supplied with a year’s worth of medication. After that, the clinic will need to find another source. None of us knows what will happen between now and then.
What we do know is that we are a Sangha. As the Guide reminds us, this is the great gift of this moment. We are the people. Who is going to make a difference here? That’s us. Who should do something about this? That’s us. We are the crew here, on this great ship of Life.
An excerpt from a conversation with the Guide on the same February 4 Open Air:
“I was reading two people today, and the message from both of them was exactly the same: ‘It’s your obligation to be happy. It is your duty to be happy, to be in well-being.’ Because then that energy is available for Life. I find that so encouraging—that’s the message people are moving toward. First, take care of the human being whose suffering is most apparent, and then who now? Maybe there are hungry people in the neighborhood… or maybe…. It will drop in for each one of us. When we’re caught in that conversation, it will drain our energy and make us feel bad. And that’s not the contribution we want to make.
“In the face of everything happening in the world, how do we find the joy? It’s a deep spiritual question because Joy is our authentic nature. Happiness is what we are. All of this stuff is covering it up and keeping us from it. So, instead of saying, ‘Yeah, I guess it’s really true, circumstances dictate our life experience, and this is awful, so no happiness for us.’ No. We have to say, ‘This is actually the best time because if I can find Joy now, under these circumstances, it will be available everywhere, all the time, for anything. That’s the best thing we can offer one another: a place to bring everything into the light, into love and acceptance.’”
Yes, clinics are being dismantled, and that will have real life implications for people we know and love. Let’s roll up our sleeves and practice like our hair is on fire so that we can experience the Joy and Happiness of our Authentic Nature, freeing up the energy of Life to arrive and be the love in action that it is.
If you want to join in, sign up to be a Bridge to Africa steward in 2025. Let’s be a place for one another to bring everything into the light, into love and acceptance.
And if you want to see the beautiful faces of transformation, be sure to check out a very special blog post from Theresa and team.
In gasshō,
Jen
