Here is the "Life Goes On" Washing Machine

Here is the washing machine some very generous readers of this blog bought for the Life Goes On house. Brand new and ready to make life easier for some ill people and their caregivers. Thank you so much for reaching out to the people suffering with HIV/AIDS on this island. A lot of people will benefit from your generosity. Bless you!



This is where Life Goes On is housed. It is a drop in center for the Life Goes On community, the office is housed here, and sometimes the staff stay here also. Unfortunately, a person who had loaned beds to the house has come to claim them. So the staff are sleeping on the floor. If you have beds to loan or donate, (or you know how to make them!) please call 767-449-8593.

The Life Goes On house is a little haven for people living with HIV and their caregivers who may be shunned in their own communities. It is a place of support and acceptance where both body and spirit are nourished. I can only imagine what it must feel like to have this welcoming spot full of caring people when isolation and fear are ever present. And now laundry can be brought here, too!

Today when I visited Mr. Rasta at the house, another member of Life Goes On was getting a haircut by a volunteer. He looked so improved after the haircut, I told Mr. Wizard he should get in the queue...

Mr. Rasta was feeling good today because he took a shower at the house. He does not have running water at home, so he was delighted to get to shower. Normally, he keeps himself very clean, but with sponge baths. He said the shower felt wonderful. The plan is for him to use the shower whenever he visits the house, and for me to change his dressing afterward. For this gentle person who is ostracized in his community, it felt wonderful to him, just being invited to do a simple things like have a shower. I took a picture of him today, with his permission. He even smiled. So often I see him with tears in his eyes, to see him smile was a real gift to me.

livingdominica: Thank you again for the support you readers are providing to this very necessary project.

Thoughts on Suffering

I met with Mr. Rasta again yesterday, and things are getting worse for this poor man. He is very frustrated because his tumor is growing much bigger and the doctors here have said they cannot surgically intervene because of bleeding risks. As his tumor grows, he is becoming more isolated in his community. "People are afraid." Tears flow as he tells me about sitting alone in his poverty, hoping that a solution will appear.

I listen to him and try to communicate the acceptance and caring he needs as much as he needs food and medical attention. I give him a few things and agree to meet him next week at the Life Goes On house. Not much help. I feel pretty lame.

The Life Goes On house is a little haven for people living with HIV and their caregivers who may be shunned in their own communities. It is a place of support and acceptance where both body and spirit are nourished. I can only imagine what it must feel like to have this welcoming spot full of caring people when isolation and fear are ever present.

Of course funding is always an issue for Life Goes On. The bus needs fuel and insurance. The house always needs food to share with the community. Sometimes the needs here on Dominica seem like a bottomless hole where my little help is mostly futile. Just a drop in the bucket.

But, of course, if my drop is added to your drop and all the other drops, soon the bucket begins to fill.

Looking into the face of suffering is so difficult. It is easier to turn away, of course. We all have plenty of personal suffering (and it is much easier to focus on my own pain, rather than embrace the suffering of someone like Mr. Rasta). Helping can be like walking the razor's edge between the care of the self and care of others. At one time, during my hospice years, I allowed the suffering of others to swallow me whole. I am older now, and less likely to completely throw myself on that razor. But nontheless, living in a world of suffering does call to me to do something when I can. No matter how inadequate and lame it may be.

livingdominica: maybe it is time to read Ram Dass's How Can I Help again...