Orientation in Baltimore

Sandra, Ryan, Catherine, Kathleen, Arielle, Tim (behind the camera)

Well, after an exhusting three months of preparation and an extremely chaotic night of packing and family goodbyes, I am now in Baltimore for a week of orientation before I leave for Kenya on January 3rd 2007. It's great to finally meet all of the other volunteers for the first time in person after weeks of emailing back and forth. I even got to meet Kathleen and Kathryn, the volunteers that will be spending a year in Lima, Peru. Everybody comes with a different story, and I come with mine, but we all seek a common goal, and that is service to the poor and also to get the most out of this opportrunity that has been given to us. The orientation is pretty well structured and includes many talks given by Sisters that have spent many years in Kenya and Peru. Between the talks and presentations there is time to sleep, lounge about, or even go for a walk through one of the historical districts in Baltimore. Today I received a British Airways plane ticket with Tim Constantino printed in all caps just above the words "To Nairobi Kenya." It's really starting to sink in. I will be in Kenya on Jaunary 4th 2007 at 9:20PM!

Merry Christmas!

And the angel of the Lord said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be for all people: for born to you this day in the city of David is a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace
good will toward men."

Luke 2:10-14

Frassati Society Party

Tuesday night I went to a Christmas/Going Away Party with my friends from the Frassati Society. It gave me a chance to spend some time with Mike, Raquel, JP, Heather, Mary, Amy, and Tera and make my final "good-byes" before leaving. Once again, I am in awe of the amount of support I am getting from friends and even people I haven't known for very long. It is all very very much appreciated. You will all be in my thoughts and prayers everyday in Kenya. I'm not sure I could be able to do something like this if I didn't have such a solid support team back home.

Suggested Viewing

I have been trying to gain as much information as I can about where I will be in Kenya and what it will be like to live in a third-world country. From movies, to pictures, to books...I have been trying to absorb it all. Last month, I received a list of suggested books and movies that might give me an idea of what life in Kenya might be like. Seeing as how I have been incredibly busy with preparations, I haven't had any time to read any of the books. From what I hear, there will be more than enough time to read while I am there. I have, however, had an opportunity to see some of the movies and even can suggest some myself. I really enjoyed Hotel Rwanda, Born into Brothels, and Yesterday. Two thumbs, way up!

Suggested Books
This Our Exile: A Spiritual Journey with the Refugees of East Africa by James Martin, SJ
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Suggested Movies
The Constant Gardener
Out of Africa
Hotel Rwanda
In the Time of the Butterflies
The Motorcycle Diaries
Crash
Born into Brothels
Yesterday

Learning to drive a stick shift...

Part of preparing for my mission in Kenya requires me to learn how to drive a stick shift. This is important as cars in Kenya with an automatic transmission are quite nonexsistant. It is my understanding that I may be asked to transport patients, by car, from the medical center in the small village to the hospital in the city.

Today I started learning how to drive a stick shift. Surprisingly, it is my little sister, Anita, that is teaching me. It seems as though not many of my family or friends have acquired this skill or own such a vehicle. Fortunately for me, my sister's first car was a stick and little did I know that she would someday be teaching me how to drive. The only problem that arose when she agreed to do so was that she had long since gotten rid of that first car and now owns an automatic. This is when my sister came up with a brilliant idea! We spent an afternoon visiting various car dealerships in the area test driving the latest models....all of course in the new sporty, fuel-efficient stick shift editions!

Campus Ministry Party

Last night I spent with friends that I have worked with through the years in campus ministry at Macomb Community College. They had their annual Christmas Party, but this year it was also a going away party for me. It seems like I've known them all forever. I've worked with some of them on some of my very first service events. It was some of these events that eventually lead to my decision to spend a year in Kenya. I remember all of the times we spent together at the alternative spring breaks in Kentucky, volunteering at the soup kitchens in Detroit, at the charity soups sales, and collecting the toys for Christmas for Kids....we've been through a lot....and now they are seeing me off to the next chapter in my life. It was good to see them all again. We spent the night talking and laughing and singing Christmas carols...it was the perfect holiday send off. It's a pretty amazing feeling to have such friends and such support. Thank you all very much.

Bad Missionary Joke

I was at the dentist not too long ago for my last check-up before I venture out to where a good dentist may be hard to find.... Surprisingly, I had no cavities!!! Anyway, I was telling the hygentist about my mission trip and she wished me well and told me this really bad joke that I will share with you now.

How do you tell the difference between the new missionary and the experienced one?

If you have a glass of water with a fly floating in it....

The new missionary will refuse to drink it.

The missionary with some experience will take the fly out and drink the water.

The missionary with more experience will drink the water without taking the fly out.

And, the missionary with a lifetime of experience will look at the glass of water and say, "Hey, where's my fly!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I sat with my family around a table filled with food and recited the following prayer, it was obvious to me what I am thankful for. I am thankful for my life and the people it in and the opportunities I have to help others. I am thankful for this opportunity I will have to help the people of Kenya and most of all thankful for the help I know they will give me in my life. I am also very thankful to have a family, friends, and a community that support me with their prayers and donations. Thank you all!

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Oh, God when I have food,
help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work, Help me
to remember the jobless;
When I have a warm home,
help me to remember the homeless;
When I am without pain,
help me to remember those who suffer;
And remembering, help
to destroy my complacency
and bestir my compassion.
Make me concerned enough
to help, by word and deed,
those who cry out
for what we take for granted.

~Samuel F. Pugh

My only contact with the outside world...

I'm not normally the type of person that takes advantage of holiday sales to buy things for myself, but this year was the exception. I just got an incredible deal on a laptop computer! It's strange to think that the small village of Malava, despite it's extreme poverty, has internet access. I bought the Compaq Presario C300. It will allow me to check email, update my blog, play DVDs, store digital photos....and in many ways will nearly be my only contact with the outside world. Now, if I can only send these mail-in rebates out in time.

Ticket for Baltimore!

I just spoke with Katherine "Sissy" Corr, one of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Baltimore. We talked about how difficult fundraising can be and also about basic preparations. This is when she told me that I will be leaving for Baltimore on December 28th! I have just finished booking my flight. Northwest Airlines, flight #260. I fly out of Detroit at 6:49AM. I will be flying out of Baltimore for Kenya on January 3rd 2007! It looks like I will be spending New Years in Baltimore. It's very strange to think that in just over 1 month I will be leaving for Kenya, for a whole year...and it all starts at 6:49AM!

Grateful to have such good friends

I took the bus out to Chicago this weekend to spend some time with some of my best friends before I leave. We ate, we drank, we had great conversation while wandering the streets of the Windy City. I even got lost at one point trying to find the Blue Line train. Carlos, Mike, Laura, Nate, Shannon, and Anne.... I've known them all from the past three summers at Camp Shawnee, a summer camp for children of low-income families, in Appalachia, Kentucky. When I look back, those were some of the best summers of my life....spent with some of the best people of my life. I can't believe I have such great friends to see me off. There is so much going on in all of our lives right now, from new apartments, to new jobs, to finishing school, to going on to graduate studies, and my mission in Kenya....we our all standing on the verge of something great in our lives. By this time next year, we will all have great stories to tell.

My Fellow Volunteers

This week I received some more information from Baltimore on the other volunteers that I will be serving with. I will be serving in Malava with a guy named Ryan, but there will also be two volunteers, Sandra and Arielle, serving in Nairobi.

Ryan is from Havertown, Pennsylvania, a suburb of West Philadephia. He graduated from Penn State University in Communications where he had an interest in working in radio. He went to St. Joseph's, a prestigious Jesuit High School, in a tough section of North Philadelphia where he began doing volunteer work for the local community. He has also worked with Habitat for Humanity, helped deliver Christmas presents to needy children, and has done tons of tutoring.

Sandra is from Boston and has both a B.A. in Communications and one in Political Science. She went to a small Catholic High School, ran by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (SND), called Emmanuel. She currently works for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Communications. Her mother works with the Department of Defense and her father is a retired naval officer so she has grown up all over the world. She was born in Panama and has since moved every two years of her life. She has lived in Cuba, South Korea, China, Thailand, Russia, Australia, Maine, Rhode Island, and New York.

Arielle is originally from northern Virginia, but she currently lives in Northeast Washington D.C. where she graduated this past May from Catholic University with a B.A. in Anthropology, she became interested in serving in Africa when she spent last summer in Kenya at a paleoanthropological field school through Rutgers University, she had close relations with the local Dassanech tribe and fell in love with the people and the country.

So far, we seem like a pretty good group. I am happy, excited, and proud to be working with all of them next year.

Learning Swahili

I understand that where I will be in Kenya some English is spoken, however the primary language is Swahili. Therefore, I will be trying to pick up as much Swahili as I can before I leave. To do so I have ordered the recommended Lonely Planet Guide to Kenya as well as Peter Wilson's Swahili. I also picked up an English-Swahili Dictionary. I found the best prices on Amazon and even qualified for the Super Saver Shipping. I ordered them on October 1st and just two of the books arrived today. I am still waiting on the Peter Wilson book. The Super Saver on Amazon saves you a little money, but one thing it doesn't save you on is time.

In the meantime, I will be using the Pimsleur Swahili CD set I found at the public library.

Shots, shots, and more shots!

Today I went to the Health Department Clinic and the Travel Clinic for my required and recommended vaccinations. All together I had to get five shots...ouch! Three in one arm and two in the other. All in all, the shots weren't that bad. In fact, they were probably more painful on my wallet...costing almost $400! I got the required Yellow Fever vaccine with the very much recommended Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Polio, Typhoid, and Tetanus shots. I decided against getting the Rabies pre-exposure shots. There are three of them at $150 each. I still have to return in a month for part two of the Hepatitis series and the Meningitis vaccine. Fun stuff!

Things are about to change...

My name is Tim Constantino and last month I was accepted as a missionary in Kenya, Africa with the Notre Dame Mission Volunteers for 2007. The Notre Dame Mission Volunteers are organized by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (SND). The SNDs have local missions in Baltimore, MD, but also internationally in Kenya and Peru.

I will be leaving at the end of this year for Malava, a small village in Kenya, eight hours from the capital, Nairobi. In Malava, I will be working with children at local schools and assisting a physical therapist with disabled children at a nearby medical center. I will be living in a house among neighboring mud huts with Ryan, my roommate from Pennsylvania. There will be no running water and the electricity will be unreliable. Despite not having these modern conveniences I am very much looking forward to my time spent there and see this as an opportunity to get back to basics.

In the meantime I am busy, in my hometown of Sterling Heights, Michigan, with preparations... fundraising, buying neccessities, getting the required immunizations, learning basic Swahili, and researching the Kenyan culture.

I am fortunate to be in contact with Cat and Cindy, the NDMVs in Kenya for 2006, via email and I am grateful for the advice that they give.

This blog is intended for my family and friends, and whoever else wants to read it, to keep track of my thoughts and experiences while on this journey.