Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Feast Day and Feasting


Sunday November 17 was the feast day of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.  Here in Shisong there was a celebration on Saturday to celebrate this patron saint of the Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis.  St. Elizabeth was a princess of Hungary who married into a German noble family and developed a great dedication to caring for the poor after being introduced to Franciscan friars of her region.  The feast was complete with Mass (including offertory processions from all of the groups of the hospital), followed by speeches, a skit of the leper who returned to give thanks for his healing presented by the patients of Surgical 2 (ward), traditional dances, and of course, food.  
Two of the patients on Surgical 2 and their guardians have been here for over 6 months.  A "guardian" is a person, usually a family member, who takes care of the patient's non-medical needs, including providing food and doing laundry.  They stay at the hospital with the patient and often sleep on a mat next to or under the patient's bed.



On Sunday, the important activity was to watch Cameroon defeat Tunisia in the World Cup qualifier match that was played in Yaounde.  The victory was decisive, 4-1 so everyone could be happy on Monday.  At least in Cameroon.

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