Sister Irene’s and Father Martiny’s letters demanded a response. But before we could respond, we had to find the answer to our own question: Is this something that God has in mind for us? In January, 2005 a delegation of our sisters - then Mother. Marie Edward, Mother Anne Marie, Sr. Mary Francis and Sr. Mary De Paul travelled to Kenya to find the answer. We went with an open mind.

"I took a street car one day…"

That was how Rose Hawthorne (Mother Mary Alphonsa) began the work in 1896. We took a jet plane, from New York to London, and from there on to Nairobi, Kenya.Sr. Irene and Fr. Martiny met us in Nairobi, and in the company of Dr. Alongo (a well-known retired cancer specialist) took us on a tour of hospitals and hospices in Nairobi. They were not by any means like the hospitals here in the United States, but the staff was dedicated and gave the best care they could. In some of the poorer hospitals we saw two or three patients to a bed.

From Nairobi, we set off on a six hour drive, over pretty rough roads, through the most beautiful mountainous countryside. We stopped at a lookout point to view the Rift Valley , a rich green landscape ablaze with beautiful flowers and, in its center, a pink haze that was, in fact, a lake filled with pink flamingos.

During our entire visit in Kenya we were guests of our Franciscan Sisters of Saint Anna – Lwak. They were so very gracious, even waiting up to greet us the night of our arrival.