Posts from — June 2010

As we clean out the files, we see a collection of notes and pictures from Father Tillen and Alfonso Walsh. Father Tillen ran on orphanage in Kenya for children with HIV. Alfonso Walsh ran a leper colony with four nuns in the Philippines. Father Walsh was Father Reddington’s brother. Jack became acquainted with Alfonso because of some charitable projects at St. Louis Church. Father Tillen was another character all together. Jack met Father Tillen through his travels in Kenya. What the men have in commons is that they are amazing people.

When the Japanese invaded the Philippines, the sisters, who cared for the lepers with Alfonso Walsh, told us that they passed by the leper colony. The Japanese were just too afraid to get near the deformed and disfigured individuals who lived within the confines of the colony, the nuns explained.

The sisters said that small amounts of food started to trickle into the colony during the war. What they learned was that the invaders thought it was important to send small rations to the suffering people of the colony.

After the war was over, a few of the Japanese officers, who remembered the nuns fondly, sent small donations to the colony. These small donations assisted the nuns in acquiring rations that kept the colony alive.

When Jack visited in the 1970s, he paid for the building of ten homes. The pictures of the homes showed them to be of cement construction with tin roofs. Jack mentioned his visit with fond memories of the nuns. He explained that they always had smiles on their faces, even after working in dismal poverty for many decades. One nun claimed that she had met St. Joseph. The others explained that she had in fact spoken to him. If there is a heaven, I am sure that these ladies have long passed through the front gates.

Father Tillen is yet another character. As a surgeon, Jesuit priest and psychologist with an overall cheerful natured person, his services were well utilized and received at the orphanage. He spent his life caring for children that no one else would care for.

A German cook had taught the housemaid in the orphanage, to make fabulous traditional dishes. The food for the children was gathered from a garden that was protected by a small fence that was hooked up to a car battery at night. I was told that this was not allowed, but one hippo could consume the entire food source in an evening. It was important to keep the hippos from foraging.

Medicine was rare, I was told. Father Tillen had always to balance which children would get the available dosages. It was important to ensure that they were as comfortable and happy for as long as they were able. I think that this must have been the most difficult part of the job.

In sickness and in poverty, one would think that this place was an unhappy home. To the surprise of its visitors, the home was filled with laughter, smiles, great stories and good food. Father Tillen has since died. I wonder what has happened to the children and the home?