BORNEO MISSION: Nancy and Tom Toombs are recently back from a Calvary Churchsponsored trip to the interior of Borneo that they took with doctors, dentists and other health-care workers, including doctors George Shoptaw and Harry Smith of Los Gatos.
The group of nine spent two weeks working in the density of the jungle in very remote areas, treating people who rarely see or seek health care. Nancy, a marriage and family counselor by profession, visited schools and hospitals, training nurses and children about dental care.
"Borneo has the worst dental health in the world," she says. "Children smile at you and brown teeth greet you." Contaminated rivers are part of the problem, as is eating sweets without benefit of tooth brushing. Tom, an engineer at SanDisk, fixed X-ray machines. Another man fixed telephone wires.
The Toombses have been on several medical missions before—in Cambodia, where they helped build a church, and in Taiwan, where Nancy taught ESL classes. They'd like to devote several months each year to living and working in a Third World country in Southeast Asia.
It's a wonderful and rewarding experience, the Toombses say—gaining empathy with other cultures and connecting to the disconnected.
ABCs OF TRAVEL: Los Gatan Judy Etherington checked out the ABCs of South America recently—that's Argentina, Brazil and Chile—with a Grand Circlesponsored trip of two weeks. The excitement and energy of Rio was one of her favorites: Rio, with hotels lining the water, is packed full of color and enchantment even when it isn't Carnaval.
Dance is paramount: street entertainers dancing the samba are a common sight. Two city blocks are closed to traffic, and bleachers have been installed to accommodate the annual Carnaval parades. The site is used for classes when Carnaval is not in session.
Dance became the vehicle for people to get out of the slums: they would learn the steps and thus be able to earn a living with dance. Dance classes are in evidence everywhere and participants are generally working class.
In Buenos Aires the dance is the tango, a most seductive dance, the traveler reports. Buenos Aires has beautiful colonial architecture. And it's very European, homogenous: the natives were all killed off. Hence, there was no interracial breeding, as there was in Brazil.
The most spectacular scenic highlight was Iguassu Falls, a mile-long river on the Argentinean side, with a half-mile loop on the Brazilian side. In Chile, funicular cars carried the sightseers up the many hills of Valparaiso. Other highpoints were the lake district of Bariloche and the Chilean Andes.
RETIREMENT RECEPTION: An after-school celebration May 25 will be held for Jane Hirata, second-grade teacher at Van Meter, who is retiring. Hirata has taught at Van Meter for 35 years. The reception in her honor will be held in the new multipurpose room beginning at 2:30 p.m. Former students and their parents are encouraged to attend.
Hirata is a very creative teacher who weaves art and music into the whole curriculum. Her students write lots of stories and make books. She's had such a positive influence on so many children, attests Linda Nanez, longtime friend and colleague.
CELEBRATING 101: Here's a woman who celebrated her 101st birthday last month. She's Laura Hancock, who lives independently in the Saratoga Retirement Home (Oddfellows). Hancock is rebounding from a fall, learning new ways of functioning on her own.
Helping her regain skills and adapt to new methods are Julie Groves, an occupational therapist, and Jim Liukkonen, physical therapist. Both are part of Community Home Health, an outreach of Community Hospital of Los Gatos. Grove shows the centenarian how to adapt to new ways of doing things. Liukkonen helps her regain strength, flexibility and balance by exercising.
Hancock now has adopted different methods of accomplishing chores she was doing before the fall—getting her own snacks from the refrigerator and going for daily walks.
Physical therapists deal with muscle; occupational therapists with method. The Community Home Health number is 408.866.3863.
COPING WITH STRESS: Dr. Steven Sherry will speak on "How Stress is Affecting Your Life" on May 19, 11:20 a.m., at the Neighborhood Center.
The lecture is free, with a $2 donation asked for lunch, which follows the lecture. For lunch reservations, call 408.354.0707.
ART AL FRESCO: Forty-five members of the Los Gatos Art Association will display art for sale in the courtyard at Hotel Los Gatos on May 16, 10 a.m.4 p.m. "I wanted to bring a truly local art show to Kuleto's," said Philip Farrar, general manager.
Artwork will be paired with culinary arts: discount coupons will be offered to art lovers.
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By Mary Ann Cook