Interesting

Interesting, how another person in England by the name of Pat Stanley was able to visit my site due to my blogging about Father Caroff.

Father Caroff was initially a customer. He came to the store to purchase items for his farm project in Timanan, Upi. He came to my husband specially for the purchase of car parts because his car needed to be in good condition to travel to the far flung area. My husband and Father Caroff became good friends. He was invited by the good priest to visit Timanan several times. At one occasiion, Lucas made preparations to go but a big rain canceleled the trip. It was unsafe to travel on a zigzaging dirt road to Upi. My husband never got to visit him in Timanan, more so when Father Caroff was kidnapped in the 80's by the Muslim rebels.
Soon after he was released by his captors, Father Caroff was transfered to Antipas, North Cotabato. Father continued with his farming project in Bugwak. Although the new location was nearer Davao, yet he continued to purchase from the store in Cotabato. He showed pictures of his new farm. He was very proud of it. The gravity pump he used for irrigation earned him a lot of respect. His New Galilee farm was even featured as a model farm in one of the Philippine magazines. But his visit to Cotabato city became less and less. For a long time, we were not able to see him - a period of two or more years maybe.
Early this year, a Filipino priest who took over Father Caroff former project in Timanan came to the store. He told us that Father was gravely ill and that he could no longer walk nor move around. He was afraid that father Caroff may not last till April. Upon hearing the news, my husband and I immediately took a trip to visit him in Bugwak. We found him still all right despite his crippling disease. Although physically weak, he was still very much incharged of the model farm and its people. We knew he could still hang on.

Father Caroff  is sick because his body can not expel the toxin inside. He is physically disabled but his mind is lucid. He is however well taken care off by people he brought from Upi. He is happy when people visit him. He is 82 years old and he may not live longer than 5 years but we are happy to have visited and talked to him. We continue to communicate with him through cellphone calls or sms texting. He is such a dear person, no wonder he has many friends who are concern about his well being.