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Memories of Marie Steen, by Jon Thorkelsson
I first met Marie Steen on a Nordic conference in Reykjavik in 2006. And what a pleasure it turned out to be. At the first lunch I sat between her and an elderly lady from Sweden and as this was only my second Nordic meeting they told me everything I needed to know in 10 minutes or so.
When the older woman got sick that night Marie took her to the hospital and helped her after that all through the conference, that showed very clearly how nice a person she was. It also turned out that you could drink a beer or two with her, but never too many.
After this we met many times on Nordic conferences and meetings and it was always very nice to be in the presence of Marie. Later on both of us were elected on the board of The European Ostomy Association and there as everywhere else it was very good to have her at your side. It didn´t matter whether she disagreed with you or was close to approving your words, it was always easy to find a solution that we both could agree on.
But it wasn´t until we started working together in Africa; in our missions in Zimbabwe and Zambia, that you saw her fine handling of all matters. I will never forget the moments that I and my wife had together with Marie and her husband Christer in Africa, especially in our first mission in Zimbabwe. They were already part of the Moyo family in Zimbabwe that ran the ostomy association there and had made the program of our mission with us. They all worked together like a one big family and thought us how to handle many aspects of life in Africa. The only thing that caused any differences in these missions was “T I A” or “This Is Africa”. That was the answer we got when the phone wasn´t answered for 10 minutes, the car came to pick us up one hour late or we went for dinner 90 minutes later than had been scheduled. I and my wife didn´t understand TIA at first but Marie explained it to us in detail with a big smile on her face. The meaning of it is; Slow down, white dude, you are in Africa now, don´t be so stressed, it will work out! Going to Africa with Mary and Christer was an experience we will never forget, it was like traveling with your older sister and best friend and her husband.
I hope that Marie will take a peek at us when we are in Africa the next time, to have the feeling that she was looking over my shoulder would be wonderful. And I hope that Christer and the rest of her family can come to peace with her untimely departure.
