« Kenyan Recipe of the Week | Main | A Safari To Remember »

In Kenya Now!

Jambo! Habari ghani! How are you? We're in Kenya!

So, it's been a very busy week, there has been so much to see and experience, so I won't get too detailed. In my last entry, I wrote a little about being here and how to contact me, so I'll just add a tiny bit to that.

The trip was even longer than I could have imagined it. Getting off the plane in Amsterdam, a person thinks, "Wow, that was a long trip," then realizes it is barely half over. The flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi was excrutiatingly long, even though it was only 9 hours. We were quite happy to get off, only to get back on to get to Mombasa.

 Our friend Rita met us at the airport; there was a moment when she wasn't there, it was past midnight and a little panic ensued. Still, it turned out well. We spent the night at her place, she took us around the next day to buy groceries and items we would need. She lives just a little distance from the beach, which is terrific. It is the Indian Ocean, and Mombasa is famous for its wide, white beaches, with only a few people around. And we drove around a little in Mombasa, as I mentioned, which is so interesting. This city is very alive and vibrant, packed with people and things happening.

The next day, we headed out to the clinic early, in a little village called Kokotoni. The clinic is called the Kokotoni Self-Help Clinic. It is owned by the community and run by a committee of leaders from the surrounding six villages. The committee is a bit shady, they seem like the mob, they have that kind of feeling. The doctor, who really is about the equivalent of a PA in the States, is very nice, though. He is relaxed and very informative.

Our first day, we arrived and briefly set up in a little house where we are to stay. The house is quite decent, a little living room, a little bathroom, a couple of bedrooms,and a little kitchen. Our neighbor is the doctor. We put our bags there, set up the water dispenser (we can't drink the tap water), and put our food in the kitchen. Then Abraham, the doctor, immediately put us to work. It was a little overwhelming, we were doing a wound change, administering IM shots (which we hadn't previously done), and so on within minutes of being in the clinic. Afterwards, we went back to the clinic, and headed out for a little walk. Abe found us and made it clear that we should have him along for any excursions we made. So we walked around a little, took a lot of pictures and went back.

That night was a little interesting. First, there was a large amount of culture shock to deal with. Our arrival here was very abrupt: we were leaning over, looking in, and then it felt like someone put a foot on our backs and gave a good push--total immersion!  Then, there was a large number of roaches in the kitchen which I had to crush (in the end, I decided it was better to leave the kitchen to them at night). We couldn't lock our door that night, and of course we were a little nervous. We were truly out in the bush--20 km from Mombasa, but that is a long distance on these roads, and a world away from Durham. Rest came slowly, and as we are near a mosque (there is a decent population of Muslims here on the coast), I was jolted awake when they rang out for the prayer call at 0500. That's just someone with no singing skills shouting into a megaphone, which apparently has a speaker in our house, it seems like. So, there wasn't much sleep that night.

But it was straight uphill from there. By the next afternoon, we were much more comfortable. Abraham is a very willing teacher, we've had lessons on all of the illnesses found here--typhoid, measles, bilhazia, pneumonia, RTI, UTI, and especially malaria, of which we see many cases every day. The clinic is not busy, but that is good as it allows both time to learn about the illnesses as well as take Swahili lessons from the staff (lab tech, pharmacists, CNA, cleaning lady). We have gotten very comfortable giving IM shots. We have learned the Kenyan method of cleaning and dressing wounds (just like the US way, only with about 1/10 of the supplies--that's the same for most procedures). We have seen a Kenyan circumcision (painful and worse), fungal infections that were unbelievable, and almost got to deliver a baby at 0330.

In addition, we've gone out into the community, and have seen how people live here.  It is fascinating. This is one of the poorest regions in Kenya. Poverty is accompanied by ignorance, and Abe has told us incredible stories, sad stories that often are preventable with basic knowledge. We have met many people, and have thoroughly enjoyed our excursions. It's unfortunate that I can't put up pictures at this point. And, we have gotten to ride in a matatu for the first time. These are van-taxis, packed with people. We were in one with 19 people! That was a little uncomfortable. I'll write more about the matatus later.

At any rate, I will be posting many more entries on what I see here. Our schedule for the next weeks is busy, because Jess returns in 10 days. We have planned a very nice safari, which will happen next weekend. We are in Mombasa this weekend and have some fun planned. We will go out on Monday to Kokotoni to visit the clinic so that Jess can say goodbye, and will cook them dinner. We will be there until Wednesday, then off for the safair! Of course, I have nearly five weeks remaining.

A last thought: there is much need here. There is so litle, you really should see the clinic, it is spartan. The meds here are so few, it is all they can afford. They know better meds are out there, and even in Kenya, but they haven't the money. So as Abe says, they do what they can with what they have. There is this sense of wanting to help, this temptation to give everything we have (which we will by the time we leave), and yet this knowledge that the need is so great, the deficit so vast, that it couldn't be enough. So, one must focus on the small things that they can do: bring a good thing to a few peoples' lives, do a few good things for some people, that is all two nurses from America can do here.

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://worldtravelercreations.com/blog-mt1/mt-tb.fcgi/27


Hosted by Yahoo! Web Hosting

Comments

Hi Aaron try to enjoy the time you havea there. the people are nice . i hope you and jess get to know these people and learn some of the cuture and food. have fun.

So interesting to here about your time so far. You two really are amazing! Looking forward to the next entry.

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)