Tailwinds

I taught 2 CPR classes to the nursing students, which was less intimidating than to the hospital staff. But even so, the magnitude of discrepancies between what US students have and what developing world students have is enormous. US students have books, reliable internet and unlimited computer access. In CPR classes, there is one manikin per 2 students, AEDs in public places and an Emergency Medical System to respond quickly. Here, there was one malfunctioning adult manikin per 12 students, no CPR books, no EMS, no AEDs, lousy internet connectivity.

We teach hand hygiene and blood borne pathogen protection and though nurses know the recommendations, sinks with running water, PPE and adequate plumbing facilities are few and far between. My biking friend Becca would refer to what we have in the US as a tailwind. In Africa there are only strong headwinds.  And yet, Kenyans are adaptable, resilient and accepting of what’s available, in spite of the hardships. This is what keeps me optimistic. Teaching has this wonderful ripple effect. I hope that as I’m “teaching them to fish”, in some small way I might be feeding someone for a lifetime…

Meanwhile, my volunteer friends and I decided to take another rejuvenating weekend trip—to Naivasha, a trip that involved a car ride to the train, the train to Nairobi, a traffic jammed Uber ride across the city to the matatu depot, and finally a 2 hour matatu ride to Naivasha. The dread matatu is a tin-box-on-wheels van crammed with 15 people (complete with crying babies) and no AC. Sound like fun? You bet it was!




We were rewarded with our arrival at a quaint resort with hot water showers, good internet, a swimming pool and wonderful food. I slept like a baby. It’s quite cool here (50’s!) due to an altitude of 6800 ft and there are no bugs! Paradise…




We’re here to visit the lake with its hippos and birds. The lodge where the marina is has a nice outdoor restaurant so I had some tropical fruit and ice cream. We then hired a naturalist to take us around the lake in a boat and tell us all about the many species of birds and the hippos. It was an experience well worth the journey.






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