African Dreams

I left, with many tears, memories and new friends to enrich my life. Without the support of my dear friends and family at home, I could never have done this. I’m referring to your contribution to my morale, as well as your financial support. So here’s to you, the real heroes, the back stage crew—Asante! But if anyone wants to know what else they can do to help Africa, I would honestly say, without hesitation: live simply…. Morning Traffic  Patients do Their Own Laundry at the Hospital                                    CMMB Staff                       Hospital & Nursing Student Send Off            My Friend Duncan, the Budding Photographer  Leigh Carries My Suitcase                                       Loca...

                                      It's been a whirlwind of activity at the end now. I got to do a last minute visit to a cancer ward at the Kitui County Hospital. The county hospital has a nice campus, with separate buildings for different departments.  I imagine that the separation and the open air buildings reduce the amount of contagion, though the wards themselves have up to 30+ patients in one open room.  Not a lot of running water visible, and latrines are down the hall or in a separate building.  I don't know how the very sick cancer patients manage, especially those who don't have family members at their bedside. The hospital does mostly palliative care, and have some group and individual support counseling. Surgical cases and radiation is sent out to Nairobi or other larger cities. Saturday I squeezed in one last CPR class for hospital and nursing school staff; at l...

I’ve been feeling like I might be a disappointment to some of my sponsors because I have done very little clinical work here. The teaching and mentoring were really important, but did I really make an impact on any one particular person?  A friend in Portland asked me why I wanted to do this mission. I told her I wanted to look into the eyes of a mother who had just lost her child and tell her that I knew how she felt. Sometimes a pebble cast into the pond can have a powerful effect in unexpected places on the opposite shore. The person who’s probably  given me the most supervision here was the nursing school head tutor. His wife recently gave birth to a baby girl who died a few days later. A year ago, they had lost their first child after 2 weeks. He is a nurse, she is a pharmacist. Two educated Kenyan health professionals who received prenatal care and took all available precautions. And yet, for reasons they don’t yet understand, they lost 2 newborn babies. Today he returne...

Yesterday was Easter, and though I'm alone (Leigh is still on Mt. Kenya) I managed to have a good weekend anyway.  I pulled together the meager ingredients needed to make oatmeal cookies, and boiled a few eggs to dye.  The local children came by and I broke down and gave them some candy and cookies and colored an Easter Bunny for them.    In the spirit of new beginnings and life, I am reminded to be grateful for the bugs-- for without them there would be no organic produce.  In spite of the mud produced by the nocturnal downpours, I made my way to the market as I do every Saturday where I can buy a bounty of fresh produce: mangos, papayas, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peas, beans, cilantro, avocados, etc.  I often come home with several kilos of fresh flavorful produce and spend less than US$10.  I will miss that colorful shopping experience when I get home to our sterile American supermarkets. Sunday  morning I went down to the church which was d...

This week things are kind of slow because it’s the week before Easter, and a lot of people have taken a holiday. It started with a Palm Sunday procession from a field to the Catholic Church, with dozens of school children sweeping us up in the crowd carrying their palms. Instead of it being a solemn event, the teenage girls surrounded us, asking questions like,”What country are you from? Do you speak Swahili? Do you have any sons?” When I asked if they were looking for  American boyfriends, they broke into peals of laughter. The Mass, while lovely, went on forever and was only half over after 2 hours so I snuck out the door early. I have had the wonderful opportunity to practice singing with the student choir a few times. The sound of a 4 part choir harmonizing in Swahili does something to my nervous system I can’t describe. I was given the lyrics and recorded their voices. I don’t know what the words mean but I practice when I’m alone and it fills me with joy. Since last Sunday af...