Orphan Day

September 15, 2012

 

Two nights ago, we were awake during the night because of some critter scratching at the tent.  We thought that it was the mouse from the first day, and I turned on my headlamp and did a search of the inside of the tent when Diane was gone to the bathroom during the night.  Nothing.  Later in the morning, I lifted up the bottom of the tent from where the sound was coming and discovered a little colony of toads and one dart frog living under the tent! I'm sure that was a cool, moist place to be: perfect frog habitat.  I used a stick to shoo eight toads on the journey to another home.

 



Mr. Toad at Toad Hall (Tent)

The whole tent adventure has not been very comforting.  The mouse and toads and the snake in the tent a few days ago set the mood.  Last night Diane did a look around the side of the tent with her headlamp just in time to see the tail of a black snake slither under the tent.  The floor is heavy plastic, so the snake can't come through the floor, but now we have the mental image of stepping on a snake as we walk around.  Kenya is home to the black mamba, which is a highly poisonous snake and extremely dangerous, although this is most likely just a house snake, which is only slightly poisonous.  Very comforting . . . not so much.

Orphan day is one of the fun parts of the Kenya trip.  Through the Imani Project, eighty three children who are orphaned due to their parent(s) dying from AIDS.  These children have sponsors in the US that pay a monthly subsidy to help with food, clothing, medical care, and education expenses.  Every year, the orphans are interviewed and photographed so that the American sponsors get an update on their child.  The sponsors can send a single gallon Ziplock bag of toys, clothes, candy, and so on as gifts for the child.  Orphan Day is the day when all of the children come to the Imani Project office to get their gifts and report back.

In 2010, there was a big crowd of people waiting at the I.P. office in Mashaheni when we arrived, but this year it seemed less crowded, even though there are more orphans now. 

Orphans and caregivers waiting in Mashaheni for orphan day

 While waiting to get set up, we gave a jump rope to the children in the village, and they jumped a little, but quickly decided to turn it into a "high jump" contest.  Some of these children are natural athletes and gymnasts, doing handflips over the rope.

 

Mashaheni children jumping the rope

We set up school desks as stations for an American volunteer and a translator to sit and talk with the orphan and his or her caregiver.  The interview consists of asking the child their village, their birthday (which almost no one knows), and then questions about the interests of the child -- such as what they like to do in their free time, what they like to study in school, about their family -- and what he or she would like to say to the sponsor.  Each child draws a picture for the sponsor, which is stapled to the interview form. 



Interviewing an orphan

 Then the gifts are brought out and presented to the child, with the translator explaining what the objects are.  In some cases, cultural differences make the items difficult to explain - such as mechanical pencils.  A lot of people sent packets of seeds to the families, which was really nice.  In some cases, sponsors bought special gifts for the orphan and family, including ducks, goats.  Two lucky orphans got a bicycle (that cost about $120) and one girl was given a cow (which costs about $500).

Gifts from America

 

After the interview and gifts, it was my turn to take the official photos.  Each child held up a paper with their name on it (for easy identification later), and I would take their picture.  Then, we would take a picture of the child with the caregiver or other family member that came with them.  If there were special gifts, I took a photo of them with the goat or bicycle. 

 Gift of a Bicycle

 

Bicycles cooperate for the pictures really well; they just sit there.  Goats are more difficult, but even a child can keep a strong hold on the rope.  The cow, on the other hand, was considerable trouble.  She was very agitated and wasn't at all impressed by Orphan Day.  A tall, very thin man was tending the cow.  He untied her so we could lead the cow to a convenient spot for a picture, but the cow started to trot down the road, dragging the man behind him.  My translator, Henry, grabbed the rope, and the two of them stopped the cow from running, but she was pacing back and forth.  The orphan girl was nervous about trying to stand near her.  I managed to get a photo when the cow was pacing near the girl.  No animals were harmed in the taking of the photo, but Henry's flip-flop was fatally injured in the process.

Gift of a Cow

The best quote of the day happened when one girl announced that she had a gift for her sponsor and handed a live chicken across the table!  Everyone was shocked, and Marlene responded, "How are we going to get that back to the United States?"

 One orphan gives a chicken as a gift for her sponsor

 

At one point we stopped for a break, and we took the opportunity to walk around the village of Mashaheni.  Mr. Baya, the Imani Project volunteer (see photo in "Cast of Characters") is a school teacher at Mashaheni Primary School.  (We learned this is why he is only volunteer to be called "Mr. Baya" instead of just "Jack").  He gave us a tour of the school, just down the road.  All public school teachers in Kenya are on strike, so the school was empty.  Mashaheni Primary School is very large - 1003 students - with class sizes of about 40.  That is larger than the population of Mashaheni itself.  The school draws students from many surrounding villages.  Instruction in the school is in a mixture of English and Swahili, although everything that we saw on the chalk board or pictures hanging in the classrooms was in English.

 

Mashaheni Primary School

Inside a classroom at Mashaheni Primary School

Posters on the Blackboard

 

Mr Baya at His School

To help with the water needs, two large water tanks have been set up to catch rain water running off of the metal roof of the building.  Villagers can then fill jerry cans with water from the tanks.  Mr. Baya said that it was much easier to have children a drink of water from the tanks than to ask for permission to walk to the river to get a drink during class.

Water from the School Roof

 



Following the orphan activities, the villagers played music and danced.  A group of children performed a song about a chicken and sang several songs in Swahili and recited a story in English. The villagers had several drummers who beat out a beautiful rhythm while people danced.  As before, the villagers pulled the American volunteers into the dancing.  We followed along as best we could, and it was fun to be sharing in the experience.

Drummers in Mashaheni

 

Diane and Cindy join the dancing

 

Earline and Anya stomping

About 10 of the orphans didn't show up to get their things, so we went again to Musifini the next morning to finish giving the gifts.  We also had ten orphans who are not sponsored, so had no gifts or monthly support.  Some people gave us money donations for the trip before we left the US, and we arranged to buy a goat for each of them.  Diane made up a little bag of toys, pencils, and candy that we also gave, so that everyone got a little something.

 

 

 

Unsponsored orphan gets a goat!

 

Unsponsored orphans get their gift bags

Karimboni Clinic, Day 2

September 13, 2012

Today was the second and final clinic day at Karimboni. This makes the fourth village total that I have been at for medical clinics (three in 2010), and each village has been fairly distinct in the trend of complaints.  At Kaembeni, we saw many coughs and body aches.  In Na'andu, we had many people who complained of fainting due to lack of water and lots of ringworm.  At Karimboni, a common complaint from the men is swollen testicles and lumps under the skin around the waist and groin.  Dr. Amy's theory is that this is due to parasites carried by mosquitoes that call elephantiasis.  Karimboni is on the Galena River, so this must be a localized problem. Once the swelling gets established, it requires surgery to correct, and we don't have the medicine to kill the parasite, so there isn't much we can do for these men.

Yesterday we had two old women carried to the clinic by a group of other women.  Four or five women carried another women in a large blanket and set her down on the ground.  We had a lot of elderly men and women at this clinic, especially on the first day.   

 

 

Old woman carried in to see the doctor

As always, Diane likes to hand out candy and little toys to the children.  We have a lot of little "helicopter" toys that you spin with your hands and it flies.  Today was windy, so two of them ended up on the roof of the building.  One man put a boy on his shoulders who used a big stick to drag the toy within reach.  When you have no toys other than a big stick, it's worth the extra effort to salvage a 10 cent Oriental Trading goody.

 

Retrieving a toy helicopter that flew on the roof

 We were planning to only do clinic time and not teach today, however after discovering that there were hundreds of people who we would not be able to see in the clinic, we decided in the afternoon to do another Health Kit class.  Since everyone was busy in the clinic, I taught this class with Henry translating.  I had been a little nervous since my knowledge of the medical details doesn't go very deep, but we are mostly teaching basic concepts so it was pretty fun.  The people were very engaged in what we were saying, especially with diarrhea issues.

 

Phil teaching a health class

Amy examines a child

 

Cindy examines a man

Some of Diane's patients:

Karimboni Clinic, Day 1

September 12, 2012

Waking up in Kenya is an amazing experience.  It starts to get light around 5, and the sun rises at about 6 (and sets at the other 6).  As soon as the sunlight begins, the birds burst into song.  The birdsong is varied and continuous for the next few hours.  This would certainly get me out of bed if it wasn't for the eye mask and ear plugs that let me continue sleeping until about 7.  One of these days, I need to get up earlier, I promise.  Bird photos aren't going to take themselves, you know.

This morning was our first clinic day at the village of Karimboni. Karimboni is one of a series of villages spread out over a 10km area, with 540 households.  The local officials said that with an average of 10 people per household, that would make at least 5000 people. Karimboni is much further away than the villages we visited in 2010; it takes over an hour to drive there by bone-jarring, rattling van, speeding down the dirt roads that connect the villages.

 

The van that jars our bones

 

Since we had only an hour yesterday to set out the medical supplies for the clinics, it was a bit of a frenzy this morning to get everything ready.  We got a late start, however, and arrived at Karimboni an hour late by American time, which is right on time (if not a little early) by African time.  Once we arrived, it took a bit more time to get things set up for the clinic. We didn't begin until about 90 minutes later than scheduled.  First days are always like that.

The dispensary building at Karimboni where we held clinic

The first part of the day was reserved for classes.  We had planned for six classes of 25-40 women to teach about TB, diarrhea, and the health kits, while Marlene taught a class for men on AIDS.  These classes would be taught by Earline, Amy, Anya, Cindy, Diane, and me, with a Kenyan volunteer translator teach.  Not as many people were there for the morning, however, so Diane continued to set up medications and clinic supplies, and I took my video camera, camera, and extra lens in hand (and pocket) and recorded the teaching and distribution of the health kits.  Knowledge is power, and many people were empowered to live healthier lives today.

 

Cindy teaches a health class

 

Anya teaches a health class

 

 

Marlene and Jonathan teach the men's AIDS class 

 

The clinic began about noon.  Marlene and I conducted triage, where we interviewed the patients to record their complaint, a limited history, and their blood pressure and temperature.  The patients then queued to be able to see Amy, Diane, or Cindy who evaluated their conditions and decided whether we had medications that would help them and gave advice on how to care for their medical needs.  Meanwhile, Earline worked to clean and dress wounds.  Everyone who was seen had a triage form filled out.  I would like to tell you how many patients were seen today, but some of the triage forms went missing.  First days are like that.

 

 



Earline treats a wound with the help of Jane

  

Diane treats a woman with Jackson translating

 

 

I learned something about myself today: apparently I am quite frightening to children.  The people in Karimboni were  more willing to have their pictures taken than other villages I've been in.  Even adult women shyly approved me to take their picture.  Children are as eager as always, and they love to see their own pictures after.  One little boy, about a year old, was toddling around at the edge of Marlene's AIDS class.  I crouched down and raised my camera, thinking that he would have no idea of the camera.  Surprise! He immediately let out a blood curdling scream.  Later, I was showing children their pictures, and some other child saw the back of the camera and started screaming.  Am I that scary?
 

Kenyan children love to see their own photos

 

That's not a smile; just after this the screaming began

 

At the end of the day, we are back in Sabaki.  Our dinner was served with a surprise: 

 

Tonight Elvina served us in almost royal finery:

 

We ended the evening by sorting through a few more health kits for quality control and listening to some music courtesy of my iPod and the "Boombox" magic system that turns a plastic storage bin into a speaker.  Brilliant!  I am finishing writing this while sitting outside, enjoying a pleasant breeze, a star filled sky, and the occasional mosquito trying to bite at my legs.  Having exercised my malaria medicine, it is now time to go to bed. 

 

The "Boombox" attaches with a sticky pad and the vibrations turn anything into a speaker!

 

Other people we treated at Karimboni:

 

 

Health Kits

 

 

One of our efforts in Kenya is to teach basic health principles around diarrheal disease, tuberculosis and first aid.  With the help of MANY volunteers and donations in the US, we brought materials to assemble 750 health kits. At each village where we have a clinic, we teach a class on the principles of basic first aid, how to prevent the transmission of tuberculosis, how to make drinking water safe, and how to treat diarrhea (usually caused by drinking contaminated water).  Diarrhea and dehydration due to diarrhea are the number 1 cause of death in children under the age of 5 in Africa. 1 in 3 people in Africa have TB, and TB is the leading cause of death of people with AIDS in Africa. 

Each kit contains:  30 assorted sizes of Band-Aids, antibiotic ointment, hydrocortisone cream, Ibuprofen, tweezers, cotton swabs, a syringe (without a needle, useful for measuring fluids and squirting water to wash wounds), alcohol swabs, a splinter remover, soap, a washcloth, condoms, and a first aid booklet (kindly translated into Swahili by a volunteer at Microsoft).  In addition, the kit contains an Oral Rehydration Spoon (used to measure sugar and salt to create a Gatorade-type of solution to prevent dehydration), two courses of zinc tablets, and a booklet in Swahili teaching how to treat diarrheal disease and instructions on how to use the spoon (also translated by a volunteer at Microsoft).  The entire kit then fits into a handmade drawstring bag, kindly sewn by volunteers.

 

Amy teaches a health kit class at Karimboni with Rodgers translating

Cindy teaching how to wash hands at Karimboni with Phenny translating

 

Women listening to the class at Kadzifitseni

Anya distributing bags at the end of her class

 

 

 

Villagers at Khadzifitseni show their health kit bags

 

But they don't make very good headbands

 
THANK YOU to everyone in the US who donated supplies, helped count pills, squeeze ointment tubes, and sew drawstring bags to make this project possible!

Training Day

September 11, 2012

Today was Training Day, the day when the Kenyan Imani Project volunteers come to the hotel to be instructed on the activities of the next two weeks.  Because the bins of supplies didn't fly with us yesterday, we had to delay the start.  Without the supplies, we couldn't organize the medical supplies or prepare for assembling the health kits.  We were forced to enjoy a leisurely morning (against our wills, of course). 

All the bins arrived about noon, so our fears of not getting the hard-prepared supplies were relieved.  We had an hour to unpack a few things before the volunteers arrived.

We have about twenty Kenyan volunteers. Many that we worked with last year have returned, but there are many new ones, too.  It was good to see Henry, Jackson, Pheny, Helen, Constance, Jonathan, and the others again.

 

The Kenyan volunteers are assembled

Marlene greets everyone, with Fondo translating

 

Rodgers and later Francis gave their welcome statements, and all volunteers introduced themselves.  Marlene described the schedule of clinics and gave an overview of who would have what responsibility.  Francis went through all of the medications that had been purchased and explained their use and dosage. 

Francis, Marlene, and Fondo review the medications

 

I gave my contribution by photographing and videotaping throughout.  We took a break for an excellent meal cooked by Elvina.

 

Elvina serves the lunch

 

After eating, Cindy went through the TB training, Earline reviewed the diarrhea and ORS training, and Diane described all of the materials in the health kits that we brought.  (We decided that "health kit" made a better name than "first aid" kit, since the kit also contains the ORS spoon and two condoms.)

 

Cindy demonstrates how to wash hands to prevent spreading TB

 

Earline describes how to use the ORS spoon

Diane shows off a health kit drawstring bag

We then split everyone into two assembly lines and filled the cloth bags with the health kit supplies.  Because we were delaying in starting the training, we were fighting sundown to get them completed.   We almost made it, falling short by 30-40 before we shut down the assembly. What a great time saver it has been to have the volunteers assemble the bags!

Happy workers on assembly line 2

Handing off a bag on assembly line 1

Over 700 health kits are assembled!