Today was the last day of clinics. Our work here is now over, except for an HIV/AIDS support group meeting tomorrow. It's kind of odd, but kind of a relief at the same time. It has been good to be here and to serve these people, but at the same time, it is pretty far outside of the comfort zone of our Western life, so there is a certain amount of "bucking up" we do to venture out into this wider world. Sometimes I stop and think to myself, "I am standing in Africa," and I picture a map of the world and realize how far away I am from my normal life.
In one way, everything here has
become normal. The life we see of people
in the villages, the mud huts and dirt floors, women walking and carrying
everything imaginable on their heads is what you see all around. It isn't like there are two worlds side by
side (at least not that we see). We
don't travel to all part of Malindi, but the buildings leading into the city
and the roads and stores all have a common aspect to life in the villages. The walkway in the tourist market is mostly
broken concrete and rubble, for example.
The hotel here is very comfortable for the standards of Africa, but
still primitive by Western standards. At
least for me, I leave my expectations of Western standards behind and adapt to
the surroundings that are here.
In another way, it can never be
"normal" and recognition of the poverty is continuous. In the clinics, we also see children wearing
rags for clothes, with shirts barely holding together. Whenever we hand out
anything, there is a huge surge of people wanting to get whatever it is,
because they have nothing. Children
don’t seem to be starving, but they have subsistence levels of food, no toys,
and inadequate health care. Many people
have rotten teeth and toothaches because they have no dental hygiene. They don’t have enough money to travel 10
miles to Malindi to see a doctor, and they can't afford the medicine if they do
get diagnosed. Several of the Kenyan
volunteers are unable to pay for school tuition. What they are lacking is anywhere from 8000
shillings ($100) for high school fees to 50,000 shillings ($700) for a
post-secondary certificate program to help them be employable. An amount that
is not a great sacrifice for Americans can change a life here. How little it would take to improve the
quality of life here.
For our final clinic day, I
think everyone was tired and ready to come to the end. Patience seemed a little short at time. The number of patients seen today was double
other days. Although Amy and Anya were
gone, we had three Kenyan health workers with us. They moved through patients at lightning
speed, for several reasons: they didn't have a translation delay, but they also
did next to nothing to evaluate the patients beyond the patients' own
statements. They didn't listen to lungs or heart, look in ears or throats, etc. Their treatment was to hand out medicine that
seemed to correspond to what the patient said was bothering them. So medication was flying off the shelf and
patients were flying out the door. For
the first time in either trip, triage was falling behind treating the patients.
Towards the end of the clinic,
I was grateful to be called away from triaging to photograph the Imani Project
volunteers handing out a bag of flour to each child.
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After the distribution of the
flour, I skipped out on doing more triage (since Mr. Baya was handing it :-),
and I took a walk through Sosoni to photograph the sign for the primary school
that was out on the main road.
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Sosoni
Primary School sign on the road through Sosoni
It was about a half mile out to
the road, and I got to see some of the houses in the village in more detail
than is possible from the window of the van as we drive along. Everything is very humble
Buildings in the Village of Sosoni. The white colored wall is smoothed mud that is whitewashed.
Houses
in the Village of Sosoni
The
"toilet" behind someone's house - a sandy and rocky patch with walls
for privacy for "short calls" (urination)
While walking through down the
road, three people sitting in the shade called our "Welcome!", so
went over. They offered me a seat, and
we chatted for a few minutes. Their
English was very good, and they asked if I came from America and where in
America. I told them
"Washington" and they said, "Oh, Washington, D.C.!" (as
everyone does). I explained about Washington state. Then they asked about Obama and how he's
doing in the election (as everyone does).
I said it was hard to predict.
The woman said everyone in Kenya is praying for Obama. We talked about the Kenyan presidential
election in March. They thanked me for
coming to their village; Sosoni is remote and does not have easy access to
medical care. I love the Kenyan
people. Everyone is friendly and
welcoming; it is hard to imagine a more gracious people!
My New
Kenyan Friends - Kitsao, Julius and Mapenzi
The ride back was almost our
last van ride! We have two more tomorrow
to go to the HIV/AIDS support group. I
can't say I'll miss that daily experience any, although I do enjoy watching the
countryside from the windows. If only we
could stop and take pictures! Taking photos
from the moving van is not good, but not entirely without success.
Baobob tree, as seen en route
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