Pictures (186 of them...!)

I originally went out to the bush to say some goodbyes. As it turned out, the ICROSS clinic is also doing a measles campaign with the Ministroy of Health. The flustered nurse showed me her numbers from earlier that day - she gave 120 vaccinations that day. That does not include the usual flow of patients to the clinic. With that said, I agreed to go back out to the clinic and take care of the vaccinations so she could focus on treating patients. My flight leaves at 10:30 pm tomorrow and I'll be leaving the bush at 5:30 pm with just enough time to pack my bags and head to the airport. I'm really tired, but this is what I came here for. Thank you all for your comments, e-mails, and kind words. Not to get all Josh Groban on you, but you seriously lifted my spirits (so I can soar with eagles and other cheesy sentiment...).

I've discovered that it is much faster to post pictures on facebook, so I posted 186 of them into an album that you can access on my facebook page. I figure most of the people that check this are already my friends on facebook (sorry dad, get with the times...). If you're not my friend, add me.

My to-do list when I get home (in order of importance):
1. BBQ Sandwhich with a milkshake and a side of tortilla chips
2. Empty my cupboards of all forms of rice or beans - I don't want to see one more bean or rice grain for a long time.
3. Sleep
4. Dance Party (even if it's just me)
5. Register for classes (I think school starts soonish?)
6. Shower (optional)

i don't know

It kind of snuck up on me, but my time here is coming to an end. It's easy to lose track of the days here; I've been measuring the amount of time I have left by how many anti-malaria pills I have left. I've been feeling a lot of tension regarding all the information I've learned in microbiology. On one hand, I want to remember everything so I can provide the best treatment. On the other hand, I want to forget about all the bacterium growing on the kids hands as they reach out to hold mine. I've also been running into tension regarding cultural boundaries to health care. The other day a boy in my home stay ripped his big toe nail off playing soccer. I cut off a sleeve from one of my shirts to stop the bleeding, but when I started to give him Tylenol for the pain, his mom took the pills from me and said he couldn't have them because of the Ramadhan fast. I had to watch him cry and writhe in pain. I've officially left EAC with promises to come back for a longer period of time. Tomorrow I'm heading back out to the clinic in the bush to spend some time and say more goodbyes.

I've been preparing for the inevitable question, "What's Kenya like?" I started cataloging all the quirks of Kenya like how people always answer "fine" when you ask them how they are. The latest fashion trends consist of clothes that never should have been made (mostly shoulder pads). The good muslims wear white on Fridays. Many waiters say, "nice time" when they bring you your food. Tortilla chips don't exist.

So what is Kenya like?

I don't know.

Baobab trees...wow.

Sunset in Takaungu

in the process of de-worming. neat.

burns and bad at-home birthing practice pictured here - look at that umbilical region.

this is the girl with the wound we scraped my first day there, it was amazing to see how much better she got over the few weeks i was there.

it's not nice to pick favorites, but this kid is just hilarious.

"Measles! Measles! Measles....free vaccinations....September...."

outside the clinic

i'm making signs here for the big measles campaign we lauched with the Ministry of Health

I've been able to do mobile HIV testing for people in remote villages. There has also been a recent outbreak of measles in the villages so we teamed up with the Ministry of Health to provide measles vaccinations to prevent further outbreaks in the villages.

There are more pictures that I wanted to post but couldn't because of the internet issues out here. However, now that I am back in Nairobi, I might be able to post more within the next few days.

ben

Only in Africa

Yesterday was probably the craziest day so far. Something came up and the primary health care provider couldn't come to the clinic. As the only person there with schooling beyond grade school, I was asked to "do my best". As soon as I showed up to the clinic there was a queue of people who had walked for miles to get help. I have been studying a flow chart that outlined symptoms of common diseases in the area and what to prescribe in each case. I've also been working in the clinic for a week seeing how to treat different cases. With the help of a translator, I saw over 40 patients - 90% of them infants. A lot of them had pneumonia or upper respiratory infections, some malaria, and some ear infections. I had a rapid test for suspected malaria cases so that helped. A few wounds and septic burns came in that I also got to treat. There were a few cases that seemed quite severe so I referred them to the hospital which is about a 45 minute drive away. The problem with that is that it costs money to get a taxi or matatu to Kilifi and frankly, if it costs money - it can't be afforded. Today Valerian came into the clinic and looked over the clinical notes and told me that I did a great job. No pictures yet, but I hope to put some up soon. Only in Africa, right?

Speaking Easy

Smoking and drinking are strictly prohibited in the village - and I do mean village in the most Zelda-sense possible. This place has village elders who are most likely hiding some sort of crystal to unlock a time portal to a darker future where Ganondorf reigns supreme. All nerdiness aside, I've discovered something very interesting about the social scene in Takaungu - palm wine bars. If there's anything prohibition has taught us, it's to never underestimate humanities love for alcohol - a love that knows no limits nor laws. Palm wine bars are like speakeasies that are run out of certain villagers homes. The process of getting palm wine is a very dangerous, time-consuming process that involves multiple trips to the top of palm trees in a single day. Once I figure out the password to one of these palm wine bars I'll report back as to how it goes down. As for that hidden crystal, I'll need some reinforcements.

There are about 5 women that live in the house with me and their main communication involves shouting back and forth in Swahili - usually during the hours of 5am - 10pm. To entertain myself, I've created my own soap opera dialogue and plot. There's a group of Muslim men that gather together by the benches overlooking the ocean to countdown til sundown when they can eat. They bring coffee, potatoes, and dates. As I was sitting at the bench reading, one of them came up to me and said, "we have expected your domicile" and handed me a handful of dates and a cup of coffee. I found this particularly sweet and worth sharing.

I've finally had the opportunity to post some pictures - it's been a several-hour process, but definitely worth it. I've had some amazing opportunities to do some vaccinations, growth monitoring, and I even taught a short class on the HIV life cycle to the community health workers that operate in their respective villages. The head nurse of the clinic and I went out and brought rapid HIV test kits with us out to the villages to offer free, voluntary testing for people to know their status. I'll be doing health screenings at the primary school starting on Monday and I will also be doing more work at the clinic throughout the week. Thank you for all your comments, thoughts, and prayers...this has been an amazing experience so far.

If a man can be remembered for being kind, then all of life's chaos, all the cruelty, all the pain and all the turmoil would be worth it. For in kindness is incarnated Love. In it are the graces of acceptance and mercy, and the graces of compassion and selflessness.

this almost catches the village vibe. i still have no idea how the health workers know their way around.

children lining up outside the school for growth monitoring and vaccinations

artsy photo. cute kids. bicycle.

everyone here cooks around an open flame...this happens too often.

this was probably the highlight of my day. scraping the septic wound.

the most wonderful ringworm I have ever seen...WOW!

her health documents are in her hand. yeah, you try sticking her with a needle.

i taught a class on the HIV life cycle to the community health workers - knowledge is power!

this is the boat I take across the creek to get internet and yes, that man is rocking an AM/FM to tune into Dolly Parton.

food is scarce during Ramadhan, but nothing says supper like fish head, chapati, and "sauce". i asked what the "sauce" was and he said, "it's like...you know...pasta!" it was not like pasta. not at all.

Karibu

I've been hearing a lot of this word "Karibu," a Swahili word which literally means come to me or welcome in a less creepy sense. This village has been so welcoming to me and are anxious to hear about my culture (like Disneyland, Beverly Hills 90210, and Whitney Houston). Of course, I've been learning so much about their culture, including traditions passed down that make community health care so difficult.

I've had some pretty unique and gorey opportunities. You should be glad I'm not capable of posting pictures cause I've done some gnarly stuff. For example, yesterday we had a girl with a septic wound on her foot. We had to scrape the infected, necrotic tissue off the top with a razor blade. Dr. Wood would have been so proud of me - a girl came in with some honey-colored blisters around her mouth and the main health worker at the clinic had no idea what it was. Thanks to Dr. Wood, I was able to identify it as Impetigo and we were able to perscribe the right oral antibiotic accordingly.
Today I went around the village with a community health worker to follow up with mothers who need to get their newborns immunized and to offer them family planning resources (nearly all of them refused - so frustrating). So tomorrow morning I'll be heading out with some community health workers to actually give vaccinations to some of the infants.
For those concerned, I have not had ANY sickness since I've been in the country (I'm in a wooded area with plenty of wood to knock on). I'm eating quite well and I'm having a blast! There has already been talk of me continuing to be involved beyond my few short weeks at EAC. I'm excited to explore those possibilities!

Takaungu - pt 2

Wow this place is paradise...seriously. I can't wait to post pictures. However, just to get access to Internet is quite the endeavor: a free boat ride across the river, a walk through the plantation, haggle with the motorcycle taxi to take me to the main road, catch a Matatu (public "van" crammed like a cattle car adorned with 50 cent and Boyz II men decals) in to town. I still have only had 2 showers since I've been in Africa. Takaungu is more of a collection of coastal villages than it is a town. Right now I'm kind of orienting myself to the different villages that I'll be visiting again with the community health workers. School starts on Monday and I'll be doing all the health screenings - grade by grade. There are over 230 kids total! It's Ramadan right now and the village is mostly Muslim so that makes finding food interesting. I'm currently living with Mahmoud and his wife, sister, uncle, and all their kids (~6). He owns a bike shop in the village. I'll keep you updated as more things start happening.
I'm overwhelmed by the amount of joy I've seen in the village. This quote has been haunting me for a while: "A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart." (Goethe)

I'm doing quite well and hope you are too!

Takaungu

I had an amazing time with ICROSS. I took a train to the east coast of the country. I was in a sleeper car with a snoring Romanian so I hopped up onto the roof of the train for a bit - quite the experience looking out at the plains. I'll now be in Takaungu for the remainder of my trip working with East African Center. Not a whole lot of time at this point, but I'll update again soon once I've oriented myself here. I'll post pictures as the internet connection allows.

Beasts of Burden

I don't even know how to begin distilling my thoughts and experiences into a single post. I'll start by the ever-cliche, nothing could have prepared me for this. After my last post I had a quick meeting with Mike about what I'll be doing and where I'll be going. As Mike instructed me not to take any food with me into the bush he said, "There's something very dangerous about poverty tourism. There's a temptation to check off the 'save the world' box as you hold up a starving child for a photo. I encourage you to just taste hunger and dehydration - that is something that can never be taught in any university and will give you some ground to stand on when thinking about the issues behind poverty and disease." With that said, I walked into the bush with 3L of water, the clothes on my back, and about $1.20 in emergency cash. I took so many pictures to try and capture how isolated I really was....there was literally nothing as far as the eye could see in all directions.

The floors are dirt and there is no electricity. There's a drought and an extreme shortage of water all around Nairobi, but these villagers get hit the hardest as you can imagine. It hasn't rained in 3 years. I spent three days in almost complete silence because the villagers speak very little broken English.

Clincal Note:

Obviously I didn't have much time to take pictures of the patients and I thought I'd spare you the gore, but some of the cases I saw were TB, Malaria, Pneumonia, a bloody dog bite from a rabid dog (the shots to save the child are about $50 for the whole series - about 6 months wages for Maasai people, there was nothing I could do), and a baby with melted skin because the mother spilled boiling water on him (pictured below). Villagers would walk for miles to the clinic - as I did. Here are some excerpts from my journal:

What's your sleep number? Mine is planks of wood covered by a sheet. It's 4 am and I'm trying to decide whether or not to use my rolled up jacket as a pillow or as a cushion to reduce the pressure of the wood on my ribcage. The sick goat in the room with me is coughing and I know there's at least one bat in here - is there such a thing as goat-acquired pneumonia? When the wind blows through the valley it sounds like it will rip the tin roof right off the hut. 6 am comes early when you can't sleep and there's a pit in your stomach.

My job is easy - wake up at 6, walk 2 hours (~5 miles) through the bush to the clinic, play doctor, then walk home late in the evening. The women, however, are also up early to find any water that they can. They load up barrels on the donkey and strap two 5-gallon barrels adound their necks, but they better be home in time to make the only meal of the day, supper. I watched as she cooked cabbage and served it alongside ugali (spongey bread). I did not have any - there wasn't much to go around for the whole family that lives in the area. Mike promised me that it would be lonely and he was right. I've made some calls to friends and family just to have a conversation in English - about anything, really. I'm ashamed at how weak I am.

Looking back, my journal may have been a bit dramatic. I was lonely, tired, and hungry. Give me a break! I leave again for the bush tomorrow, but to the HIV/AIDS clinic further north. I'll be there about 5 days this time with no internet access.

In other news, the school in Takaungu called me and they really need me to get over there for the start of school to do health screenings for the students starting school Sept. 7th. I'll jump on a train to head that direction very soon. I'll keep you posted! As always, e-mails, comments, and prayers are extremely appreciated!

ben

The Bush.

I've been told that I'll be going out to "the bush" tomorrow morning. This is in the Rift Valley where the Maasai people live. I went this morning to visit the clinic and meet the primary health care worker. It is literally a hut in the middle of dry valley. Apparently the Maasai people are offended by exorbitant spending on food so I have to be very careful about things that I show up with. My shopping list for food while I'm there consists of: 1kg rice, 1kg of corn four, cooking fat, and bottled water. If anyone knows how to make meal(s) with said ingrediants...enlighten me. Either way, this is going to be quite the experience. I'll obviously be away from internet while I'm out there so don't be alarmed (mom) if i don't post for a few days.

On my way to the cyber cafe, I passed a little stand selling charred Goat heads, large, and small intestine. I've always watched Anthony Bordain's show where he he eats strange food in different countrys and thought to myself "I'd eat that." However, standing in front of the grill, smelling the entrails (often stuffed with blood), I changed my mind for the time being. I might stop by on my way back to the base.

ben

I made it!

Not much to say at this point other than I've safely arrived in Niarobi. Somehow I got bumped up to business class on the way over here, which probably isn't the best way to begin acclimating to my environment in Africa. Some highlights for today:
Int'l business class - wow.
I flew over Iceland - didn't actually see it from the plane, but knowing that it was beneath me filled my heart with joy/longing.
I met some really cool people that also got bumped up to business class (us amenity stealers have to stick together). Christian was on his way to Uganda to do some filming for a documentary and will be involved in some ministry over there. Carolyn is an expert traveler and is on her way to Sweden/Copenhagen to visit friends. As we ate Dutch wafers in the VIP lounge, Christian and I discovered that we had several friends in common (Rocky Wing, Chris Hahn, Scott Erickson) - weird. There's a good chance I'll be meeting up with Christian again during this trip.
I also want to thank the Harbor church for the amazing send-off on Sunday. You guys are an amazing group of people - thanks for taking me in...and sending me off.

Ben

It's Official.

I purchased my ticket on Friday and I leave August 24. I'll be spending 5 weeks in Kenya working in a few different clinics. For more information on where I'll be, please check out ICROSS and East African Center . There may also be some opportunities to help out in Uganda and Tanzania as well - we'll see what happens. Here's some exciting news from East African Center.


I'm taking this time to travel alone so I can learn what I want to do and why.


Your comments, thoughts and prayers will be greatly appreciated.