Well, I haven’t said much about what has been going on with the election, and for good reason, mainly to keep people back home from unnecessarily worrying.
National elections are held here every 5 years. They are usually very peaceful. However politics are a very big, passionate subject here. People do not only get excited along party lines, but tribal lines as well. Tribal affiliations are very strong. To make things more confusing, there are 43 different tribes (I think that is right), that are in Kenya alone.
The election date was not announced until some time in October and it was held on Dec. 27th, which was a holiday. Up in the time surrounding the election there was rioting and violence amongst tribes trying to displace people and keep them from voting. None of it was aimed at Westerners. This, though, is the reason we did not go the Christmas conference we had written about earlier because there had been violence in on the towns near where the retreat was. Fortunately everything was okay there at the time of the retreat itself.
The election itself was peaceful, but as the votes came in the violence did as well as it was very close and the outcome was controversial. It lead to an eruption of violence through the country. I won’t say any more about the election itself- you can read about this on any of the news websites.
The violence has been terrible. It has been mainly in the larger cities, but there have been shooting, looting and burning in Bomet and Silibwet- the 2 towns near us. Things are very safe at Tenwek and security has been ramped up. Members of other tribes that work here intially went into hiding to protect themselves and their families. Some of our interns and nurses are away and cannot travel in because of violence and blockades people are setting up along the roads. Some of these are beginning to be opend up now. Some visiting staff have been told to delay their entry. Ones that did fly in are hanging out in Nairobi until it is deemed safe to ride or fly in here. One family had to delay their departure several days, but where finally able to fly out.
All of these events kept peoples New Year celebrations somber as curfews were in place in the big cities. There were also media bans on news in country for now as well. Gasoline is running out and no one wants to bring it in. The local dukas are running out of suppies as well. We had a get-together on the compound on new years eve, but the mood was different. Now some of the gas trucks are starting to get in and some businesses are beginning to open up.
It also affects the patients as well. The outpatient department has been eerily quiet as no one wants to come in. The inpatients cannot go out to get CT scans or if they are discharged they do not want to leave the hospital or cannot until family is able to arrive. We have had several patients walk in. One mom came in with her child after walking 50km and when the family arrived, the child collapsed and died. Last night I did not have any babies admitted to the NICU. I asked the OB team about the quiet night and they said there were many deliveries the night before. Unfortunatley, all the babies were and because ladies had obstructed labor and were not able to get in.
Fortunately, as things begin to quiet down, roads open up, and things attempt to begin to return to normal, we continue to Praise God for the safety we have had and pray that peace will be restored to this land.
It was reassuring to have a patient today say that he could not sleep. He said that he was not a Christian, but did want to be one. We shared with him that Christ could give him the peace that he needs. This was true reminder for all of us.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Christmas in Kenya
Christmas Blog
We thought you’d all be interested in how Christmas was for us over here in Africa, so we’ll tell you all about it.
First of all, let us tell you what Christmas is like here for the Kenyans. From most that I talked to Christmas is a holiday, but not to the scale that it is for Westerners. It is not nearly as commercial. A small, practical gift from someone is very appreciated and there is very little, if any, decorations around here. This is much more Westernized in Nairobi. Most of the Kenyans spend time with family, having big meals and going to church on Christmas eve and/or Christmas day. Kenyans also celebrate another holiday, Boxing Day, on the 26th. Here that is the day when people open all the presents they have received.
The 24th is not a holiday, but the 25th and 26th are. This year the 27th was declared election day, so that was a holiday and then it was announced the 28th would be as well to give people a chance to rest and get back home after voting.
So this is how our Christmas went. The 24th was a very busy day. That AM I returned the drinks from the prison ministry to the dukas. We spent the day around the house fixing cookies and treats to give out to our neighbors as gifts. We also had dinner with Lisette and the Ganeys and afterwards had a Christmas eve service at the church. We took our time walking back with our friends and looking at the Christmas lights with our special holographic glasses we had received. We then came back and relaxed and watched “The Nativity Story” while drinking hot chocolate.
I worked on Christmas day itself. Fortunately things were fairly slow. A group of us had lunch at the Robert’s and then I finished up at the hospital. That afternoon we called and talked to our families and to some of our friends on Skype. It was fun.
I was off on the 26th. We spent the morning preparing for lunch with our house helpers and their families. They each gave Sarah a menu what things they’d like. We had 10 guests- our helpers, their husbands, children, and a few cousins. Because of house size constraints, we sat up and ate outside. We had a big meal. The menu was beans, rice, chipatis, sweet potato casserole, turkey, dressing, and gravy, along with dessert. After the meal Maggie and kids (all girls) blew bubbles and played with side walk chalk. The adults went in and watched Charlie Brown Christmas. I stayed outside and watched the girls eat popcorn while this was going on. We then went outside for desert, followed by us giving gifts, a prayer and then we released our guests (you have to tell your guests they are released before they will leave).
After all this Maggie took a nap and we cleaned up. Then we set out Maggie’s Christmas stuff. She was overwhelmed and appreciative of what she received. We then ate leftovers and rested.
On the 27th, well, all I could say is that for us it was a day of much needed rest. We did nothing but relax, which was nice.
We thought you’d all be interested in how Christmas was for us over here in Africa, so we’ll tell you all about it.
First of all, let us tell you what Christmas is like here for the Kenyans. From most that I talked to Christmas is a holiday, but not to the scale that it is for Westerners. It is not nearly as commercial. A small, practical gift from someone is very appreciated and there is very little, if any, decorations around here. This is much more Westernized in Nairobi. Most of the Kenyans spend time with family, having big meals and going to church on Christmas eve and/or Christmas day. Kenyans also celebrate another holiday, Boxing Day, on the 26th. Here that is the day when people open all the presents they have received.
The 24th is not a holiday, but the 25th and 26th are. This year the 27th was declared election day, so that was a holiday and then it was announced the 28th would be as well to give people a chance to rest and get back home after voting.
So this is how our Christmas went. The 24th was a very busy day. That AM I returned the drinks from the prison ministry to the dukas. We spent the day around the house fixing cookies and treats to give out to our neighbors as gifts. We also had dinner with Lisette and the Ganeys and afterwards had a Christmas eve service at the church. We took our time walking back with our friends and looking at the Christmas lights with our special holographic glasses we had received. We then came back and relaxed and watched “The Nativity Story” while drinking hot chocolate.
I worked on Christmas day itself. Fortunately things were fairly slow. A group of us had lunch at the Robert’s and then I finished up at the hospital. That afternoon we called and talked to our families and to some of our friends on Skype. It was fun.
I was off on the 26th. We spent the morning preparing for lunch with our house helpers and their families. They each gave Sarah a menu what things they’d like. We had 10 guests- our helpers, their husbands, children, and a few cousins. Because of house size constraints, we sat up and ate outside. We had a big meal. The menu was beans, rice, chipatis, sweet potato casserole, turkey, dressing, and gravy, along with dessert. After the meal Maggie and kids (all girls) blew bubbles and played with side walk chalk. The adults went in and watched Charlie Brown Christmas. I stayed outside and watched the girls eat popcorn while this was going on. We then went outside for desert, followed by us giving gifts, a prayer and then we released our guests (you have to tell your guests they are released before they will leave).
After all this Maggie took a nap and we cleaned up. Then we set out Maggie’s Christmas stuff. She was overwhelmed and appreciative of what she received. We then ate leftovers and rested.
On the 27th, well, all I could say is that for us it was a day of much needed rest. We did nothing but relax, which was nice.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Bomet Prison Ministry
Let’s inform you about what came of the prison ministry event. As you know from previous blogs and emails we were scheduled to have a Christmas ministry event at the Bomet prison on December 23rd, which we did.
Saturday was a busy day of last minute preparations. We went with Carol Spears into town to gather a few last minute things. When we returned home we finished packing together items for the prisoner packets. I also called and talked with people to confirm that we were “a go” for Sunday, which we were.
Saturday afternoon I borrowed one of the missionaries vans to load up the gifts for the prisoners. Mike Ganey came down and helped me do this. We packed it so tight and saved the remainder for his car. We then drove up to the hospital dukas (shops) and picked up the cases of soda that we had ordered. We finished all this in time to get showers for the compound Christmas drop-in/party that evening. It was a very busy and tiring day.
Sunday AM I woke praying for the prisoners and the day ahead. Church ran long because it was a special Christmas service. After this Mike came down and we strapped the rest of the mattresses on top of his car. We were already a little behind schedule (We were doing this around 11:30AM and we were to meet at 1:30 to leave for the prison- about a 15 minute drive). As we finished loading we got a call that the food we ordered was ready at the restaurant. We finally got up there to pick up 2 roasted goats (they were in helper’s yard until Saturday!) and 200 samosas. When we arrived they asked where were our containers- which we were told would be provided. The owner cleaned out a bucket and milk container and found some bags to put things in. We finally got loaded and headed out. I looked behind me and Mike was gone. He ended up picking up some people at the main hospital gate and dropped them off along the way. We got to the prison and were pleased to see that the tents and chairs were all set up and ready to go. Some prisoners were allowed to come out and help us unload things so fortunately we were able to do that quickly and got back to Tenwek giving us just enough time to get back and help load everyone up. I exchanged vehicles and drove our neighbor, Ms. Faith’s, car so I could get her gas in town. Just pulling onto the main hill it stalled out, so we assumed it ran out of gas. I let it coast back into the lawn and went and borrowed another vehicle. All of us from here met, prayed, and loaded into cars and headed out.
At 2:10 we arrived at the prison (only 10 minutes late!) The team from the Mosop orphanage met us there. They did some cooking and helped contribute to the gifts. We quickly made some last minute preparations and the program began. As soon as it started it began to rain and drizzled the entire afternoon (which is a symbol of blessing in Kisigis culture). We had the meal first (goat, chipati, samosa, oranges and soda). After that we had several people speak, some from the prison and some from Tenwek. One of the head guards who was drunk spoke and finally had to be drug off. The prison choir danced and sang. Next a team from Tenwek did a few songs and Dr. Russ White delivered a dynamic sermon. Several people accepted Christ as their Savior. I was called up several times to speak because in this culture it is very important for the person leading an event to be recognized. I was presented by the prison with chipati making table that was made by the prisoners as a gift (the others were sold that day). After the program portion the prisoners made a semi-circle and we gave out the gifts to the prisoners (at this point the rain stopped). They each received a mattress, 2 blankets, sandals, and a personal hygiene kit. We also gave bags of flour to the workers. After this we said good-bye and we headed out.
It was a very good day. I found out yesterday that when we left at 5PM the prisoners requested to go to bed early and were locked in their cells at 5:30 to sleep on their new gifts.
Thanks for the prayers and support of you back home who were able to help with this project!
Saturday was a busy day of last minute preparations. We went with Carol Spears into town to gather a few last minute things. When we returned home we finished packing together items for the prisoner packets. I also called and talked with people to confirm that we were “a go” for Sunday, which we were.
Saturday afternoon I borrowed one of the missionaries vans to load up the gifts for the prisoners. Mike Ganey came down and helped me do this. We packed it so tight and saved the remainder for his car. We then drove up to the hospital dukas (shops) and picked up the cases of soda that we had ordered. We finished all this in time to get showers for the compound Christmas drop-in/party that evening. It was a very busy and tiring day.
Sunday AM I woke praying for the prisoners and the day ahead. Church ran long because it was a special Christmas service. After this Mike came down and we strapped the rest of the mattresses on top of his car. We were already a little behind schedule (We were doing this around 11:30AM and we were to meet at 1:30 to leave for the prison- about a 15 minute drive). As we finished loading we got a call that the food we ordered was ready at the restaurant. We finally got up there to pick up 2 roasted goats (they were in helper’s yard until Saturday!) and 200 samosas. When we arrived they asked where were our containers- which we were told would be provided. The owner cleaned out a bucket and milk container and found some bags to put things in. We finally got loaded and headed out. I looked behind me and Mike was gone. He ended up picking up some people at the main hospital gate and dropped them off along the way. We got to the prison and were pleased to see that the tents and chairs were all set up and ready to go. Some prisoners were allowed to come out and help us unload things so fortunately we were able to do that quickly and got back to Tenwek giving us just enough time to get back and help load everyone up. I exchanged vehicles and drove our neighbor, Ms. Faith’s, car so I could get her gas in town. Just pulling onto the main hill it stalled out, so we assumed it ran out of gas. I let it coast back into the lawn and went and borrowed another vehicle. All of us from here met, prayed, and loaded into cars and headed out.
At 2:10 we arrived at the prison (only 10 minutes late!) The team from the Mosop orphanage met us there. They did some cooking and helped contribute to the gifts. We quickly made some last minute preparations and the program began. As soon as it started it began to rain and drizzled the entire afternoon (which is a symbol of blessing in Kisigis culture). We had the meal first (goat, chipati, samosa, oranges and soda). After that we had several people speak, some from the prison and some from Tenwek. One of the head guards who was drunk spoke and finally had to be drug off. The prison choir danced and sang. Next a team from Tenwek did a few songs and Dr. Russ White delivered a dynamic sermon. Several people accepted Christ as their Savior. I was called up several times to speak because in this culture it is very important for the person leading an event to be recognized. I was presented by the prison with chipati making table that was made by the prisoners as a gift (the others were sold that day). After the program portion the prisoners made a semi-circle and we gave out the gifts to the prisoners (at this point the rain stopped). They each received a mattress, 2 blankets, sandals, and a personal hygiene kit. We also gave bags of flour to the workers. After this we said good-bye and we headed out.
It was a very good day. I found out yesterday that when we left at 5PM the prisoners requested to go to bed early and were locked in their cells at 5:30 to sleep on their new gifts.
Thanks for the prayers and support of you back home who were able to help with this project!
Cows! and Christmas stuff
This is the latest since our last update- due to internet issues we are late getting this posted.
Tuesday was a great day. Most of the missionaries were still away at their retreat, so it was quiet here. I had a meeting with the outpatient department that morning and spent the rest of the morning doing administrative types of things. It was so good to get “caught up”.
That afternoon I was up at the hospital taking care of business when I got a call from Sarah. I did not know what was wrong. She said cows had gotten in the backyard and were going for our neighbors plants and bushes. She had tried to shoo them, but they would not move. I ran home in my dress clothes (fortunately wearing crocs) through the rain and found a metal rod the kids had been playing with laying in a neighbors yard. I grabbed it and saw Sarah outside with an umbrella. I was able to get the cows to move, but they would go the wrong direction. I got one to go the right way, then I went after the next one. I got it turned back around, but it started bucking and heading towards Sarah. She got out of the way and the cow eventually turned off. After I got these 2 out of the way, Sarah said there was another. Sure enough, he was chowing down in the garden. I trampled across the field and got him out. All of the commotion woke Maggie from her nap. She is already a fan of cows, but this episode had her mesmerized. She was out on the porch with Sarah and saying “Dad ah Moo” repeatedly. After this initial commotion another showed up in the yard. I went and ran him off and Maggie came out to watch, but quickly decided to go inside and watch from there. The episode was over, but Maggie continued to recount the tale, even until the next morning.
We had a nice dinner that night as well. Our friends, the Alterman’s, were getting ready to leave the country and since they will gone before Christmas, they decided to have us over for a ham dinner, which was great. Most of all the people left at the compound (very few) came over for the dinner, which ended up being a lot of fun.
On Wednesday we woke up with the plan of taking our Christmas photo. I was off work because it was Kenya’s independence day (our house helpers did not even know this, which is common for most of the locals). John Wright, our interim CEO, was at the dinner the night before and told us about some wonderful brownies that he would have made the next day. We were going to have our picture made in his backyard, so he had us to get him some cocoa for the brownies, which were great. We got our picture in front of a large poinsetta. Here they are all over the compound growing from a plant like ones back home into small trees. They are beautiful.
At lunch most of the house helpers were working, but were all alone. Sarah asked our helper’s if they wanted to invite one of their fellow helpers over for lunch, which they did. They ate inside at our table and Maggie helped eat their food. Sarah fixed them ugali and they loved watching her do it.
Later that afternoon I went to work in the garden. I haven’t been able to do that as much as I would have liked, but it is a good break. Our vegetables are making progress, but unfortunately so are our weeds. Sarah came up and helped me and she unearthed some more sweet potatoes. I worked hard, but you couldn’t see much progress. Our helpers looked at it later and asked where had I worked. We’ve decided that we need to hire a part-time gardener, which we are planning to do.
Wednesday evening everyone arrived back safely to Tenwek. It was good to see our friends and we visited almost every family on the compound because we had to return our keys.
Thursday and Friday were long hard days. Work in general was busy and several people were off. I also had to deal with some difficult issues, such as people who did not show up to work even when they were scheduled to do so. They felt there reasons were legitimate and know they made mistakes. Fortunately, at least as far as I know, no patients suffered from this. I hate getting involved in these situations.
That Friday evening was quiet. Maggie went to sleep and I was on call. Sarah spent the evening at our neighbor’s, Ms. Faith, helping her decorate wedding cakes for the area Bishop’s (and head of the hospital board) daughter’s wedding. She made 5 different cakes in all. They had a lot of fun and are getting to be good friends.
Saturday was a day of shopping in Bomet. One of the visiting OB’s had never been to the “big city” so he rode along. John Kaguthi went with us as well. He is my newest family practice resident. He arrived Thursday night and we took him into town to get some supplies. Our purpose for going in was to buy supplies for the prison ministry. The workers were so helpful at the store and had even ordered supplies from us remembering our visit and inquiring about prices from about a month prior. Thankfully one of our fellow doctors happened to be there in his van and he was able to help us get everything loaded. Pulling into the parking area at the main grocery story is hard as there are large mud puddles. This time I finally got the car stuck and had to put it in 4-wheel drive, which I had never done before and was fun. We stored the supplies we bought in Ms. Barb’s apartment as she is away on furlough.
That evening we had dinner with our friends Lisette, the Ganey’s, and Carol Spears. Sarah hosted with pizza here and we had dessert around a fireplace in Carol’s back yard. It was very relaxing and a lot of fun. John, the new FP, joined us as well.
Sunday was what it was meant to be, a day of rest. The entire offering at church went to help support the prison ministry, which was a tremendous blessing. That afternoon after naps Sarah made us and some of our neighbors great milkshakes with the new blender we got on our last trip to Nairobi. After that I played football with some of the locals, which was fun. Then we ate leftover’s and I helped Mike Ganey decorate sugar cookies that he was taking to an orphanage meeting the next day.
Monday it was back to work. I was also trying to get some of the prison stuff together. God has been so obvious as He has been orchestrating all this. We started last week looking for a tent but had not been able to find one. Some people here had a connection in nearby Kericho and were able to find one. It is so hard to do now because of parties and December (like June back home) weddings. What an answered prayer.
Thursday night was the staff Christmas party for the hospital. It was an experience. We had to bring our own silverware (which was okay) and we had traditional Kenyan food from the hospital restaurant. People filled in the back of the room, not leaving a chair empty. As soon as Sarah and Maggie got up 2 guys came and sat by me. In traditional fashion it began about
45 minutes late. It was funny because we were in the meeting room with a big podium and microphone, but the blessing was whispered by someone at the back of the room near the food, but people knew when he prayed because at amen the table was swarmed! The program lasted several hours with speakers and singing. We enjoyed the portion we were able to stay for.
A few other tidbits from the last few weeks.
I learned that when patients receive tube feeds sometimes we run out of the feeding material, so it is supplemented with egg nog! (I thought that was rather seasonal.)
The other day one of my outpatient nurses looked concerned. When I inquired, she said that signs labeling doors in the outpatient department were being changed. It is all by numbers, but the workers in the clinic did not know this was happening and were still referring to old numbers. People were being sent everywhere. Some people were evening standing in the bathroom waiting to receive their medicine!
We continue to see the Lord work. I had another patient this week who when I asked her about prayer requests told me she wanted to be saved, without any prompting on my part. Another sign of the Spirit moving. I also have learned that people aren’t that different after all wherever you are. For example, I had a patient the other day in the ward who said he just started going to church when he became sick. (How many times have I seen this back home?)
Maggie and Sarah have been doing some Christmas activities. Sarah is helping people decorate and making cookies of her own. Maggie was invited to make a gingerbread house with the MK school kids.
This was a first for all of us. Sarah made sure that Maggie’s house consisted of things that Maggie could eat and would not be a choking hazard. We think her house looks great! Just an FYI- Maggie was very cute dancing with maraca in hand to the David Crowder Band’s version of Feliz Navidad the other night!
Tuesday was a great day. Most of the missionaries were still away at their retreat, so it was quiet here. I had a meeting with the outpatient department that morning and spent the rest of the morning doing administrative types of things. It was so good to get “caught up”.
That afternoon I was up at the hospital taking care of business when I got a call from Sarah. I did not know what was wrong. She said cows had gotten in the backyard and were going for our neighbors plants and bushes. She had tried to shoo them, but they would not move. I ran home in my dress clothes (fortunately wearing crocs) through the rain and found a metal rod the kids had been playing with laying in a neighbors yard. I grabbed it and saw Sarah outside with an umbrella. I was able to get the cows to move, but they would go the wrong direction. I got one to go the right way, then I went after the next one. I got it turned back around, but it started bucking and heading towards Sarah. She got out of the way and the cow eventually turned off. After I got these 2 out of the way, Sarah said there was another. Sure enough, he was chowing down in the garden. I trampled across the field and got him out. All of the commotion woke Maggie from her nap. She is already a fan of cows, but this episode had her mesmerized. She was out on the porch with Sarah and saying “Dad ah Moo” repeatedly. After this initial commotion another showed up in the yard. I went and ran him off and Maggie came out to watch, but quickly decided to go inside and watch from there. The episode was over, but Maggie continued to recount the tale, even until the next morning.
We had a nice dinner that night as well. Our friends, the Alterman’s, were getting ready to leave the country and since they will gone before Christmas, they decided to have us over for a ham dinner, which was great. Most of all the people left at the compound (very few) came over for the dinner, which ended up being a lot of fun.
On Wednesday we woke up with the plan of taking our Christmas photo. I was off work because it was Kenya’s independence day (our house helpers did not even know this, which is common for most of the locals). John Wright, our interim CEO, was at the dinner the night before and told us about some wonderful brownies that he would have made the next day. We were going to have our picture made in his backyard, so he had us to get him some cocoa for the brownies, which were great. We got our picture in front of a large poinsetta. Here they are all over the compound growing from a plant like ones back home into small trees. They are beautiful.
At lunch most of the house helpers were working, but were all alone. Sarah asked our helper’s if they wanted to invite one of their fellow helpers over for lunch, which they did. They ate inside at our table and Maggie helped eat their food. Sarah fixed them ugali and they loved watching her do it.
Later that afternoon I went to work in the garden. I haven’t been able to do that as much as I would have liked, but it is a good break. Our vegetables are making progress, but unfortunately so are our weeds. Sarah came up and helped me and she unearthed some more sweet potatoes. I worked hard, but you couldn’t see much progress. Our helpers looked at it later and asked where had I worked. We’ve decided that we need to hire a part-time gardener, which we are planning to do.
Wednesday evening everyone arrived back safely to Tenwek. It was good to see our friends and we visited almost every family on the compound because we had to return our keys.
Thursday and Friday were long hard days. Work in general was busy and several people were off. I also had to deal with some difficult issues, such as people who did not show up to work even when they were scheduled to do so. They felt there reasons were legitimate and know they made mistakes. Fortunately, at least as far as I know, no patients suffered from this. I hate getting involved in these situations.
That Friday evening was quiet. Maggie went to sleep and I was on call. Sarah spent the evening at our neighbor’s, Ms. Faith, helping her decorate wedding cakes for the area Bishop’s (and head of the hospital board) daughter’s wedding. She made 5 different cakes in all. They had a lot of fun and are getting to be good friends.
Saturday was a day of shopping in Bomet. One of the visiting OB’s had never been to the “big city” so he rode along. John Kaguthi went with us as well. He is my newest family practice resident. He arrived Thursday night and we took him into town to get some supplies. Our purpose for going in was to buy supplies for the prison ministry. The workers were so helpful at the store and had even ordered supplies from us remembering our visit and inquiring about prices from about a month prior. Thankfully one of our fellow doctors happened to be there in his van and he was able to help us get everything loaded. Pulling into the parking area at the main grocery story is hard as there are large mud puddles. This time I finally got the car stuck and had to put it in 4-wheel drive, which I had never done before and was fun. We stored the supplies we bought in Ms. Barb’s apartment as she is away on furlough.
That evening we had dinner with our friends Lisette, the Ganey’s, and Carol Spears. Sarah hosted with pizza here and we had dessert around a fireplace in Carol’s back yard. It was very relaxing and a lot of fun. John, the new FP, joined us as well.
Sunday was what it was meant to be, a day of rest. The entire offering at church went to help support the prison ministry, which was a tremendous blessing. That afternoon after naps Sarah made us and some of our neighbors great milkshakes with the new blender we got on our last trip to Nairobi. After that I played football with some of the locals, which was fun. Then we ate leftover’s and I helped Mike Ganey decorate sugar cookies that he was taking to an orphanage meeting the next day.
Monday it was back to work. I was also trying to get some of the prison stuff together. God has been so obvious as He has been orchestrating all this. We started last week looking for a tent but had not been able to find one. Some people here had a connection in nearby Kericho and were able to find one. It is so hard to do now because of parties and December (like June back home) weddings. What an answered prayer.
Thursday night was the staff Christmas party for the hospital. It was an experience. We had to bring our own silverware (which was okay) and we had traditional Kenyan food from the hospital restaurant. People filled in the back of the room, not leaving a chair empty. As soon as Sarah and Maggie got up 2 guys came and sat by me. In traditional fashion it began about
45 minutes late. It was funny because we were in the meeting room with a big podium and microphone, but the blessing was whispered by someone at the back of the room near the food, but people knew when he prayed because at amen the table was swarmed! The program lasted several hours with speakers and singing. We enjoyed the portion we were able to stay for.A few other tidbits from the last few weeks.
I learned that when patients receive tube feeds sometimes we run out of the feeding material, so it is supplemented with egg nog! (I thought that was rather seasonal.)
The other day one of my outpatient nurses looked concerned. When I inquired, she said that signs labeling doors in the outpatient department were being changed. It is all by numbers, but the workers in the clinic did not know this was happening and were still referring to old numbers. People were being sent everywhere. Some people were evening standing in the bathroom waiting to receive their medicine!
We continue to see the Lord work. I had another patient this week who when I asked her about prayer requests told me she wanted to be saved, without any prompting on my part. Another sign of the Spirit moving. I also have learned that people aren’t that different after all wherever you are. For example, I had a patient the other day in the ward who said he just started going to church when he became sick. (How many times have I seen this back home?)
Maggie and Sarah have been doing some Christmas activities. Sarah is helping people decorate and making cookies of her own. Maggie was invited to make a gingerbread house with the MK school kids.
This was a first for all of us. Sarah made sure that Maggie’s house consisted of things that Maggie could eat and would not be a choking hazard. We think her house looks great! Just an FYI- Maggie was very cute dancing with maraca in hand to the David Crowder Band’s version of Feliz Navidad the other night!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
"Uh oh, Kimbo"
Here is the latest since last time.
Well, our adventures in Nairobi continued. On Friday we went to some markets and did some shopping. We met our friends the Ganey’s who were in town and had dinner with them. Saturday was great because the guesthouse was quiet and we rested most of the day. We had lunch there, packed, and didn’t go out until around 4:30. It was good to rest. We talked with one of our friends from here about helping us to find a car, which he said he would. Then we had one of those “God things”. Sarah’s sister sent us 3 large packages to Nairobi for Christmas. She told us to open them when they arrived which we did. Sarah almost cried when she looked in. Not because the customs agents had ripped most things open, but because of what was in side. There were maternity clothes just like Sarah needed, but had not asked anyone for. There were also some things she wanted specifically for Maggie and had been looking for, but had been unable to find. She also did not mention this to anyone and it was in the box as well. God is so good! We met the Ganey’s again and did some running around and then went out to eat and came back to rest for a long Sunday, which involved last minute errands and hitting the road as early as possible to get back to Tenwek.
A view into the Rift Valley outside of Nairobi
Monday was a great day for me to rest and spend time at home doing some administrative tasks. I’ll admit, it is the first I have slept in and stayed home for a day in several weeks. It felt good to get several things accomplished and be at home for a day.
Maggie having fun
Tuesday it was back to work. Not very eventful. Wednesday we had our monthly long term doctors meeting. It feels good to be able to put in what I feel is valuable input and to have my colleagues say that I am doing job. Encouragement for each other is something that is really needed around here.
Thursday was a good day. I’ll admit it is easy to get frustrated at times and today was one of those days. After some time though I started getting some things accomplished. I also chaired another outpatient task force team meeting today. We do this once a month. I went to go to the administrative conference, but was told someone else was meeting. Long story short, we decided to meet at another venue, the open air dining area at the hospital restaurant. It was great! We sat around, drank Cokes, and openly discussed issues. It felt so informal, but we got so much accomplished and at the end everyone was happy and felt the same way. I think that we may continue to meet this way in the future.
We had another funny incident on Thursday. Sarah says someone stole 200 shillings (about $3.00) from our kitchen. Sarah said the money was on the counter and a little girl wandered in the kitchen and her nanny went after her. The helpers were in different portions of the house and when Sarah asked about the money later, it was gone. Everyone was very concerned. Our helpers were even going through the trash looking for the money. Everyone reached the conclusion that the nanny must have taken the money. This made several people upset. Sarah was going to confront the lady the next day. Then later that evening we were greasing a pan to make brownies and she said “Look.” In the lid of the Kimbo (our equivalent of Crisco) was a 200 KSH bill stuck to the lid. It must have fallen there and no one new it. We are glad we had not confronted this nanny!
Christmas time is busy around here as well. It is not as commercial as back in the states, but there are parties and teas for different groups around the hospital. Several of the houses do have lights up, which brings back feelings of home. There are no decorations in the hospital itself because people just do not do that here. On Friday Sarah helped to put on a Christmas tea for all of the missionary househelpers. Sarah said it was a lot of fun and they all appreciated it.
Our home decorated for Christmas
Friday night we were getting ready to have supper at a friends house and we got a phone call. There had been another RTA (road traffic accident). We couldn’t believe it. My friend Mike Ganey, a surgeon, and I walked up. Thankfully there were only about 7-8 victims and the most major injury (at least at that point) was an open humerus fracture. The folks that did arrive all helped out and we were done in less than an hour.
Over the weekend I was on pediatric call. I had good interns working with me and since I have a little more experience now rounds were not nearly as bad as before. I had 3 babies to die at delivery on Sunday, which is something you cannot get used to.
Monday was a relaxing day. Almost all of the missionaries on the compound had left to go to their annual Christmas meeting, which we did not have to attend and decided not to for many reasons. The compound was so quiet with many people gone. The White’s had not left yet, so we loaded Maggie up into the wagon with her lantern and we rode her up to their house to see their outdoor lights. We’ll go out to see the rest when other people are home.
The White's house (much brighter in person)
It is also customary here to leave a set of your house keys with a neighbor when you are going out of town. Needless to say with everyone leaving, we received quite a number of keys when everyone left. The next morning Sarah told me it was funny as all the househelpers came by our house to pick up their keys.
A few other things. There is no such thing as a short office visit here, at least for me. My average time in a room is about 30 minutes (put I have no one pressuring me to hurry up, which is nice as well!) I am also overwhelmed by how many resources there are back in the states. I was reading a US medical journal about different sorts of imaging available for heart disease. Here was are considered advanced because we can get an x-ray and most of the times and EKG!
I was reminded of an important point the other day that I actually heard recently in a sermon. We do not convert anyone. We merely witness, but God does the changing of the heart (Some sow, some water, but God receives the increase). I had to remember this when I shared the gospel with a patient the other day, but he ended up being more concerned about getting his medicine and going home. I realized that it was up to the Lord, not me, to change his heart.
Well, our adventures in Nairobi continued. On Friday we went to some markets and did some shopping. We met our friends the Ganey’s who were in town and had dinner with them. Saturday was great because the guesthouse was quiet and we rested most of the day. We had lunch there, packed, and didn’t go out until around 4:30. It was good to rest. We talked with one of our friends from here about helping us to find a car, which he said he would. Then we had one of those “God things”. Sarah’s sister sent us 3 large packages to Nairobi for Christmas. She told us to open them when they arrived which we did. Sarah almost cried when she looked in. Not because the customs agents had ripped most things open, but because of what was in side. There were maternity clothes just like Sarah needed, but had not asked anyone for. There were also some things she wanted specifically for Maggie and had been looking for, but had been unable to find. She also did not mention this to anyone and it was in the box as well. God is so good! We met the Ganey’s again and did some running around and then went out to eat and came back to rest for a long Sunday, which involved last minute errands and hitting the road as early as possible to get back to Tenwek.
A view into the Rift Valley outside of Nairobi
Monday was a great day for me to rest and spend time at home doing some administrative tasks. I’ll admit, it is the first I have slept in and stayed home for a day in several weeks. It felt good to get several things accomplished and be at home for a day.
Maggie having fun
Tuesday it was back to work. Not very eventful. Wednesday we had our monthly long term doctors meeting. It feels good to be able to put in what I feel is valuable input and to have my colleagues say that I am doing job. Encouragement for each other is something that is really needed around here.
Thursday was a good day. I’ll admit it is easy to get frustrated at times and today was one of those days. After some time though I started getting some things accomplished. I also chaired another outpatient task force team meeting today. We do this once a month. I went to go to the administrative conference, but was told someone else was meeting. Long story short, we decided to meet at another venue, the open air dining area at the hospital restaurant. It was great! We sat around, drank Cokes, and openly discussed issues. It felt so informal, but we got so much accomplished and at the end everyone was happy and felt the same way. I think that we may continue to meet this way in the future.
We had another funny incident on Thursday. Sarah says someone stole 200 shillings (about $3.00) from our kitchen. Sarah said the money was on the counter and a little girl wandered in the kitchen and her nanny went after her. The helpers were in different portions of the house and when Sarah asked about the money later, it was gone. Everyone was very concerned. Our helpers were even going through the trash looking for the money. Everyone reached the conclusion that the nanny must have taken the money. This made several people upset. Sarah was going to confront the lady the next day. Then later that evening we were greasing a pan to make brownies and she said “Look.” In the lid of the Kimbo (our equivalent of Crisco) was a 200 KSH bill stuck to the lid. It must have fallen there and no one new it. We are glad we had not confronted this nanny!
Christmas time is busy around here as well. It is not as commercial as back in the states, but there are parties and teas for different groups around the hospital. Several of the houses do have lights up, which brings back feelings of home. There are no decorations in the hospital itself because people just do not do that here. On Friday Sarah helped to put on a Christmas tea for all of the missionary househelpers. Sarah said it was a lot of fun and they all appreciated it.
Our home decorated for Christmas
Friday night we were getting ready to have supper at a friends house and we got a phone call. There had been another RTA (road traffic accident). We couldn’t believe it. My friend Mike Ganey, a surgeon, and I walked up. Thankfully there were only about 7-8 victims and the most major injury (at least at that point) was an open humerus fracture. The folks that did arrive all helped out and we were done in less than an hour.
Over the weekend I was on pediatric call. I had good interns working with me and since I have a little more experience now rounds were not nearly as bad as before. I had 3 babies to die at delivery on Sunday, which is something you cannot get used to.
Monday was a relaxing day. Almost all of the missionaries on the compound had left to go to their annual Christmas meeting, which we did not have to attend and decided not to for many reasons. The compound was so quiet with many people gone. The White’s had not left yet, so we loaded Maggie up into the wagon with her lantern and we rode her up to their house to see their outdoor lights. We’ll go out to see the rest when other people are home.
The White's house (much brighter in person)
It is also customary here to leave a set of your house keys with a neighbor when you are going out of town. Needless to say with everyone leaving, we received quite a number of keys when everyone left. The next morning Sarah told me it was funny as all the househelpers came by our house to pick up their keys.
A few other things. There is no such thing as a short office visit here, at least for me. My average time in a room is about 30 minutes (put I have no one pressuring me to hurry up, which is nice as well!) I am also overwhelmed by how many resources there are back in the states. I was reading a US medical journal about different sorts of imaging available for heart disease. Here was are considered advanced because we can get an x-ray and most of the times and EKG!
I was reminded of an important point the other day that I actually heard recently in a sermon. We do not convert anyone. We merely witness, but God does the changing of the heart (Some sow, some water, but God receives the increase). I had to remember this when I shared the gospel with a patient the other day, but he ended up being more concerned about getting his medicine and going home. I realized that it was up to the Lord, not me, to change his heart.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Turkey and dressing (and monkeys!)
Hello everyone,
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. And yes, for those of you who asked, you can buy turkey in Kenya. Thanksgiving Day itself was rather interesting. First of all, it was not a holiday here and was a regular day of work. Fortunately for me it and the rest of the week were already scheduled off, so I did not have to work Thanksgiving. Sarah unfortunately was sick and rested most of the day. Maggie and I hung out around the house and starting constructing our artificial tree some friends gave us. We did have a visitor join us. His name is Sat (pronounced like cot, but w/ an S). He is a pediatric resident from Walter Reed in Washington, DC. He is spending some time at Kericho and we met him at the HIV meeting there a few weeks ago. We are glad he was able to come and join us. Around lunch time when everyone was napping I was able to pull up the rest of our sweet potatoes from the garden. They were a popular item the last couple of days as everyone was wanting them to cook with. That evening we had a compound wide Thanksgiving dinner which everyone contributed to. All of the traditional food was there, with the inclusion of a great seaweed salad from our Japanese nurse friend Anna. Maggie was a little impatient seeing the food, but having to wait to eat (our table ate last because we came in last in a Thanksgiving trivia game, but that’s another story). After dinner there was singing, a movie for kids, and a football game shown in the auditorium. (The kids movie was our copy of Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving, which we also shown to the locals at Wed AM devotionals to teach them what Thanksgiving is about). We didn’t stay for this as it was getting late. When we got home our neighbor, Ms. Barb, hung out with us and we finally got her a copy of our photos from the nursing school graduation.
Friday morning fortunately Sarah woke feeling much better, so we quickly backed for a weekend trip to Nakuru. This is about a 3 hour drive from us and home of the World Gospel Mission headquarters. We were invited to go there with our friend’s, the Robert’s family. I was happy Sarah was able to see the beautiful teafields along the way. About half way we stopped and had lunch at a little cottage-style hotel called “Ray’s Place”. We ate a picnic lunch on their back porch. It was a beautiful area and quiet little hotel. We then got back on the road. As we entered Nakuru we stopped at the Africa Gospel Church’s Baby Center. This is a baby orphanage and first of it’s kind. It was created with the intension of promoting adoption, but we learned that adoption is not accepted here. Family is very important here and people feel “why would you want to take someone’s baby away from them and put them in your family”. One of the missionary couples at Tenwek are the first and only family to adopt a baby so far. It will take time to change mindsets. Now the baby’s are getting up to near 2 years in age, so the center is making huge expansions planning on having to house 3 and 4 year olds soon. The facility is very nice and has (1 think) about 30 babies now. I was asked to examine about 5 of them, some sick and some new babies who have not been seen. Maggie enjoyed being around a bunch of kids her age.
After this we met with the couple that are the country directors for World Gospel Mission, the Vanderhoofs. They showed us around town for a little while and the Roberts went to their home and we went to Margie’s, the WGM accountant, home (she had MacGyver on DVD!). We unloaded and then all went to the Vanderhoofs. A game of croquet broke out in their back yard which was a lot of fun. We then ate pizza and had leftover Thanksgiving deserts.
Saturday AM we woke up and after running a few quick errands in town went to the Lake Nakura National Park. This would be the site of our second safari in Kenya. When we arrived at the park, which was at the edge of the city (the second largest in Kenya), we immediately saw monkeys at play. We then drove up to the building where Ben and I went to pay for everyone. From past experience I told the girls when we got out to roll up their windows so a monkey wouldn’t get in. They laughed. While we were inside we heard loud screaming. We ran out and saw a monkey running off with a bag. Apparently a large male monkey jumped up onto the passangers side window. They tried to shoo it away, but it snarled, jumped in and grapped a bag of trail mix. Jenny yelled at it in Swahili, but to no avail. The monkey had what it wanted and ran off. I offered to retrieve the food, but they said that was okay because the monkeys had their hands all in it.
After this exciting start we headed out. Unlike our last safari, on this one you drove yourself and could do what you liked. The main animals here were flamingoes (it was a lake), storks, pelicans, water buffalo, zebras, and rhinos. There were other animals as well.
We also got to see some lions. Around lunch time we drove past a waterfall and got out at a picnic area, which was nothing more than a clearing with rest rooms. We ate cautiously looking for animals. When we were about done Ben yelled “baboons”. After the morning incident, we quickly grabbed up everything with kids screaming. Jenny tried to get her youngest in while still strapped in the stroller. Sarah got Maggie and I got the pecan tassies and jumped in. I then got back out and helped Ben. We were able to keep the baboons at bay long enough to gather everything and get out okay. The park rangers even came up and helped us. All in all it was a fun day and a beautiful park. After this we all went to a hotel in town to swim with the kids. The water was very cold. They also had soft-serve ice cream, which is rare here. It was so good, we even sat in the rain to eat it. We then did some shopping and went with the Vanderhoofs to a restaurant for dinner.
The next AM we went to the Vanderhoofs for breakfast and then they drove us to the top of the Nakuru crater. It was huge and apparently the second largest of its type in the world. After this we headed back. We stopped at a place called Taidy’s on the way back and grabbed a snack (strange being in the middle of a teafield at a restaurant showing soccer on a flat screen TV). We also bought some veggies and fruit along the way. We just had to slow up and the car was swarmed with sellers. Very convenient.
When we arrived back at Tenwek later that afternoon we had more fun in store. We gathered with some of our friends for our own Thanksgiving dinner, but called it a Christmas kickoff as their house was decorated and had Christmas music playing. Many people were away, so after this all the families left on the compound came over for dessert and fellowship. We had a special time of prayer over Ms. Barb as she would be leaving on Monday for furlough. When we got home that night Sarah helped her until way past 11 and again the next morning. She will be missed while she is away.
On Monday we were back to work. I had a frustrating morning as I went to the IT department to work on a new hospital form and ,long story short, an editing session took almost 3 hours. That day we did not finish rounding until around 4. When I got home we had fun, however, as we did our Christmas decorating. We were given a tree earlier and have accumulated some accessories, including ones sent to us in the mail, thanks.
I am seeing more and more people now in clinic who are in with me for follow-up visits. It is so neat to see improvement in many of them. I even had a patient ask me to pray with them before they left before I could even ask.
Still tired from our previous excursion, we loaded back up on Wednesday for a trip into Nairobi. It did not bother Maggie as she began to smile when she was able to get back into her car seat. It was a long, dusty ride. The dust was so bad at times we had to come to complete stops to let it clear. Our driver got lost in Nairobi, after telling us he knew where he was going. I then got a phone call from Tenwek saying the meeting we had come in for the next day had just been cancelled. I was very frustrated at first, but decided to look at it as a chance for our family to relax together. We arrived at the SP office and talked with one of the leaders there. We talked with her about doing Operation Christmas Child. It is new here, but she said she would do what she could to let us help get involved next Spring! We came into the guest house and rested. We then went out to eat with more workers here going back into Sudan. One was a lady we met last time who we got to know and were very glad to see her again. We got talking about Operation Christmas Child and learned that she used to be the financial director for OCC. We sat around and talked and shared stories about OCC. We don’t know why all this happened, but we are excited that this may help to open up new doors for us to have increased involvement with this ministry in the future. Please pray for this!
Thursday was now a free day for us, so we went to the giraffe center. This is a place that was founded in the 1970’s as a haven for a nearly extinct breed of giraffe, the Rothschild (there are 3 varieties, Rothschild, reticulated, and Maasi).
It now serves as an educational center to teach Kenyan school children about conservation and the environment. We had so much fun. You can feed the giraffes and they eat right out of your hand. We then went to part of the Karen Blixen estate for lunch. It was set up and felt like you were in British East Africa in the 1910’s. It was nice and relaxing. (Rumor has it that this was where Teddy Roosevelt stayed to come and hunt in Africa.). We then went into downtown to go looking at a particular store. The downtown area has big buildings and is very crowded.
Okay, that is our journey thus far. December is going to be very busy for us. Please pray for our stamina then and for the prison project coming up near Christmas. We will fill you in on the rest of our journeys soon, but wanted to share this with you for now.
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. And yes, for those of you who asked, you can buy turkey in Kenya. Thanksgiving Day itself was rather interesting. First of all, it was not a holiday here and was a regular day of work. Fortunately for me it and the rest of the week were already scheduled off, so I did not have to work Thanksgiving. Sarah unfortunately was sick and rested most of the day. Maggie and I hung out around the house and starting constructing our artificial tree some friends gave us. We did have a visitor join us. His name is Sat (pronounced like cot, but w/ an S). He is a pediatric resident from Walter Reed in Washington, DC. He is spending some time at Kericho and we met him at the HIV meeting there a few weeks ago. We are glad he was able to come and join us. Around lunch time when everyone was napping I was able to pull up the rest of our sweet potatoes from the garden. They were a popular item the last couple of days as everyone was wanting them to cook with. That evening we had a compound wide Thanksgiving dinner which everyone contributed to. All of the traditional food was there, with the inclusion of a great seaweed salad from our Japanese nurse friend Anna. Maggie was a little impatient seeing the food, but having to wait to eat (our table ate last because we came in last in a Thanksgiving trivia game, but that’s another story). After dinner there was singing, a movie for kids, and a football game shown in the auditorium. (The kids movie was our copy of Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving, which we also shown to the locals at Wed AM devotionals to teach them what Thanksgiving is about). We didn’t stay for this as it was getting late. When we got home our neighbor, Ms. Barb, hung out with us and we finally got her a copy of our photos from the nursing school graduation.
Friday morning fortunately Sarah woke feeling much better, so we quickly backed for a weekend trip to Nakuru. This is about a 3 hour drive from us and home of the World Gospel Mission headquarters. We were invited to go there with our friend’s, the Robert’s family. I was happy Sarah was able to see the beautiful teafields along the way. About half way we stopped and had lunch at a little cottage-style hotel called “Ray’s Place”. We ate a picnic lunch on their back porch. It was a beautiful area and quiet little hotel. We then got back on the road. As we entered Nakuru we stopped at the Africa Gospel Church’s Baby Center. This is a baby orphanage and first of it’s kind. It was created with the intension of promoting adoption, but we learned that adoption is not accepted here. Family is very important here and people feel “why would you want to take someone’s baby away from them and put them in your family”. One of the missionary couples at Tenwek are the first and only family to adopt a baby so far. It will take time to change mindsets. Now the baby’s are getting up to near 2 years in age, so the center is making huge expansions planning on having to house 3 and 4 year olds soon. The facility is very nice and has (1 think) about 30 babies now. I was asked to examine about 5 of them, some sick and some new babies who have not been seen. Maggie enjoyed being around a bunch of kids her age.
After this we met with the couple that are the country directors for World Gospel Mission, the Vanderhoofs. They showed us around town for a little while and the Roberts went to their home and we went to Margie’s, the WGM accountant, home (she had MacGyver on DVD!). We unloaded and then all went to the Vanderhoofs. A game of croquet broke out in their back yard which was a lot of fun. We then ate pizza and had leftover Thanksgiving deserts.
Saturday AM we woke up and after running a few quick errands in town went to the Lake Nakura National Park. This would be the site of our second safari in Kenya. When we arrived at the park, which was at the edge of the city (the second largest in Kenya), we immediately saw monkeys at play. We then drove up to the building where Ben and I went to pay for everyone. From past experience I told the girls when we got out to roll up their windows so a monkey wouldn’t get in. They laughed. While we were inside we heard loud screaming. We ran out and saw a monkey running off with a bag. Apparently a large male monkey jumped up onto the passangers side window. They tried to shoo it away, but it snarled, jumped in and grapped a bag of trail mix. Jenny yelled at it in Swahili, but to no avail. The monkey had what it wanted and ran off. I offered to retrieve the food, but they said that was okay because the monkeys had their hands all in it.
After this exciting start we headed out. Unlike our last safari, on this one you drove yourself and could do what you liked. The main animals here were flamingoes (it was a lake), storks, pelicans, water buffalo, zebras, and rhinos. There were other animals as well.
We also got to see some lions. Around lunch time we drove past a waterfall and got out at a picnic area, which was nothing more than a clearing with rest rooms. We ate cautiously looking for animals. When we were about done Ben yelled “baboons”. After the morning incident, we quickly grabbed up everything with kids screaming. Jenny tried to get her youngest in while still strapped in the stroller. Sarah got Maggie and I got the pecan tassies and jumped in. I then got back out and helped Ben. We were able to keep the baboons at bay long enough to gather everything and get out okay. The park rangers even came up and helped us. All in all it was a fun day and a beautiful park. After this we all went to a hotel in town to swim with the kids. The water was very cold. They also had soft-serve ice cream, which is rare here. It was so good, we even sat in the rain to eat it. We then did some shopping and went with the Vanderhoofs to a restaurant for dinner.
The next AM we went to the Vanderhoofs for breakfast and then they drove us to the top of the Nakuru crater. It was huge and apparently the second largest of its type in the world. After this we headed back. We stopped at a place called Taidy’s on the way back and grabbed a snack (strange being in the middle of a teafield at a restaurant showing soccer on a flat screen TV). We also bought some veggies and fruit along the way. We just had to slow up and the car was swarmed with sellers. Very convenient.
When we arrived back at Tenwek later that afternoon we had more fun in store. We gathered with some of our friends for our own Thanksgiving dinner, but called it a Christmas kickoff as their house was decorated and had Christmas music playing. Many people were away, so after this all the families left on the compound came over for dessert and fellowship. We had a special time of prayer over Ms. Barb as she would be leaving on Monday for furlough. When we got home that night Sarah helped her until way past 11 and again the next morning. She will be missed while she is away.
On Monday we were back to work. I had a frustrating morning as I went to the IT department to work on a new hospital form and ,long story short, an editing session took almost 3 hours. That day we did not finish rounding until around 4. When I got home we had fun, however, as we did our Christmas decorating. We were given a tree earlier and have accumulated some accessories, including ones sent to us in the mail, thanks.
I am seeing more and more people now in clinic who are in with me for follow-up visits. It is so neat to see improvement in many of them. I even had a patient ask me to pray with them before they left before I could even ask.
Still tired from our previous excursion, we loaded back up on Wednesday for a trip into Nairobi. It did not bother Maggie as she began to smile when she was able to get back into her car seat. It was a long, dusty ride. The dust was so bad at times we had to come to complete stops to let it clear. Our driver got lost in Nairobi, after telling us he knew where he was going. I then got a phone call from Tenwek saying the meeting we had come in for the next day had just been cancelled. I was very frustrated at first, but decided to look at it as a chance for our family to relax together. We arrived at the SP office and talked with one of the leaders there. We talked with her about doing Operation Christmas Child. It is new here, but she said she would do what she could to let us help get involved next Spring! We came into the guest house and rested. We then went out to eat with more workers here going back into Sudan. One was a lady we met last time who we got to know and were very glad to see her again. We got talking about Operation Christmas Child and learned that she used to be the financial director for OCC. We sat around and talked and shared stories about OCC. We don’t know why all this happened, but we are excited that this may help to open up new doors for us to have increased involvement with this ministry in the future. Please pray for this!
Thursday was now a free day for us, so we went to the giraffe center. This is a place that was founded in the 1970’s as a haven for a nearly extinct breed of giraffe, the Rothschild (there are 3 varieties, Rothschild, reticulated, and Maasi).
It now serves as an educational center to teach Kenyan school children about conservation and the environment. We had so much fun. You can feed the giraffes and they eat right out of your hand. We then went to part of the Karen Blixen estate for lunch. It was set up and felt like you were in British East Africa in the 1910’s. It was nice and relaxing. (Rumor has it that this was where Teddy Roosevelt stayed to come and hunt in Africa.). We then went into downtown to go looking at a particular store. The downtown area has big buildings and is very crowded.
Okay, that is our journey thus far. December is going to be very busy for us. Please pray for our stamina then and for the prison project coming up near Christmas. We will fill you in on the rest of our journeys soon, but wanted to share this with you for now.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Accidents and Acceptance
Last Sunday was a day none of around here are likely to forget anytime soon. As we sat down to lunch I got a phone call that I was needed up at outpatient because there had been a bus wreck. I quick ran off not knowing what to expect. When I walked in it was absolute chaos. Casualty was so full of patients that you could hardly move. We started to move people to the OR recovery area and it quickly became like a scene from a horror move. People were rolling in bloody with all sorts of trauma. The initially chaos began to slow down after about an hour. I helped triage patients for surgery and procedures and then began the slow process of suturing wounds and deciding who to admit and who to discharge. All doctors, nurses and other staff that were around were asked to come up and help. I worked for about 9 hours straight, as did so many others. Not only did medical people pitch in, but so did other volunteers. A surgeon's wife fixed food for everyone to eat that night, the CEO bought everyone sodas, and our neighbor ,Ms Barb, ran around helping however she could, including putting candy in people’s mouths so they would not become hypoglycemic. Sarah helped by watching the kids of a family all day so both parents could be at the hospital. Things wound down around 11PM with some families showing up wanting to go to the make-shift morgue to identify family members. By the end of the day the floor was covered with blood.
Apparently the bus was the African version of a Greyhound and had between 50-60 people on board. Apparently 7 died on the scene and another 7 died that day at the hospital. The bus was traveling down a hill and around a curve and lost control in the rain, going off the road and into a river bed. Apparently several other wrecks have occurred in the past at the same spot.
Waking up Monday morning we quickly realized it was not all a bad dream. The recovery room still held surgical patients from the night before. All the wards were full with surgical and orthopedic patients scattered throughout. During the course of the week another 7-10 people have died, with an ICU full of patients still on vents. Dealing with the wreck has made everyone tired. National media came out Monday for interviews. Over 40 surgeries have been performed. Plus it has made for some tough decisions. Patients code but we have no ventilator to place them on because all the machines are being used. It has been a trying time.
There have been some good things to happen over the past week. It never ceases to amaze me when people accept the Lord’s free gift of salvation. We continue to see suicide attempts come in who have not heard of Christ and upon us speaking to them want to be saved. I cannot know there hearts, but when you see the smile on their faces the next day it says alot. I had a patient in clinic who asked for strength and to grow in his faith as he was saved in clinic 2 months earlier. I had other retired teacher who came through and said he was a student at Tenwek’s high school and then came back their to teach. It was a neat situation.
Tuesday was a day to get away from Tenwek for awhile. Dr. John Spriegel, the medical superintendent, and I, along with a pharmacist, rode to the city of Kericho for a day for an HIV conference. It was sponsored by PEPFAR. This is the main US aid program enacted by President Bush to pay for medications and care for AIDs patients in Africa. It was announced in the state of the union the same year he first talked about the war against terror. It began in 2004 and is in several African countries, with Kenya receiving the most support. Needless to say many locals are afraid of what will happen if the funding stops. The conference itself featured a speaker from the NIH and was very informative.
Kericho was beautiful. It is one of the unofficial tea capitals. The ride up featured rolling mountainside covered with tea fields. Around here tea is grown by locals and sold to buying centers. There large corporations own the fields and hire workers (which I was told is one step above poverty). The conference was in the Kericho Tea Hotel. It seemed like a place that would have been stunning 30 years ago, but was now run down and needed major renovations. Our afternoon was highlighted by a political fanatic who was dressed in a military uniform and had a big homemade banner for his party. He was crazy, but not threatening. He even made it up onto the roof.
I noticed 2 other things about Kenyan culture while at Kericho. One was what I have heard called the “Kenyan Pause”. When a Kenyan speaks English, he or she may stop at any point in the sentence and pause, which takes some getting used to. There is also the issue of photography. We have mentioned this some earlier, but I’ve learned photographers are a staple around here. They will show up at any gathering of people and take photos, regardless of what is going on at the time. Then a little while later they will show up with photos of you which they want you to buy. Then at the end of any gathering it is almost understood that you will all gather for a group photo before leaving. This is something else that is funny to me.
On the way John and I discussed many things, including his vision for the future for Tenwek, including distance education and satellite clinic sites. We also discussed our need to determine who will fill future leadership roles here, especially with all of the medical people leaving on furlough this summer. Pray for us as I will need direction in which roles to take.
We did have an encouraging event this week. You may have read in the last email about a possible ministry opportunity being with the local prison and of the orphanage’s desire to do something as well. I went and spoke with the interim pastor of our church about this and he said that was funny that I asked about this because he had just received an email from a missionary on furlough asking about what was going on with the prison here. He was excited about the opportunity of us going out there. We planned to go out the next AM and speak to the head of the prison face to face, which we did. We also had a lady from the orphanage meet us out there as well. It was quite a visit. When we arrived we went into a waiting area outside of the main prison quarters. It was there that the prisoners were constructing furniture for sale. I learned that several
of the guards were licensed in other areas and taught there skills to the prisoners so they could become certified themselves when they were released. When we entered the prison itself we saw that another group of prisoners were building the new prison barracks. We then met the head of the prison. He was a believer and 3 of the guards were pastors. Our meeting opened with prayer and after much discussion we decided on a fellowship with the prisoners on Sunday Dec 23rd after church. The tentative plans are for us to fix a meal and have it with prisoners and staff, then have a service with preaching and singing and then to give out gifts. It was suggested we do mattresses, blankets, and even maybe spoons, sandals, and person hygiene items. There are about 50 prisoners currently with a max of 150 capacity. There are also about 80 guards. We all felt very encouraged about the possibility of this ministry. Please pray for us as we make plans to do this.
Sarah also had a repeat u/s this week to confirm the gender and now we know that we are having a boy. We are very excited. Sarah is 21 weeks on Nov 18th and doing great now. She is also experimenting more in the kitchen. She had a dream about Krispy Kreme doughnuts, so this week she made homemade donuts, which were great! She also occasionally will drive into and run errands in Bomet.
A few other things from around here. There is no such thing as patient privacy, especially when you are sharing a bed with another patient. It is usually quite funny when neighboring patients will turn around and help give you the history of the patient.
Also, we were glad to see that the first of the televisions were installed in the outpatient department this week showing the Jesus film in Swahili. It seemed that the patients were really focusing on it. We also learned that there may be copies of the film available here in Kipsigis as well.
It’s hard to imagine that Thanksgiving is this week. We’ll tell you all of our adventurous first African Thanksgiving soon! Please do keep all of us in your prayers here as we have been experiencing a rollercoaster of emotion recently. Thank you all for your prayerful support.
Apparently the bus was the African version of a Greyhound and had between 50-60 people on board. Apparently 7 died on the scene and another 7 died that day at the hospital. The bus was traveling down a hill and around a curve and lost control in the rain, going off the road and into a river bed. Apparently several other wrecks have occurred in the past at the same spot.
Waking up Monday morning we quickly realized it was not all a bad dream. The recovery room still held surgical patients from the night before. All the wards were full with surgical and orthopedic patients scattered throughout. During the course of the week another 7-10 people have died, with an ICU full of patients still on vents. Dealing with the wreck has made everyone tired. National media came out Monday for interviews. Over 40 surgeries have been performed. Plus it has made for some tough decisions. Patients code but we have no ventilator to place them on because all the machines are being used. It has been a trying time.
There have been some good things to happen over the past week. It never ceases to amaze me when people accept the Lord’s free gift of salvation. We continue to see suicide attempts come in who have not heard of Christ and upon us speaking to them want to be saved. I cannot know there hearts, but when you see the smile on their faces the next day it says alot. I had a patient in clinic who asked for strength and to grow in his faith as he was saved in clinic 2 months earlier. I had other retired teacher who came through and said he was a student at Tenwek’s high school and then came back their to teach. It was a neat situation.
Tuesday was a day to get away from Tenwek for awhile. Dr. John Spriegel, the medical superintendent, and I, along with a pharmacist, rode to the city of Kericho for a day for an HIV conference. It was sponsored by PEPFAR. This is the main US aid program enacted by President Bush to pay for medications and care for AIDs patients in Africa. It was announced in the state of the union the same year he first talked about the war against terror. It began in 2004 and is in several African countries, with Kenya receiving the most support. Needless to say many locals are afraid of what will happen if the funding stops. The conference itself featured a speaker from the NIH and was very informative.
Kericho was beautiful. It is one of the unofficial tea capitals. The ride up featured rolling mountainside covered with tea fields. Around here tea is grown by locals and sold to buying centers. There large corporations own the fields and hire workers (which I was told is one step above poverty). The conference was in the Kericho Tea Hotel. It seemed like a place that would have been stunning 30 years ago, but was now run down and needed major renovations. Our afternoon was highlighted by a political fanatic who was dressed in a military uniform and had a big homemade banner for his party. He was crazy, but not threatening. He even made it up onto the roof.
I noticed 2 other things about Kenyan culture while at Kericho. One was what I have heard called the “Kenyan Pause”. When a Kenyan speaks English, he or she may stop at any point in the sentence and pause, which takes some getting used to. There is also the issue of photography. We have mentioned this some earlier, but I’ve learned photographers are a staple around here. They will show up at any gathering of people and take photos, regardless of what is going on at the time. Then a little while later they will show up with photos of you which they want you to buy. Then at the end of any gathering it is almost understood that you will all gather for a group photo before leaving. This is something else that is funny to me.
On the way John and I discussed many things, including his vision for the future for Tenwek, including distance education and satellite clinic sites. We also discussed our need to determine who will fill future leadership roles here, especially with all of the medical people leaving on furlough this summer. Pray for us as I will need direction in which roles to take.
We did have an encouraging event this week. You may have read in the last email about a possible ministry opportunity being with the local prison and of the orphanage’s desire to do something as well. I went and spoke with the interim pastor of our church about this and he said that was funny that I asked about this because he had just received an email from a missionary on furlough asking about what was going on with the prison here. He was excited about the opportunity of us going out there. We planned to go out the next AM and speak to the head of the prison face to face, which we did. We also had a lady from the orphanage meet us out there as well. It was quite a visit. When we arrived we went into a waiting area outside of the main prison quarters. It was there that the prisoners were constructing furniture for sale. I learned that several
of the guards were licensed in other areas and taught there skills to the prisoners so they could become certified themselves when they were released. When we entered the prison itself we saw that another group of prisoners were building the new prison barracks. We then met the head of the prison. He was a believer and 3 of the guards were pastors. Our meeting opened with prayer and after much discussion we decided on a fellowship with the prisoners on Sunday Dec 23rd after church. The tentative plans are for us to fix a meal and have it with prisoners and staff, then have a service with preaching and singing and then to give out gifts. It was suggested we do mattresses, blankets, and even maybe spoons, sandals, and person hygiene items. There are about 50 prisoners currently with a max of 150 capacity. There are also about 80 guards. We all felt very encouraged about the possibility of this ministry. Please pray for us as we make plans to do this.
Sarah also had a repeat u/s this week to confirm the gender and now we know that we are having a boy. We are very excited. Sarah is 21 weeks on Nov 18th and doing great now. She is also experimenting more in the kitchen. She had a dream about Krispy Kreme doughnuts, so this week she made homemade donuts, which were great! She also occasionally will drive into and run errands in Bomet.
A few other things from around here. There is no such thing as patient privacy, especially when you are sharing a bed with another patient. It is usually quite funny when neighboring patients will turn around and help give you the history of the patient.
Also, we were glad to see that the first of the televisions were installed in the outpatient department this week showing the Jesus film in Swahili. It seemed that the patients were really focusing on it. We also learned that there may be copies of the film available here in Kipsigis as well.
It’s hard to imagine that Thanksgiving is this week. We’ll tell you all of our adventurous first African Thanksgiving soon! Please do keep all of us in your prayers here as we have been experiencing a rollercoaster of emotion recently. Thank you all for your prayerful support.
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