Kisumu, and the Almost Complete Clinic

The clinic is almost complete. The records room with the desk, segmented door, and shelves...the cabinets with locks...the proper furniture...the fence is complete as of today. Now we need curtains and to enlarge the road-side entry. We need to buy gloves/labcoats and get an incenerator or incenerator contract. Today I painted with Tom. His progress is so unpredictable...some days rapid, some days nonexistant.

The weekend in Kisumu was excellent. Lots of good food, a boat ride on Lake Victoria where we saw wild hippos, and the sunset at the Yacht club were some highlights. It's nice tobe back though.

There are so many volunteers now! Four American medical students from PA arrived; I can't remember if I mentioned that there were two girls from Australia--one doctor (Melissa) and one for the MDP (Lucy).

This Thursday will mark my fourth week in Kenya. I will fly out Friday hopefully to go to Zanzibar and meet up with a friend from the Miami Valley School (Nicole) who goes to Vanderbilt, and a friend of hers. They'll be therefor the weekend, then I'll stay the rest of the week before flying back to Kisumu and returning to ICODEI.

I met with Elizabeth today, who is going to be the manager of the VCT center, and she's going to aquire the curtain material and make them herself.

Pictures: An Exclusive

A view of the fied and sky at a school near the house of a Kenyan member of Parliament.

A dusty road at dusk.

The hills near Kitale, about a 1.5 hour drive from Bungoma

In Uganda, these monkeys and about 10 others were playing in the trees overlooking the White Nile.

View from table's edge at Red Hat.

Down the road from the Kalenjin/Nandi village I visited last week.

Sunset one evening out the front window of the Prado; Martin driving.

One night we built a fire. Long exposure times with Wendy and Pauline's glowing sticks making shapes in the air.

Trucks and a mountain near the Kenya/Uganda border.

One of the Internet cafes that I go to is upstairs in this building. In fact, I'm there right now. Also, great cow don't you think?

One of the nicer roads--many/most are really pockmarked with car-sized holes.

A typical classroom. Two or three students usually sit at one of those wooden desks. The walls are brick, the chalkboard and chalk are the only teaching equipment. The students have pencils/pens/notebooks to take notes and complete homework. This school was really out of the way--probably a 2 hour drive from Bungoma on dirt roads.

A fence? It's progress!

Today is Thursday--and no pictures! The computer doesn't seem to lwant to upload them. This week I've been teaching in school, and I did an awareness HIV/AIDS program at a secondary school near Kitale. Oh, and I had the most amazing conversation with a group of probably a hundred children. They wanted pen-pals from the US, and they started handing me their names and information! If you know anyone who would like to write a letter to a 6-8th grade student in Kenya, here are some names and the address! Be warned, though, that sending a letter back to you will be ridiculously expensive for them. If you want a response, include an envelope with proper postage addressed to yourself. Oh, and beware--they'll probably ask for money, school fees, even a car! They get really excited about the US though, and every child's hero seems to be Obama...

Anne Akinyi
Nyamira Primary
PO Box 183
Kitale, Kenya

Mariga Silas
Bramuel Waswa
Machuma Lydiah Waswa
Simiyu Nelson
Annah Awoh
Daisy Tenae
Njordge Ernest Njogu
Khadya Elizabeth Nasimiyu
Diana Hafula Winny
Winny Hafula Muhus
Hekesa Hoei Khaemba
Kalabayi Wycliffe
Annet Atipo
Bunambo Primary School
PO Box 12
50212 Ndalu, Kenya

Other things of note...I washed my clothes by hand today. I figured it be a hassle, but it ended up being quite relaxing. All of my shiurts dried fairly quickly, but it started raining while I've been in town. I think Mary was going to bring things in if it started raininsh, so I have my fingers crossed.

Due to poor connectiopn today, no medical school progress. Tomorrow, though, I hope to get the last little bit done. I feel like I'm operating on Africa time...I say it'll be done tomorrow, but what does that really mean? It means that I'll finish sometime in the next week.

The fence posts were put up today around the clinic and we measured the 17 windows for curtains. Inside, Tom finished putting locks on a few cabinets an built shelves for the records room.

This weekend, we're heading to Kisumu for fish, Hippos, and trinket-hunting. There's supposed to be an incredible market there, and excellent food. This morning when I spoke to KJrishna (whose ETA is mid-July) he raved about the myriad of restaurants with better variety than Bungoma. I'll probably update from Kisumu, with pictures.

The Uganda Weekenders

Martin (left), Okumu, and the mobile clinic vehicle.

A nice sunset after one of the mobile clinic/awareness program days.

Eastern Uganda, out of the window of a matatu. There were lots of low-lying, swampy areas that were planted.

This is a picture of me. And the White Nile, very near the source of the Nile: Lake Victoria. This is where its long journey to Egypt and the Nile river delta begins with a thunder...

Last Friday, we waltzed over to Uganda. The border crossing was surreal, and for a while I felt a bit like I was on that thick black line on the map, and then! Suddenly I was in Uganda. There are 60 Kenyan shillings per dollar. And 24 Ugandan shillings for 1 Kenyan shilling. So, everything was listed in really large numbers...there were 100 and 200 shilling coins. The visa into Uganda was $50 usd.

The campground was a bizarre oasis of American/European travelers and tourists that were in just for the rafting. The deck overlooking the White Nile was incredible, and the view was of our first class 5 rapids of the day; there were four total. The only time we fell out was going down a 4 meter waterfall that was after a 3 meter drop that wasn't quite a waterfall. The video at the end made me wish that we had flipped more often.

We reached the campground using a motorcycle (pikipiki; also: motor-boda), after the matatu ride into Jinja, Uganda. All the tourists made the place feel quite strange, and while it was nice to have a change in pace as far as food is concerned (bacon cheeseburger?! Eggs and real butter?!), and to meet other traveler/volunteers...but I was glad to lget back to ICODEI. I was enormously impressed with Ugadan ifrastructure though! And I had a traditional Ugandan dish of dried and the smoked fish in a nut sauce in Jinja that was one f the best meals I've had here...accompanied by Marinda, a pineapple softdrink.

The one stand-out as far as people are concerned in Uganda was this guy that was selling bananas at the border. We talked for a while...he initialy walked up to me and said, "You need to get some potassium...how about a banana?". He was all about the healthy foods...he's in std. 5 in school, and probably will be Uganda's equivalent of Bill Gates one day as far as I can tell. That was Sunday, on the return to Kenya.

Today I taught math to std. 4, and Tom was in the clinic working on the ceiling. He put a board in for another new door over the weekend, and now he just needs to show up often enough to get it all the rest of the way complete!

Tonight we're going to Red Hat again. We had some new arrivals: two from Canada (Quebec) for MDP, and a medical student from Australia. Another member of the water filtration team just arrived.

My phone number here, if for some reason I need to be reached, is 254738269872. Also, I have CelTel as my service; I think it's only 3Ksh/minute if you also have CelTel and are in Kenya between certain hours...

I don't think I've mentioned Martin's twins...In short: The picture at the top of the page is of Martin and Okumu. Okumu is the Clinical Officer and goes on the mobile clinics. Martin is a driver and translator, and his wife gave birth to Patience and Precious (twins, of course!) last week. We visited them in the District Hospital twice to check on them, and to find the cost for having a C-section delivery and 5 nights in the hospital. The total was 6500 Ksh, which is just about $110. They went home last Friday and all are doing well. They now have 6 children and he says that they're "probably done"--that's probably about normal sized for a family here. Reuben and Betty have 8.

The rest of the week will be more of the same as today: teaching, inproving the clinic, and maybe an awareness. This weekend, we're going to try to go to Kisumu--see some hippos, get some good fish [Kisumu is on Lake Victoria], and have a look around. For now, it's time for dinner!

Mzungu, Mzungu!

I gave one of the Epico Jahns students my camera, and he took this picture.
At the ICODEI farm, toward to sugarcane.
Bungoma Town!

Last weekend, nothing really happened. I wasn't quite feeling completely well, but it was probably the guava I got when I traded half an ear of roasted maize...

Monday, I taught math to standard 4 and standard 6 in the morning and painted the ceiling of the clinic with Tom in the afternoon. He told me the story of the Protestant reformation and we talked about women's rights in Kenya.

Tuesday, I went to a Kalenjin/Nandi village near Eldoret--which was more than an hour away from ICODEI headquarters. Okumu ran a mobile clinic. We were invited to someones home for lunch, and I ate far too much ugali trying to be polite. I had an hour long conversation with a runn who had trained in south America...in Spanish, because he couldn't really speak English that well.

Wednesday, I taught two HIV/AIDS Awareness programs at a schools near Kitale. I have no idea where we were. We got off the paved road onto a decent dirt road, which we got off of and went on a really terrible dirt road, and then took a road that looked like no car had ever passed hat way. The first school was held in a 1930's plantation built by a Brit and abandoned in the 1960's. There were two albino students--there is a much higher rate of albinism in Western Kenya, at least that I've observed, than anywhere else I've ever been. The second school was incredibly charming; the students had such warmth and curious energy. Many hadn't seen a mzungu/white foreigner before. I snapped the large picture at the top when I was showing them my camera. The expressions on their faces tell the story of their thoughts quite pricelessly.

Let me just expand on this 'mzungu'-ness for a minute, because it's a ridiculous experience. Imagine being the only representative to another world, because that's sort of what it feels like. Here we are, looking over the verdant hills together at hand-hewn land of maize and bananas, where no cars growl or internet streams; where cell phones are the only phones. Where school is in a language that you've never met anyone who is a native speaker of. And then there we are, with this funny accent and goofy grins. They circle around, numbering even in the hundreds, and look. Are they real? Let's touch it! So the hands shoot forth and they all want to say hello. But they won't shake always, too scared, and other times you shake their hand and they shriek and run away laughing/weirded-out. Sometimes I'm just really embarrassed--well, most of the time. I don't know what to do, so I try to make conversation. Which is hard with hundreds of people. And you know that some of them are making fun of you, others strangely in awe. Well, I try to be gracious and understanding about it; but sometimes I feel pointless--just a curiosity. I guess the problems are redeemed when I know that this feeling they have about me at least makes them pay rather close attention to the HIV/AIDS awareness presentation that I gave with Mary, the translator.

I tasted black currant Fanta for the first time. It was essentially grape soda, but was good.

Today I can to town early and have been doing e-mails for almost two hours. I'm trying to complete and send in my medical school application, and it's slow going and stressful looking over all of this information. I may have to take a break and come back.

We're leaving tomorrow to go to Jinja,Uganda/rafting on the Nile. I hope I'll be able to post a few good pictures of that!

Commence the Carpentry!

That's the main hut on the left, where we eat and sit in the evening, where we watch TV and read and put together 1000 piece puzzles. You can see the ICODEI vehicle. I am staying in the hut on the far right, where there are two bunk beds in two separate rooms, and a little sitting area just inside the door.
This is the dirt road going from the ICODEI farm to the main road where we catch the matatu to Bungoma.
This is one of the loads of birds...they make these hanging spherical nests that have a little hole for an entrance on the bottom. There are maybe 25 such nests in the tree next to the main hut at ICODEI.
This s Tom, doing some carpentry at the clinic.

The wazungu party...at Red Hat. Going around from left to right, it's Abdullah, Katherine, Ben (not with ICODI), Andrew, me, Ruth, Tope, Brett, Tabrez, Katie, Sabrina, and Lorris. Abrahm took the picture.

This is just one of the ICODEI vehicles for the mobile clinic. You can see another one of the vehicles in the reflection in the window. This picture is taken on the side of the clinic.
Just the lamp at night on the table before the generator comes on.
These are some kids who wanted their picture taken.

I think the internet at this place doesn't like me. It's the first time I've been here, and it's by far the slowest. Also, I have been unable to send e-mails from this computer. I guess the only good thing is that the upload speed is surprisingly quick.

We started carpentry work yesterday; the carpenter, Tom, is finishing putting up the ceiling. I've been teaching 4th and 6th grade math classes, which have gone surprisingly well. I think I vacillate between giving them too much work and being unsure if I've given them enough (so then I just assign more...) Basically, though, the kids are learning the same thing as 4th and 6th grade students in the US--

The papers here have at least 2 to 4 pages of Obama news everyday. Occasionally, pictures of his grandmother in her village are posted.

The food is excellent--it's all very subsistence level stuff, so really hearty. Lots of rice and cabbage and everything is nicely spiced. The fresh fruit is incredible, and there's a surprising amount of passion fruit to be had around here.

People love having their picture taken here...every time I have my camera out, people say things like "take photo please!". The only rule is that you have to show them after you take it. Only once did we have a guy ask for a copy of it sent to him-he was thinking that we could just make it come out of the camera like a Polaroid.

Last night we all went out for an incredible buffet at a place called "Red Hat". A guy that's from Minnesota working on the other side of town joined us.

One day this week I spent with the mobile clinic, where Dr. Katie from Scotland and Akumu--the clinical officer--were working. It was very interesting, and the people (despite living quite far from a hospital) were very keen on certain things--malaria medication and antibiotics. Many of the kids at the school where the mobile clinic set up had never seen a mzungu--white person--and so they were totally intrigued by us, and even a little scared. They would go to shake our hands, and then pull away. Andrew once tried to scare them, and they scattered--laughing--and regrouped. We went to another school and Andrew did an HIV/AIDS awareness program. I was amazed by how much the students at the particular school we went to already knew about HIV and AIDS.

This weekend, I'm not sure what we're going to do...but next weekend we're planning on going to Uganda and rafting on the Nile; the weekend after that, we're planning on going to Kisumu.

Hopefully, I'll be able to have e-mail access this weekend.

Two extra pictures...

The guy on the right is Josh--he's one of Betty and Reuben's kids that hangs around the volunteers a lot. We do puzzles, play cards, etc. Those are their school uniforms.

The doors to our two examination rooms are on the right. You can hardly see the second door; it's back there by the storage closet (the storage closet/records room is actually quite a bit bigger than it looks from this picture with all the beams laying there).

The weekend, getting settled

This is a shot of Joyce in her office in the clinic. She comes in so early and works incredibly hard. She is the volunteer coordinator that I worked with, and she did my orientation and has helped Elizabeth and I get things planned out with Reuben.

Yesterday I worked in the school, Epico Jahs Academy, which is probably 200 feet from where I'm staying. The picture below is of the children is of the playground as seen from the door of the clinic where the VCT center will be. I listened in on standard 6 math and helped with standard 4 math, and worked with standard 2 science in the afternoon. I would have gotten started on the VCT work, but Elizabeth (who we hired to lead the program)--her son broke his arm when he fell out of a guava tree. He's 11, I think; she has two other children. I met her this morning.--and there's work to be done!

Yesterday I worked in the school, Epico Jahs Academy, which is probably 200 feet from where I'm staying. The picture above of the children is of the playground as seen from the door of the clinic where the VCT center will be. I listened in on standard 6 math and helped with standard 4 math, and worked with standard 2 science in the afternoon. I would have gotten started on the VCT work, but Elizabeth (who we hired to lead the program)--her son broke his arm when he fell out of a guava tree. He's 11, I think; she has two other children. I met her this morning.--and there's work to be done!

So here's the deal. I met with Joyce, the volunteer coordinator, and Elizabeth this morning (Tuesday), and we have our requirements all set now. We have to have the rest of the ceilinbg installed by the carpenter, the cabinets will be fixed, we will build a fence and a gate, wall off our part of the clinic so it's totally separate for the privacy of the people being tested. We have three rooms, and we're having shelving installed and have some chairs. We'll have to finish off the reception/lobby area. We also will need to paint, get an incinerator, and purchase a bunch of other things--curtains (for privacy), lab coats and gloves, etc. The photo of the clinic gives you at least some sort of idea what the place looks like. This clinic was built in 2002. The wing on the left is where the VCT center will be; I'll try to upload some pictures of the inside soon. I took a whole bunch of photos because Elizabeth and I want to have 'before' and 'after' renovation shots.

Hopefully after we make the last remaining improvements and develop our filing system, we can get the health ministry to approve everything. We still have to hire two more people. The biggest challenge is the money--making sure that they all get paid! We'll see what we can do. The carpetry should be done by Friday and we should be able to get the inspection in the next two weeks.

I'm here in the internet cafe with a guy from New York, who is working on microenterprise development. Their program provides loans to people who want to start small businesses at very low interest rates; they're really more like grants than loans. They have quite a large set of groups that they help.

Only two hotos today; the upload speed is slower.

The Candian medical students arrived; there are 5 of them and they brought a guy who is a potter. They're making ceramic water filters in a kiln--trying to get a whole operation going to provide a really cheap way to make filters to provide clean water. Three or four more people will be arriving with their group soon.

Tomorrow, I'm going out with the mobile clinic to get an idea of what they do ad how we can integrate our VCT services on a mobile basis. Also, Elizabeth really wants to have a long-term comprehensive care center; so that would mean that we would provide anti-retroviral treatment and several other programs related to HIV and AIDS (for pregnant women, for example, one of the groups with a high rate of infection).

Time to venture back out into the sunny weather and head back to ICODEI. I'll see what the carpenter has been up to.

Touchdown! Bus Ride, Move in! Bungoma town!

So yes. That's out the window over Ethiopia, at the hostel, and the hut I'm staying in.

I made my way here marvelously. Any trepidation was ill felt.

The weather delayed my first two flights mildly, but I made it The views from the planes were excellent--I've never seen something from 40,000 feet so magnificent as the deserts of Northern Africa. Kenyan countrysde is such a great experience. The bus from Nairobi was beautiful. The stay at the hostel was very brief, but nice, and cost less than 10$.

The ICODEI farm is amazing. Sugar cane all around, the schoolyard nearby, and everyone is so nice. Two Canadians, a Scot, and a guy from Tennessee at present.

I really get to start working on the VCT stuff net Monday. I met Reuben, but need to talk with him a bit more before deciding how to proceed. We have a few rooms in the Bill Selke Memorial Clinic just on the farm. A wonderful lady named Joyce gave me an orientation and tour yesterday.

The food is amazing, and yes I've had Ugali. It's actually quite bland and not a common thing to feed the volunteers; I was worried because dad said he didn't really enjoy it when his dad made it when he was young. Had great dough nuts this morning. All the food is so fresh, pineapple and cabbage and rice and beans. I hope to have to have some time to wander the fields and volunteer in Epico Jahns Academy, the school on the grounds where I'm living.

The time difference as rough on the first night, but last night I slept normal time quite satisfactorily. Today we came into town on a matatu--these vans that are sort of like big taxis. Also, got a phone. May call mom and dad/Patrick before they all go to work.

The scenes, smells, everything. Amazing. And the people have been so helpful, it's practically overwhelming. This is going to be a fantastic summer.

More volunteers are arriving soon. A group of a bunch of Canadian doctors I believe. Can't wait.

I'll try to update the blog with a picture or so as often as I'm in town! There are so many things I want to show everyone.

I met some HIV positive people that are an organic farming collective. They offered to teach me to fish with nets. Gertrude and Justus. Also, a little boy with Malaria.

The temperature is quite ideal, the hut that I'm staying in so comfortable, and plenty PLENTY of time to read etc.

I met some interesting people traveling here, a runner that was coming back from Italy, an administrator from Grinnell, and the South Dakota high schoolers going to London...

The only thing on my mind, other than getting to work on the VCT stuff and the idyllic scenes/temperature, is medical school. I think aplying from here will pose some unique challenges, but hey. It's a necessity, and I think it'll work fine.

Wow, this internet cafe smelled so terrible when we came in. The other two that we tried to go to (that were actually cheaper) were really nice, but they were full. Well, this place doesn't smell anymore. I rather like it.

The other volunteers are so interesting, and were so welcoming when I arrived! The ICODEI compound is such a nice place.

Okay, enough for now--I'll update again soon. Sorry if this sounded disorganized. It's really not that much to digest when you're doing it, quite another story to try to distill a few days into words!

12 Hours and Counting

A trip to the bank, some final trimmings for the suitcase, and a few delicious meals have rounded out the day nicely.

I read through the information on the Volunteer Kenya website and double checked that I had my debit and credit cards in working order and not ready to expire or anything. I have enough cash to get me a good distance. Also, I had quite a productive chat with Krishna, who will arrive in Bungoma in late June after taking the MCAT.

Pending unforeseen circumstances that could alter course, here will be the series of events!
3 June
AM
6:30 wake up
8:45 leave the house
10:50 fly to Chicago
PM
depart Chicago

4 June
AM
arrive London
depart London
PM
9:00 arrive Nairobi
overnight in Nairobi

5 June
AM
7:30 meet taxi, get bus ticket
8:30 bus departs
2 breaks and 8 hours later
PM
arrive Bungoma

Other things I need to make sure happen include changing dollars to Kenyan Shillings (KSh), and having an uneventful night and morning in Nairobi.

I've been thinking, when I get back home: my aunt, uncle, and cousins that have lived within 10 minutes for the last...must be almost 10 years?--they're moving to Atlanta in July. They had a beautiful Victorian home with a 100-year history--moved on trucks from one location to another back in 1950. There were so many good memories that we all had in that house. It will be weird to not see it again, decked out in extravagant Halloween or Christmas decor. I'll miss the birthday parties for my cousins there--the tea parties, pizza parties, just-for-fun occasions//in the neighborhood where the neighbor walks up to the door and comes right in. The afternoons we spent walking to the library or going to the candy store, the Fourth of July parades, or just the random times watching movies or playing with the intercom in the former dentist's office...

Well, the point is: it'll be different when I get back and they won't be here; they'll be off on another adventure too!

For now, goodnight. I should try to enjoy the last night of having a really comfortable bed.

"I'm leaving in June", and...it's June!

I think to say that I'm excited would be an understatement, and to say that I'm not nervous would be a lie.

Amid the graduation party fervor of my freshly-graduated brother and the Class of 2009, I've been getting things ready. I wired the money a little over a week ago for the fees for staying with Volunteer Kenya. My passport with multiple entry visa arrived and sits downstairs on the counter with papers and information about medical school. The AMCAS medical school application is almost finished, ready to be sent June 4th; the flag on the next ship to sail [the adventure of medical school is preceded by the hazards of the Straits of Medical School Applications...]

I've spoken with Krishna for packing tips, and gotten in contact with a few people that will be in Kenya and Tanzania this summer. Erin, also a Miami Valley School 2005 graduate, has a friend that lives in Nairobi and will be there this summer--hopefully I'll meet Anna at some point! Also, a Miami Valley School 2007 graduate, Nicole, is in Tanzania. Currently in Moshi, she's climbing Kilimanjaro for five days and then will be in Dar Es Salaam. There's a possibility that I may be able to meet her at some point in Zanzibar/Tanzania, so that's something else to look forward to.

Today, I'm going with dad and grandma to pick up odds and ends. I got a laptop battery after church, and have a short list of other things that will be necessary. Then, I'll be ready.

My flight on Tuesday leaves at 10:50AM--that'll be June 3rd, 2008. I will arrive at 9PM on June 4th.

So, off, away, commence! I'm leaving in June.