Soccer and Sunning

I am lacking the energy for a full blog post, but thought you might like to see a little of the view from where I am. This is what we have been up to for the last few days. My students arrive soon and we will be going to the rainforest in Kakamega before Adam and Lauren leave for their safari.

Me and Lauren basking in the sunrise.

More Basking.......

The hand shaking begins.....I kinda like it, makes me feel like the president :)

Lauren did a fabulous job with the pad/puberty talk :)

It has become common to find a troup of boys waiting by our door when we get home, requesting "Adams" to play with them. They don't even seem to mind when he uses his height/weight advantage to steal the ball :)

Our front lawn has become the new designated soccer(excuse me, futbol) field. This is a pic of Lauren gaining some street cred with the neighborhood boys. They find it fascinating and hilarious that this mzungu lady not only plays soccer, but does it barefoot :) She may go down in history here as the coolest girl ever.

Jessie

 

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Sunrises and the Sex-talk

Our adventures continued as we trekked up the mountain behind our house for a little sunrise action. The mountain, which those without an imagination might call a large hill, is scattered with massive boulders. Tucked in between the rocks are little tin-roof houses with mud walls and bright blue doors.

We finally reached the top of the mountain to see an amazing sunrise. Lauren called her family to greet them from the mountaintop.

Right behind the "sunrise rock" is a school called Emmatsi, where we were greeted by a mass of students whispering, "mzungu, how are you?, how are you?"

After shaking about 50 little hands, we parted the sea of children to greet John, the principal. To make a long story shorter, we arranged to come back the next day to give the dreaded period talk with the teenage girls at the school. It is a common problem here that girls cannot get sanitary supplies during their periods. They either use rags or stay home from school. The boys in their classes are aware of their dilemma, and offer them pads in exchange for sex. Our talk included basic female anatomy, hygiene, and the dangers of unprotected sex. At the end the girls all stood and took an oath that they would respect themselves and their bodies, that they would not accept pads for sex, and that they would finish secondary school (high school).

Since Lauren is such a stellar seamstress, we also gave all the girls cloth, reusable maxi pads she had sewn. The pads have a waterproof back and removable inserts. They should last the girls 3ish years. To add a little rainbow to that sunshine, the pads are also pink and green and fun colors like that :)

Another great day in this land I love!

Jessie

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Mzungu on Matatu

We have arrived! And when I say "we", i am referring to Adam and Lauren Hill, for those of you who do not know my travel companions. Adam is one of the doctors I work with at Duke, and this is their first time to Africa. Adam and Lauren are settling right into life in Maseno and have jumped right in to the lovely chaos that is Kenya.

Our travels here were relatively uneventful compared to my usual travel shenanigans that usually involve airplane barf bags :). The highlights: Adam almost lost a kneecap to an overzealous beverage cart on seceral occasions, and I discovered Lauren also shares my love for tiny, useless things-like miniature wooden Dutch shoes in the Amsterdam airport. After 14ish hours on an airplane, we arrived in Nairobi. Our driver quickly introduced my travel companions to Kenyan driving when we got stuck in a line to get out of the parking area. Noticing their was no line at the entrance to the lot, he promptly turned us around, expertly jumped the curb, and straddling the sidewalk-he got us out through the "in" lane. The next morning we got up at the crack of dawn to catch our easy coach bus to Maseno, during which I introdcued them to drinking yogurt (exactly what it sounds like), and a short 8 hours later we arrived safe and sound.

The hospital is quite delighted to have Adam here (or Adams, as they have decided to call him). On our first day during ward rounds, he diagnosed a kid with a significant VSD about 12 seconds after assessing him. Nice Work. Since then we've seen some interesting cases of cryptococcal meningitis, TB, malaria, postpartum hemorrhage, and GC arthritis (for all the other dorky medical people out there who were wondering what we're seeing over here).

On our first full day in Maseno we took a little journey to Luanda, the nearby village, to visit the Phoebe House. Their first experience riding a matatu (bus), was entertaining. Lauren got the awful aisle seat, which literally means they precariously balance a small board across the aisle for you to sit on. When a matatu is as full as you think it can get, they usually take one more person who has to lean half their body over the lap of the person sitting in the seat closest to the door to allow the door to shut, which holds them in this awkward position of personal space invasion. And the lucky duck sitting in that seat was Adam (aka "Adams").

For those of you who are unaware of the P.H., its a home for women and children who have either been orphaned or abandoned due to HIV. And that is where my precious children live, and Adam and Lauren also found them delightful. To welcome us they sang us songs and gave us "flowers" which are best described as garlands of tinsel. Although they can get a little itchy and hot in the equatorial sun, they are really quite an honor as they are only used for special occasions, like weddings.

 

Stay tuned for more thrilling updates to come!

Jessie

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