I haven't worn this yet, why is it damp?

I know I am super behind on posting, so I will be putting these up a little retroactively, as to can catch up all my faithful followers.

Well, things are going swimmingly here in Kenya, and have now traded in my two travel companions (Adam and Lauren) for a posse of 9 wazungu(my students).

Adam did a phenomenal job at the hospital, and now I am being peppered with questions of, "When is Daktari Adams coming back?"

He was completely unphased by the lack of a daily schedule or consistency, and seemed to delight in the frequent, awkward situations arising from the language and cultural gaps......this bodes well for him if he decides to pursue a longer stay in Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lauren has been a delight to have here and may very well be the hardest worker I have ever seen. I have yet to see her tire. She has been helping me with all the preparations for the children's home we are hoping to establish on the hospital grounds.

This is her helping move mattresses into our stockpile of supplies for the new house. They got to experience haggling at its best when we took a little trip to the Luanda market to get all the things for the children. Right now we having a growing stash in the back room of the Rotary House while we are waiting on official hospital approval to move the kids, which I am afraid will eventually come down to the Bishop.

We kept quite busy the first week trying to secure a house for the kids. I knew of one empty house in the compound I was hoping to get, but the hospital administration offered me an even better one. Awesome. The only hiccup was that someone was still living there. Not awesome. And we had to move two families into other homes to open that house up. So Lauren and I made trip after trip down the dirt path with arms filled with boxes and pots, until everyone was where they supposed to be.

One of the many blessings on this trip has been our 4th roommate, Aryan. He's been living here for the last 5 months, and appears to have made friends with, literally, everyone in Maseno. We'd emailed and talked on the phone a good bit before his trip here to arrange some travel details, but this was the first time we had met in person. The first thing he said when he met me was, "I thought you were a 50 yr-old lady!". Despite His poor assessment of my youthful character over the phone, he has been a great help and delightful friend. He's been a wonderful resource and help navigating the choppy political waters of the hospital. It also helps that he and Adam seem to be long-lost brothers. For those of you who know Adam, you can imagine our evenings together in the Rotary House are never dull :)

I have also had the pleasure of seeing my electrican and fundi (carpenter) almost every morning, since there seem to be an endless list of things that need to be repaired on the house. Sigh......'tis the life of a guest house manager, I suppose :)

I had to leave Adam and Lauren for 2 days to hop a bus to Naitobi to fetch my students from the airport (pictured above). Traveling with my students is Erin Kane, a fellow Duke nurse and dear friend of mine. I nearly had happy feet waiting in the arrivals bay waiting for her to come though the door. There are few things in this world I love as much as sharing my Kenya with a dear friend:)

 

After traveling to Nakuru and visiting an incredibly well-run hospital and orphanage, we headed to the Kakamega rainforest for an little adventure. Adam and Lauren met us there and we stayed in little Banda huts in the middle of the forest. Even though the name should have given us ample warning, my students were slightly unnerved by being perpetually damp for 2 days. But they were troopers, and still had a great time.

The highlight was definitely the sunrise hike we took to the top of a little mountain where we could see out over the treetops. We started the hike in the dark, around 4:30 am, when the forest was completely silent. By the time we reached the top it was nearly roaring with all the sounds of birds and insects singing, and monkeys calling to each other.

 

 

Not all the students were as keen on hiking as I am, but I was very proud-they all made it to the top. Most even braved the bowels of the mountain and went into the bat cave near the top. There really weren't very many bats in there, but there is something very unnerving about any winged creature flapping about your head. It was certainly enough to make your hands sweat and your heart race a bit, and I think those are the only two iron-clad qualifiers for an act of bravery :)




 

To reward our brave girls, Tony and Isaac, our friends and drivers, brought us sugar cane to munch on. It took a little practice as sugar cane is neither a dainty or effortless treat, but they got the swing of it.

I will continue to update you with our adventures as we head to Maseno and prepare to roll up our sleeves and jump into the Kenyan healthcare system :)

Jessie

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