today is the day after the elections, but at 8am this morning there was still only 5% that had been counted so we still await the results... the streets are empty, the shops are closed and there is a feeling of expectation in the air. no-one is sure what the outcome will be or what will happen as a result of that outcome, will there be mass unrest? who knows.
i was planning to go on election monitoring with the red cross, i was looking forward to it as an interesting historical even experience but was taken ill with food poisoning from some dodgy cabbage that i ate on Christmas eve morning (eating left overs that have been sitting about im finding is not such a good idea, most people here don't have fridges, but if you dont eat left overs then there is often a lot of wastage.) so my stomach was swelled up to huge proportions and my head was thumping- i figured i wouldn't be much help in the red cross first aid tent! so i stayed at the Venters (South African family living in Njoro egerton, the vision behind YASHA- if you dont know who i am talking about then you should read the rest of my blog!) where i received excellent love and care and also went to the hospital for a grand concoction of medicaments so now am restored to good health.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Lake Bogoria
this is where the camp was held, what turned out to be the camp to end all camps! we slept in the jungle, bathed in the morning in hot water springs (actually any free time we had when we were not meant to be doing something, or when we were...), climbed trees, hiked... it was amazing.
there were 80 of us, aged 18 to 35 maybe so we split into four groups for duties such as cooking, firewood etc. one day we roasted a whole goat! it was hung from one of the trees as the men skinned it!
all usual rules get abandoned on camp, here people are normally pretty conservative about what they wear but on camp people go around in what they want, god job as it was SO HOT! we also went swimming at a pool one day, not a particular highlight for me as that is something that is fairly 'normal' eh? but here it is a REAL treat and people don't go often, i was surprised to find out that half the camp could not actually swim! at all! so those of us that could did, we played games, danced and threw a ball around, it was great fun.
in the lake there is actual hot water springs spurting up, the water is so hot that it burns your hands (i tried! never want to be the gelable one) and there are zebras, dickdicks (yes that did cause alot of laughs especially among the lads) and some other wild animals, a pretty amazing place to have a camp!
we played games; truth or dare and other campfire ones but my fave was 'letter auction' where all teams have 200KSH and have to auction for letters then make words with them- the aim being to make as many words as possible- our team won with a grand total of 138! there was also 'secret friend' where everyone's names are in a hat, you take one and write letters to that person for that week then at the end they get revealed. pretty funny seeing people find out!
then we also had a fashion show on the last night: casual, beach, work, evening, traditional and creative wear. i modeled casual and beach, won no prizes but had a fab time!
so by the end no-one wanted to leave but everyone was much in need of some sleep.
there were 80 of us, aged 18 to 35 maybe so we split into four groups for duties such as cooking, firewood etc. one day we roasted a whole goat! it was hung from one of the trees as the men skinned it!
all usual rules get abandoned on camp, here people are normally pretty conservative about what they wear but on camp people go around in what they want, god job as it was SO HOT! we also went swimming at a pool one day, not a particular highlight for me as that is something that is fairly 'normal' eh? but here it is a REAL treat and people don't go often, i was surprised to find out that half the camp could not actually swim! at all! so those of us that could did, we played games, danced and threw a ball around, it was great fun.
in the lake there is actual hot water springs spurting up, the water is so hot that it burns your hands (i tried! never want to be the gelable one) and there are zebras, dickdicks (yes that did cause alot of laughs especially among the lads) and some other wild animals, a pretty amazing place to have a camp!
we played games; truth or dare and other campfire ones but my fave was 'letter auction' where all teams have 200KSH and have to auction for letters then make words with them- the aim being to make as many words as possible- our team won with a grand total of 138! there was also 'secret friend' where everyone's names are in a hat, you take one and write letters to that person for that week then at the end they get revealed. pretty funny seeing people find out!
then we also had a fashion show on the last night: casual, beach, work, evening, traditional and creative wear. i modeled casual and beach, won no prizes but had a fab time!
so by the end no-one wanted to leave but everyone was much in need of some sleep.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Camp!
On Sunday I am going on a peer educators camp, (yes I know you are saying, you are not a peer educator) I thought the same thing but they are keen for me to go as the whole idea of the thing is bringing together young people from different backgrounds to share ideas and have fun. So there are people coming from Kisumu, Mombassa,
Hospitals
I have not completely forgotten or neglected my first places of work, I have still been going to Nakuru Nursing Home when I can to visit the first friends that I me there, and to visit Sipora, the patient who has been there for it must be almost 6 months now, as she cant pay the bill. I go and read to her and took in some tinsel the other day to decorate her room in a festive fashion. I have been a friend to her and she has in turn been a mentor to me, we have discussed my problems, her problems and prayed together on numerous occasions. I am still praying that she will be able to leave that place but I think that that day is still a long way off given her financial state and the matron’s stubborn nature, it is a war of pride between the two so at the moment I just do my best to help her when I can. Then as for PGH, mum sent me some Christmas decorations in the post which I was planning to take and decorate the kids ward with, I had been kinda nervous after not being there for such a long time, now I have NO idea how I motivated myself to go to that horrible place every day, routine I guess! But I mentioned the idea to John, the youth officer, who suggested I recruit a few youths for mRed Cross and we go together then also do some songs and games, it was a great idea, everyone who I have spoken to has been keen. It is very nice not to be doing everything alone anymore, now instead of me trying to scramble up a huge wall alone, we are a team, there are people to give me a leg up.
Where I am
At the moment I am staying with Winnie and her family, Winnie is 21 and the yough dissemination official, as well as of course getting involved in other activities. It is great fun staying with her and her mum and brother, I have learnt a lot about the normal way of life of Kenyans and have been taught a lot about the Red Cross. She has shown me how to make Mendazies, Dot coms, Chapatti, Cabbages, Scumawiki, and ugali so when I get back I will be able to make a real
Then I have been helping with ideas for her mums stall, she is setting up a stall selling Christmas decorations and the sort.
Disaster response
At this time, when the elections are coming up there is a lot of tension between tribes whop are burning each other’s homes and slaughtering cattle. So there are a lot of displaced people staying in schools or churches, but other are hidden in peoples homes, so part of the job is assessment going to the place and talking to elders and investigating; how many people are affected, where are the people staying, collecting names… so then we can go with food stuffs and non food items.
The things taken are: maize, beans and oil as food items, then as non food items: mozi nets, kitchen sets, blankets, soap, tarpaulin and clothes sometimes if there has been a church who has organized a collection. The government provides the food and other Red Cross branches or well wishes the rest.
But there are a lot of difficulties such as co-operation of people, waiting around for the government officials to sign out the food, stopping people from taking more than their share…
On the Monday we went to distribute and I saw how people who are not even affected come just trying to benefit from the situation, then other people pretend to be someone else, or a husband and wife will both go so that they get double the provisions. It is tough to keep control which is why the army help, they are really needed as at one point I saw what it is like when all the people swarm around you wanting to get something! Or when we pack up the truck and those who were not successful grab and demand to be given things.
But it is great fun, we get up, come pack the trucks, usually about 12 people go from the branch and sometimes we are joined by volunteers from other branches. There is a big truck that goes to carry the maize and beans sacks, wowa rather nice sight watching the strong young men lift the sacks! But that’s besides the point! Then there are the land rovers and on VERY old truck dating back from the Vietnam war. Pretty interesting to see how it operates. Yesterday I was in the truck, great view from up the top, the other day I was in a land rover, the seat kept almost falling off, pretty exciting!
On the first day I was told to report at 7am and it was not till 11 that we left, that day it really pissed me off the lack of time keeping and efficiency, but after a week of it I have leanrnt that hey, this is Africa, I might as well go with the flow, there is that phrase, ‘God give me the strength to change the things I can, the patience to accept the things I cannot and the wisdom to know the difference,’ (or something to that meaning) and I have realized that this is one of those, accept it situations! I can’t do anything about is so I might as well not stress out and have fun!
Red Cross
It has been great fun so far, among the best of my experiences here in
The focus of this week has been relief for those affected by the tribal clashes in Molo and the surrounding areas, around an hour plus from Nakuru.
The best bit as usual with good things is the people, mostly all volunteers, a few employed, all ranging from 18 to about 35. It has been great to be so welcomed and to chat to motivated young individuals not afraid to go away from the flow and who are not just motivated by money. Many have some other form of income but not all, with the high unemployment here and the difficulty in getting a job it is great to have an organization which provides worthwhile activities to fill the day, comradeship, teambuilding, experience of work…
There are SO many things going on at this place throughout the year, something every day so that any day a volunteer can be made use of. There is the HIV/AIDS programme which involves dissemination, training days, distributing to those affected, school visits…
There is the blood donor programme involving mobilizing donors and organizing drives in schools, workplaces…
There is the youth programme, camps, peer educator programme, fun days, visits to hospitals, orphanages, fun days, family days…
Disaster response, fires, clashes, distribution…
So no-one can ever be board!
Circumcision
Here it is the right of passage for a boy becoming a man to go through circumcision, so important to the extent that if he is not and this is discovered when he is older, he will be forcefully stripped and taken to the hospital if lucky, or have it done then and there while people watch! So Winnies brother Jenga has gone for that yesterday. So count yourselves lucky guys that you don’t have to do that!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
TORTOISE LAYS EGGS!!!
Stephanus went out into the garden just now (ok it will be yesterday by the time I log this…) and found the tortoises laying eggs! In the actual motions of it - isn’t it exciting! Wow so now I have seen both a human and an animal in labor, pretty impressive eh!
Nairobi, a much needed break.
A much needed break, oh and visa renewal of course! A good way to mark having reached the halfway point through my stay here in
Was nicely surpriosed by the length of the journey- only three hours once in Nakuru coz they have improved the road since September (what a blessing). I positively enjoyed the journey, rather a surprise seeing my usual travel hate, but what with the improved road, my ipod to listen to, company and a great view the time passed very nicely.
Once there we set upon the task of passport renewal, luckily we had Eve to help, a frined of one of the teachers at YASHA, that is onew of the great things about Kenya (I cant speak for Africa as a whole as iv not visited anywhere else) you can just meet people, tell them about things that you are trying to arrange and they 9 out of ten times say ‘oh I have a friend who works there’, or ‘oh just stay with my relative’ or something of the sort! People are so helpful and here a nice warm smile and connections are what helps. So when at the teachers celebration last Saturday, a great time btw, I mentioned the need to go to Nairobi/ my fear of how to go about such passport/visa issues, teacher Helen immediately said ‘oh I have this great friend, she is staying in Nairobi at the moment and she has loads of American friends who she has helped do just that. I think you two would get on great, il give her a call.’ So there we go!
So first it is one desk, then another, then off to get photos, then fingerprints… but by 4.30 the whole thing’s done, sigh of relief as I envisaged it might take three days like it did in the UK!
Wow how it felt to be in a city… no dirt roads, proper pavement, real shops, coffee bard, sky scrapers… it was like stepping back into a world I had not seen for some time. We went out for a chicken salad, spending 3.50 on lunch seemed a great extravagance after nakuru! We only did it once as my comrades budgets, and mine if I were to be sensible not just step easily into the life I am so used to and comfortable in, are tight. It was both so nice and so hard to be in that situation- in Nakuru I had not been faced with the luxury I had back home so could think, wowa I spent and wasted so much! That moey could have kept pople alive! But walking the streets where everything is back to, not extravagant but actually fairly cheap for the
I learnt another important lesson that I am trying to get as a habit- its not what life throws at you but how you react: to get a matatu to the place where Eve stays we had to wait at 7pm in a line for 45plus minutes, then get onto a noisy matatu for another 45 minutes after having yet another greasy meal in the one cheap crappy place in town. The first night this got to me, I so wanted to just have a nice meal, go to a hotel or clubbing (!) or something, then on the other hand was so tired so could do with a sleep, either way not to be in the Q! but the next night, same situation, I though hey, what can I do? Make light of it! So Eve and I had a great conversation about life, our families, our upbringing… and I bought some fresh pinapple from a street seller to make up for the greasy food. So the evening was almost exactly the same in activity but we both had a much better time!
‘give me the strength to change the things I can, the grace to accept the things I cannot and the wisdom to know the difference’
That is my mantra these days!
The second day, once important paper work out of the way I could get down to some relaxing activities: I went to a THE library, yes I think it may be the only one, and read a book about Switzerland, for some reason the African ones, just the African books, you have to pay to read, somewhat ridiculous I thought but hey!
Then to a bookshop/music shop and listened to some CDs on the headphones
Then just sat and read a book on the grass in the university garden while Eve did her own paperwork for Fridays graduation. I was not disturbed once by some lad calling ‘jane!’, ‘wanjiku!’ ‘pretty lady!’ or a street kid asking for a sweet or saying’ give me money!’
It was Heavenly, those are all activities that seem normal but ones that I have not done in the whole time that I have been here.
So I was able to come back to Nakuru recharged with some energy (and excited for when Lucy comes in January so I can go back!
Saturday, November 24, 2007
YASHA an answer to prayers and an unsuspected challange
"lets start from the very beginning...
its a very good place to start..."
its a very good place to start..."
well, ok not from the very beginning that would take a long time and you could just as well read the rest of the blog! but here's an update at least
a few months ago i went to mount longonot (see previous post!) and met a very interesting South African lady called Lydia Venter there with two of her adopted children, she is white SA but has three adopted black SA kids and one adopted Kenyan daughter.
we got chatting after the climb, not during as i was at the front and she was at the back! (dont worry she wouldnt mind me saying that!) and she told me about the school that she runs in Njoro Egerton. Egerton is a university about 40 minutes by matatu (of course depending on how many times the matatu stops to collect more people, to pump a tire, to get more petrol... on the way)
anyway the school YASHA is a mission school, her and her husband are missionaries, which they set up together about 4 years ago. at the time i didnt thing too deeply about it but she suggested that i come visit some time and that if i, or any friends of mine wanted to come visit it would be much appreciated. so we swapped numbers and then I basically forgot about it.
around a month ago now i was VERY low, work at Nakuru Nursing Home was unsatisfying with only an average of 5 patients, work at the General Hospital was SO draining, i would go for a few hours, wash walls, chat to patients but wonder seriously what difference i was making in the longterm, or even short term really. i had been spending some time at a youth center where i spent one week decorating the place but then after that there was really not much for me to do- not being trained as a chancellor i couldn't help with the great work they do there. to top that i was very lonely at the house where i was staying, spending more and more fun nights out at friends houses and wondering why i was spending any time at all back at the house and shouldn't i just move out?
so i started investigating options. i talked to friends about possible places to stay, but most of them, staying already in over crowded one room waterless places i didn't really feel that i could ask. then i started looking at new places to volunteer- on one very low day walking from PGH to NNH i bumped into Jeff- someone also from the longonot trip, who i knew works in some schools so i organized to go around with him for the day and see.
it was like God had actually answered my prayers that day, sent me someone, some hope for that day and the week leading up to the visit. unfortunately the day didn't open up any options really but i still thank God for that meeting.
then i found out that a friend of mine volonteers with the Red Cross here so i went with her and talked to them about becoming a member- something i still intend to do .
but most life changing, i called Lydia Venter and arranged to go and see her school. i went on one monday evening and stayed at their house having a chance to meet all the kids:
a few months ago i went to mount longonot (see previous post!) and met a very interesting South African lady called Lydia Venter there with two of her adopted children, she is white SA but has three adopted black SA kids and one adopted Kenyan daughter.
we got chatting after the climb, not during as i was at the front and she was at the back! (dont worry she wouldnt mind me saying that!) and she told me about the school that she runs in Njoro Egerton. Egerton is a university about 40 minutes by matatu (of course depending on how many times the matatu stops to collect more people, to pump a tire, to get more petrol... on the way)
anyway the school YASHA is a mission school, her and her husband are missionaries, which they set up together about 4 years ago. at the time i didnt thing too deeply about it but she suggested that i come visit some time and that if i, or any friends of mine wanted to come visit it would be much appreciated. so we swapped numbers and then I basically forgot about it.
around a month ago now i was VERY low, work at Nakuru Nursing Home was unsatisfying with only an average of 5 patients, work at the General Hospital was SO draining, i would go for a few hours, wash walls, chat to patients but wonder seriously what difference i was making in the longterm, or even short term really. i had been spending some time at a youth center where i spent one week decorating the place but then after that there was really not much for me to do- not being trained as a chancellor i couldn't help with the great work they do there. to top that i was very lonely at the house where i was staying, spending more and more fun nights out at friends houses and wondering why i was spending any time at all back at the house and shouldn't i just move out?
so i started investigating options. i talked to friends about possible places to stay, but most of them, staying already in over crowded one room waterless places i didn't really feel that i could ask. then i started looking at new places to volunteer- on one very low day walking from PGH to NNH i bumped into Jeff- someone also from the longonot trip, who i knew works in some schools so i organized to go around with him for the day and see.
it was like God had actually answered my prayers that day, sent me someone, some hope for that day and the week leading up to the visit. unfortunately the day didn't open up any options really but i still thank God for that meeting.
then i found out that a friend of mine volonteers with the Red Cross here so i went with her and talked to them about becoming a member- something i still intend to do .
but most life changing, i called Lydia Venter and arranged to go and see her school. i went on one monday evening and stayed at their house having a chance to meet all the kids:
- Timothy is 4
- Stephanus is 9
- Joy is 10
- Maki is 14
- Clemencia is 20
i also heard more about the school, Lydia and her husband Wilco set it up under a very different system that originated in the US- kids work at their own pace through work books, they set their own goals for the day, their own homework, and if the average is right they complete each years work within the number of weeks in the year. but if not then they continue the next year. but it means that kids actually progress much faster. for the younger kids, the ones who are just starting, they do learn the alphabet, to read and write together but they do it phonetically. the atmosphear there is great.
so i thought to myself, WOW i can come here as i kind of holiday!
so more information about YASHA later, i will get back to the story, it is far from finished!
i told my host mother Nancy about this and she seemed a but dubious i called Karanga our rep here and told him that i intended to be going away for a few weeks and he seemed fine with it as long as i knew that i was out of Changing Worlds care. then on Friday Nancy asked me if i was still going to Egerton, i said 'yes!' very indignantly, it had been my lifeline through that week, really i was at the point of just wanting to go home to England but was keeping going knowing that things would change soon. i thought i better be honest with Nancy so i told her that i was unhappy and not sure that i would actually come back after my stay there. she said she didn't think that it was such a good idea and that every time i was out of the house she worried so i should not go out to stay at friends houses anymore. the conversation went on and i felt more and more caged in and lonely. that night i cried myself to sleep and in the morning, about 6 once i could sleep no longer i started packing. when i was in the shower she took my things and hid them so. i had not been planning on just leaving that morning, i was preparing for the next day when i had already arranged to go. so i was in a state, she said we must meet with the leader in kenya for the company Karanga, but he was in nairobi so we met with his wife. she said that i was messing them around, i should not be spending nights out, i was in their care till i leave kenya, i cannot leave nakuru ever for the dayu, i cant work in new places even in nakuru... i was like a bird with its wings chopped off.
so in a state the day went on, do i keep on making the costumes for the YASHA kids end of term production that i started? what do i do?!
wnt to church the next day after multious emails to my mum, and the service was about taking up the things that god gives you, holding on to them and breaking free from prisons. i really knew at that point that god was on my side.
so the next day MY ABSOLUTELY LOVELY MOTHER organised from 'the other side', (ie spoke to the organiser of Changing Worlds) as they call it here that i could go to Egerton. i recieved news of this at 4.30pm, knowing that Nancy my host mother would arrive back and most probably not let me get my things i rushed back on a budabuda (bike with a seat on the back, with lots of bruses and cuts involved, but luckily i got a lift back to the house, got my things and got safely on a matatu to Egerton Njoro where Lydia picked me up in their Missionary car.
so thats how i got there! one day late but neverthe less there. the kids were SO pleased as they had been told that i would be coming for the last two weeks of term to make costumes, decorations and organise pieces for their end of term award ceremony (held yesterday) the hastle was all worth it, the family have embraced me and made me part of it, the school has given me a role where i can thrive and my ideas and organisational skills are embraced, God sent me here and i feel in a m,ental state of rest- i know what i am doing here is worthwhile.
as much as anything i have seen that i am here as a help for Lydia personally, someone from the west with as much vision and drive as her. you see things here are tough for them, Wilco is over in South Africa helping to raise funds for the school and to look for some employment so that they can raise money for the family to live off. the kids do pay but it is only the equivalent of 10pounds per term- not even enough for the filling school meals that they recieve every day at no extra cost. on top of that many of the parents actually pay with labour rather than money, one or two days a month instead of fees.
so there is no money to pay the rent, the water, the electricity, we pray every day for funds and help. so here i know that i am appreciated, i am not depriving anyone from a jopb or doing something unnecessary, i am helping to keep a fantastic vision alive. so when i am tired, stressed out, i remember what we are doping here, giving kids a future, they will have energy and passion to go somewhere, to realise that life can be enjoyed, it does not just have to be selling tomatoes by the side of the road and scraping the pennies for dinner.
last week there was a prefects retreat, a day where the prefects did fun things together, i organised games, another teacher had a descussion, everyone got dressed up for a special meal, its about making the kids feel special. knowing that people will go that extra mile for them.
yesteday was the award ceremony (dont worry i have pics!) at many points during the week i thought that i had bitten off more than i could chew, too many costumes to make, a hall with broken windows ands grafiti to decorate (we had rented the university lecture hall) and too many invitations to get delivered. late nights- up till 11pm in the hall with Maki and Mary (both students in the school) decorration on friday night while Lydia and Clemencia finished the cirtificates... up at 5.30 making breakfast and preparing thigs, the car tire going flat, mendazis not ready, plug for sound system not working... my oh my the mountains to climb over! but it all happened! and whats more Lydia enjoyed the show, i was backstage (praying and thanking all those parents who had helped out at the many shows that i was in as a kid and realising hat a tough job it is!) running about madly but the show was great, the kids had never done or seen something like it nor the parents, something that for us in the west would have been classed as medioka what is expected, here is the undreamed of.
so it was all worth it. and the thanks that i recieved was astounding, i was just doing a job, but a job that noone else would have done, Lydia has enough on her plate keeping the place afloat so was so greatful to have some help with the creative side.
so i call out to you from the bottom of my hear t with a worthwhile cause that is deserving of any monetary gifts that you can offer, this is a truely amazing place and every 10pounds helps. on thursday there were tears, the water tank was dry (we only wash with one jug of water so it is not wastage that causes that) and the electricity was about to be turned off. God calling me to go to the bank. i withdrew 150pounds worth of kenyan shillings- (what on my budget should last me 6weeks) put it in an envelope and left it on Lydias desk with a 'note saying a gift to be used where it is needed'. if i have to come home early i wont mind. here is a cause which is much more diserving that me. Lydia cried when she saw it. she said that she should have had more faith in God, as that day she had called her husband to take out a loan to pay some of the bills with. so the next day Joy could have some new school shoes, hers had been repared 3 times already, and the elecrticity could be paid to we are not living with candles.
so truely every little helps and is appreciated. when i go home i will do some proper fundraising but for now i will do my best this end in the school, i am intending to come back in january. when i asked lydia about it the smaile on her face stretched from one ear to the other! she said 'i didnt want to ask you i thought you would think i was asking too much! we would love to have you!' so my prayers have been answered and so have hers,
God works in wonderful ways.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
water
here water is an issue, unlike back home ti doesn't just come from a tap, where i live cold comes but you have to boil hot, and equally if you and to drink it you have to boil or to wash you have to heat, sometimes the gas doesn't work so we do it on a charcoal outside,
where my friend Lea lives (in one room with here two sisters, a house girl and her sister's daughter) the water only runs in the evening to you have to fill up buckets so that there will be enough in the day for all the washing. so in the small amount of space around the toilet, which bear in mind does not flush without water, there are multiple buckets to step over
at Anas house the water only runs on the weekend only during the week,
and where Mukami lives (she has just one room and shares an outside tap with around 6 families) you must of course go outside as it is a shared tap, around the corner, past the chickens on mud path to the tap, fill your bucket and go to the small hut next to the non flush long drop hole with an old wooden door to wash.
then Mukami told me that where her mum stays the water comes at 11pm so people rest then get up with al their buckets and might wait an hour to fill them.
so all in all it is much more of a polava! but don't let me make you think that i am complaining as actually, spending the night at Mukamis was the funnest night that i had that week, it didn't matter a bit that everything took a bit more effort, i spent the time think how lucky i was to be welcomed into her home and what a privilage it was to be there, it made me see how much we have back home that we take for granted but also think that is essential and really isn't. equally at leas i love going to spend time there with here and her family and it is more fun even that we are all in one room. tonight i have invited Mukami and Lea to where i stay for dinner and to stay the night, i am almost embarrassed at how much space there is compared to where they stay and what they will think, will their behaviors towards me change? and then i wonder WHAT it would be like taking them to where we live in england?? but then i know that is is just me that is worried as the point is that we are spending time together and they know that, they are so nonjudgemtal compared to me that i know they would always think the best of me. the friends i have me here amaze me, i am very lucky.
then on the point of water there are the beautiful lakes, the view from my window to lake Nakuru with the flamingoes, the view from the top of Mt Longonot to lake Navasha. a coutry with so much water that you can see but so little that you can access.
where my friend Lea lives (in one room with here two sisters, a house girl and her sister's daughter) the water only runs in the evening to you have to fill up buckets so that there will be enough in the day for all the washing. so in the small amount of space around the toilet, which bear in mind does not flush without water, there are multiple buckets to step over
at Anas house the water only runs on the weekend only during the week,
and where Mukami lives (she has just one room and shares an outside tap with around 6 families) you must of course go outside as it is a shared tap, around the corner, past the chickens on mud path to the tap, fill your bucket and go to the small hut next to the non flush long drop hole with an old wooden door to wash.
then Mukami told me that where her mum stays the water comes at 11pm so people rest then get up with al their buckets and might wait an hour to fill them.
so all in all it is much more of a polava! but don't let me make you think that i am complaining as actually, spending the night at Mukamis was the funnest night that i had that week, it didn't matter a bit that everything took a bit more effort, i spent the time think how lucky i was to be welcomed into her home and what a privilage it was to be there, it made me see how much we have back home that we take for granted but also think that is essential and really isn't. equally at leas i love going to spend time there with here and her family and it is more fun even that we are all in one room. tonight i have invited Mukami and Lea to where i stay for dinner and to stay the night, i am almost embarrassed at how much space there is compared to where they stay and what they will think, will their behaviors towards me change? and then i wonder WHAT it would be like taking them to where we live in england?? but then i know that is is just me that is worried as the point is that we are spending time together and they know that, they are so nonjudgemtal compared to me that i know they would always think the best of me. the friends i have me here amaze me, i am very lucky.
then on the point of water there are the beautiful lakes, the view from my window to lake Nakuru with the flamingoes, the view from the top of Mt Longonot to lake Navasha. a coutry with so much water that you can see but so little that you can access.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
PGH this week
So, I have gone back, the pull towards a challange was too strong. but is has been oh so satisfying, I have been back to the ward and have bought them a kettle, the patients were SO greatful to have hot water for washing and drinking and the nurses were too (you see they used to have one but it broke ages ago and the hospital has not got around to getting another one) so i believe that it will actually be put to use.
it has also been great to see appreciation from patients and their families for my mere presence and talking to them, on friday afternoon i went in, did not change into my apron just sat outside with a group of the patients and had a great political, historical discussion about all sorts, i was able to tell them about the relationship between england Europe and the uk and then go into the diferneces between england and Australia... it was great to teach them something about my background as i have learnt so much about theirs!
then today i took in some postcards from back home which were so greatfuly recieved, they really are hungry to learn which is great, so much better than seeing them just sit looking dejected and forlorn.
becides work on the ward i have been spending time at the Youth Centre were tomorrow we have visitors from Nairobi coming so we have been decorating the place, last week i helped move a pool table in and made a large assortment of posters and leaflets. it is nice there now, even the guys from the hospital maintenance congregate there to play pool!
we also went on a school visit on monday to a school for orphans and street kids. we gave them a talk on HIV, health and growing up, somewhat nervewracking for me as i had not been told what to prepare then was in front of 200 kids... i think i wil get better at it with time! but this saturday we are going back to the school to do smaller group descussions so that we can adress their own indivitual questions. i am looking forward to it and at least this week it seems that i have been able to make a differnece to some people!
some other things that i may not have mentioned but have been highlights over the past month:
bron xxx
it has also been great to see appreciation from patients and their families for my mere presence and talking to them, on friday afternoon i went in, did not change into my apron just sat outside with a group of the patients and had a great political, historical discussion about all sorts, i was able to tell them about the relationship between england Europe and the uk and then go into the diferneces between england and Australia... it was great to teach them something about my background as i have learnt so much about theirs!
then today i took in some postcards from back home which were so greatfuly recieved, they really are hungry to learn which is great, so much better than seeing them just sit looking dejected and forlorn.
becides work on the ward i have been spending time at the Youth Centre were tomorrow we have visitors from Nairobi coming so we have been decorating the place, last week i helped move a pool table in and made a large assortment of posters and leaflets. it is nice there now, even the guys from the hospital maintenance congregate there to play pool!
we also went on a school visit on monday to a school for orphans and street kids. we gave them a talk on HIV, health and growing up, somewhat nervewracking for me as i had not been told what to prepare then was in front of 200 kids... i think i wil get better at it with time! but this saturday we are going back to the school to do smaller group descussions so that we can adress their own indivitual questions. i am looking forward to it and at least this week it seems that i have been able to make a differnece to some people!
some other things that i may not have mentioned but have been highlights over the past month:
- holding a mothers hand whilst her baby was born! then holding the baby only a day after it was born 'fate' she was named.
- catching a grasshopper with my bare hands
- seeing Moses (a patient on the ward who is a prisoner)'s apreciation of me simply saying that he could keep the pen that i had lent him
- making dinner for Mukami, sweet and sour chicken with egg fried rice, and it tasting better than i had ever done it before!
- praying out loud for the first time and enjoying it
bron xxx
Mount Longonot
this weekend i accompanied my friend John on his uni trip to Mount Longonot, an old volcano (dormant!) about 2 hours away from Nakuru (would be less but the roads are shoddy). so 25 of us, in fact most people only knew one or two people so I was not the wierdo (apart from the colour of my skin) in two matatus to the national park.
it took us (the ones at the front!) about an hour to make it up to the edge of the crater then, deciding that we could make it up to one of the higher peaks, we set off, the six of us at the front. so after walking 2hours and a half we reached the second highest point with a fantastic view over Naivasha lake.
but that was only the starter, we are planning that in January we should go to Mount Kenya.
it was very dusty and hot, so that all of us, once at the bottom again were gray, not black or white!
so sunday was spent relaxing at the house with a film, the plan of going out to church failed as my muscles said NO!
it was god fun though and by now my body is feeling back to normal!
it took us (the ones at the front!) about an hour to make it up to the edge of the crater then, deciding that we could make it up to one of the higher peaks, we set off, the six of us at the front. so after walking 2hours and a half we reached the second highest point with a fantastic view over Naivasha lake.
but that was only the starter, we are planning that in January we should go to Mount Kenya.
it was very dusty and hot, so that all of us, once at the bottom again were gray, not black or white!
so sunday was spent relaxing at the house with a film, the plan of going out to church failed as my muscles said NO!
it was god fun though and by now my body is feeling back to normal!
Friday, October 19, 2007
recent news
as many will know this week has been hard phycologically, I have been wondering what impact I have been making, if any and what is the point. many quastions have been arising duse to social situation here and other reasons.
so i decided yo give myself a bit of a break from PGH, some thinking time, while i went to Nakuru Nursing home instead. so this week has turned out well for me emotionally, i needed the time to reassess and to tell myself not to worry. for the moment i am thinking small rather than looking at the big picture, the big picture is too scary for now.
so i have occupied myself with making leaflets and posters for the Youth Centre at PGH where they give free testing for STIs and free councelling. this has meant that i can feel productive. i have also been visiting Sipora- she is an out patient in NNH who has been there for 5 months now as she cannot aford to pay the bill. i go and visit her to chat, have been reading to her and now suggested to her that she could write some letters for Amnesty International. she is board restless and want to be out. i feel for her.
so far i have gotten alot more than i have given from being here but i am learning that i have to accept that at least for now and help in small ways that i see each day. try to help individuals until i see my plae in the grand scale of things.
i have been praying alot, Africa i feel brings you closer to God. I thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers, they are SO valuable to me and what yet me through each day.
love to everyone xxx
so i decided yo give myself a bit of a break from PGH, some thinking time, while i went to Nakuru Nursing home instead. so this week has turned out well for me emotionally, i needed the time to reassess and to tell myself not to worry. for the moment i am thinking small rather than looking at the big picture, the big picture is too scary for now.
so i have occupied myself with making leaflets and posters for the Youth Centre at PGH where they give free testing for STIs and free councelling. this has meant that i can feel productive. i have also been visiting Sipora- she is an out patient in NNH who has been there for 5 months now as she cannot aford to pay the bill. i go and visit her to chat, have been reading to her and now suggested to her that she could write some letters for Amnesty International. she is board restless and want to be out. i feel for her.
so far i have gotten alot more than i have given from being here but i am learning that i have to accept that at least for now and help in small ways that i see each day. try to help individuals until i see my plae in the grand scale of things.
i have been praying alot, Africa i feel brings you closer to God. I thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers, they are SO valuable to me and what yet me through each day.
love to everyone xxx
Friday, October 5, 2007
Food
I have had many requests for details on what the cuisine here is like so at long last here goes...
The main staple dish for most Kenyans is Ugali, this is a rather horrible tasting and textured mixture of flour and water steamed, hence why it is the staple dish- it is cheap. I have tasted it but since have simply said honestly that I dont like it as there has been no occasions where it is the only thing served and Nancy is very understanding!
It is served with Scumawiki, a kind of boiled green vegitable similar to cabage but discusting.
OR it is served with Vegetable Salad, a really yummy combination of cooked shreded cabage and carrot which I personally could eat an entire plate of! (there must be some kind of spice or something used but Im not sure what)
Otherwise there is alot of Rice cooked with onion garlic and often some masala spice or something
we eat 'spaggetti' tastes more like noodles and mashed potato alot at the house, sometimes green vegetables are mixed in with the mash, or peas or sweetcorn.
Chapatti -my new favourout thing...
Matoke a mixture of mashed potato and mashed sweet and under ripe banana very good actually
beans, both green and the small ones often mixed with sweetcorn (called maise here)
meat: mainly beef, as is not expencive, in stews or with the beans not seen any chicken, pork or terkey like we eat at home. Otherwise fish is common, we have had it fried and steamed.
The main way of cooking is on the hob, of when the gas is not working (it only comes on in the evenung anyway) on a coal BBQ type affaire- for many people always this way as many people- most of my nurse friends at NNH included, dont have a kitchen, they live in one room and cook outside. Poople therefore even if they own one, are not accostimed to ovens.
Lard is used in GREAT quantities (kenyans arent ones for the low fat option!)
Snacks:
no chocolate here really, you can buy t but is is expencive (ok the same as back home but comparitively expencive- a small mars bar costs 80KSH, the same as 16 Mendazies)
people tend to eat Mendazies- fried dough in a triangle shape -soooo good, or Dot Coms- a different type of dough in a sphere shape and more crispy rather than soft. these are sold and made by the side of the road.
Steamed or BBQd maise eaten in the same way as corn on the comb (for that is what it is) with salt instead of butter.
Sandwiches are seldome eaten, you cannot buy or order them anywhere though people might have them at home, on sliced bread, people dont have loaves from the bakery. Not really big on cakes, you can but dry sponge in the supermarket as you can biscuits but not fresh anywhere.
Chapatti is also eaten as a snack
boiled egg
Sugar cane can be bought and sliced buy the side of the road too.
FRUIT!! it is everywhere here banana, pinapple, mango, pawpaw, these different type of plum thing that are very nice...
Tea- a very different affaire to back home- water is boied on the stove (kettles dont seem to exist here) milk is added in equal quantities to the water, sometimes pasturised but often dried. Mixture is boiled, copuous amounts of sugar are added and brough back to the boil then tea granules are put in a sieve and the mixture is sieved through it several times. The whole thing is then poured into a plastic thermos flask, even when it is in the house or hospital.
Coffee my oh my dont go there it is rank
The main staple dish for most Kenyans is Ugali, this is a rather horrible tasting and textured mixture of flour and water steamed, hence why it is the staple dish- it is cheap. I have tasted it but since have simply said honestly that I dont like it as there has been no occasions where it is the only thing served and Nancy is very understanding!
It is served with Scumawiki, a kind of boiled green vegitable similar to cabage but discusting.
OR it is served with Vegetable Salad, a really yummy combination of cooked shreded cabage and carrot which I personally could eat an entire plate of! (there must be some kind of spice or something used but Im not sure what)
Otherwise there is alot of Rice cooked with onion garlic and often some masala spice or something
we eat 'spaggetti' tastes more like noodles and mashed potato alot at the house, sometimes green vegetables are mixed in with the mash, or peas or sweetcorn.
Chapatti -my new favourout thing...
Matoke a mixture of mashed potato and mashed sweet and under ripe banana very good actually
beans, both green and the small ones often mixed with sweetcorn (called maise here)
meat: mainly beef, as is not expencive, in stews or with the beans not seen any chicken, pork or terkey like we eat at home. Otherwise fish is common, we have had it fried and steamed.
The main way of cooking is on the hob, of when the gas is not working (it only comes on in the evenung anyway) on a coal BBQ type affaire- for many people always this way as many people- most of my nurse friends at NNH included, dont have a kitchen, they live in one room and cook outside. Poople therefore even if they own one, are not accostimed to ovens.
Lard is used in GREAT quantities (kenyans arent ones for the low fat option!)
Snacks:
no chocolate here really, you can buy t but is is expencive (ok the same as back home but comparitively expencive- a small mars bar costs 80KSH, the same as 16 Mendazies)
people tend to eat Mendazies- fried dough in a triangle shape -soooo good, or Dot Coms- a different type of dough in a sphere shape and more crispy rather than soft. these are sold and made by the side of the road.
Steamed or BBQd maise eaten in the same way as corn on the comb (for that is what it is) with salt instead of butter.
Sandwiches are seldome eaten, you cannot buy or order them anywhere though people might have them at home, on sliced bread, people dont have loaves from the bakery. Not really big on cakes, you can but dry sponge in the supermarket as you can biscuits but not fresh anywhere.
Chapatti is also eaten as a snack
boiled egg
Sugar cane can be bought and sliced buy the side of the road too.
FRUIT!! it is everywhere here banana, pinapple, mango, pawpaw, these different type of plum thing that are very nice...
Tea- a very different affaire to back home- water is boied on the stove (kettles dont seem to exist here) milk is added in equal quantities to the water, sometimes pasturised but often dried. Mixture is boiled, copuous amounts of sugar are added and brough back to the boil then tea granules are put in a sieve and the mixture is sieved through it several times. The whole thing is then poured into a plastic thermos flask, even when it is in the house or hospital.
Coffee my oh my dont go there it is rank
The hard times
Each day bringing myself to come into PGH this week has been hard, I put it down to God that I have survived a whole week to tell the tale! But really, inside that ward, no-one should be subject to it. At least now it is a tad cleaner, I have spent this moring and yesterday morning pedantically going around with a cloth and a spoon (all i could find) to chip off the blood, food, grime, insects... that are on the walls and bed frames. The most descusing though might be the bedside cabinets, I would really like to throw them away but where would the money come for for more? They are rusty and completey falling apart. This is not the place to be recovering from wounds.
I spoke to one patient today who has been in PGH for four months after being electrocuted whilst he was at work. He was first put in another hospital far away from home which he told me was alot cleaner- he said there there were people who came and cleaned each morning- here someone mops the floor but anything else gets gone by the nurses, ie does not get done beacuse there are only three and they have other things to do such as dressing wounds and giving out medication.
These people are so board. There is nothing to do for them, in any case what would anyone want to do in this environment? I did spend some time doing a sudoku with one 15 year old boy, he seemed to enjoy it. But most of the time everyone looks downcast.
The working enviromnet is hard, the complete opposite to NNH where I feel completely at ease and everyone is so friendly. At PGH the nurses have been pretty hostile, probably beacause of their heavy work load and the fact that they are underpaid. The work here could not be described as fun as it can at NNH. Everyone is tired and seems to have accepted the state of things rather than fighting for improvement- something that I find hard. Towards the begining of the week I was working alongside the nurses doing what they did, the first day, they basically ignored me, the second there were student nurses in from the university which was great as they too were shocked by the poor conditions (lack of medication, poor filing...) so I had somepoeple to talk to! But wednesday, now that was tough- as there were only two nurses and me I was asked to help with dressing, I was on my own trying to help a man who had sawn off his fingers to remove yesterdays dressing (hard to do seeing as it has septically stuck onto the gause so he was, without painkillers mind, peeling this discusting rag off his hand. Words do not aptly describe the scene. Then, he asked me to squeeze his finger stub to get the pus (brown goo) to come out and then dab it off, I did not know where to look, I could not look at the wound but equally could not look at the man's face. I felt like i was physically going to be sick. Then he said that some of the skin was dead and had to be removed, the other nurse came and asked me to use a blade (we have no scissors) to cut the skin whilst she held the hand still. I had to ask to leave.
Standing outside in the sun with the stench of the loo I wanted SO BADLY to leave and never come back. should I return? Do I have to return? I did. But went to talk to patents instead. The language barrier is a problem in some cases but I have learnt some basic phrases which show that I mean well and I think that with time and practice I will improve.
So I thank God that he has helped me to last this week.
I spoke to one patient today who has been in PGH for four months after being electrocuted whilst he was at work. He was first put in another hospital far away from home which he told me was alot cleaner- he said there there were people who came and cleaned each morning- here someone mops the floor but anything else gets gone by the nurses, ie does not get done beacuse there are only three and they have other things to do such as dressing wounds and giving out medication.
These people are so board. There is nothing to do for them, in any case what would anyone want to do in this environment? I did spend some time doing a sudoku with one 15 year old boy, he seemed to enjoy it. But most of the time everyone looks downcast.
The working enviromnet is hard, the complete opposite to NNH where I feel completely at ease and everyone is so friendly. At PGH the nurses have been pretty hostile, probably beacause of their heavy work load and the fact that they are underpaid. The work here could not be described as fun as it can at NNH. Everyone is tired and seems to have accepted the state of things rather than fighting for improvement- something that I find hard. Towards the begining of the week I was working alongside the nurses doing what they did, the first day, they basically ignored me, the second there were student nurses in from the university which was great as they too were shocked by the poor conditions (lack of medication, poor filing...) so I had somepoeple to talk to! But wednesday, now that was tough- as there were only two nurses and me I was asked to help with dressing, I was on my own trying to help a man who had sawn off his fingers to remove yesterdays dressing (hard to do seeing as it has septically stuck onto the gause so he was, without painkillers mind, peeling this discusting rag off his hand. Words do not aptly describe the scene. Then, he asked me to squeeze his finger stub to get the pus (brown goo) to come out and then dab it off, I did not know where to look, I could not look at the wound but equally could not look at the man's face. I felt like i was physically going to be sick. Then he said that some of the skin was dead and had to be removed, the other nurse came and asked me to use a blade (we have no scissors) to cut the skin whilst she held the hand still. I had to ask to leave.
Standing outside in the sun with the stench of the loo I wanted SO BADLY to leave and never come back. should I return? Do I have to return? I did. But went to talk to patents instead. The language barrier is a problem in some cases but I have learnt some basic phrases which show that I mean well and I think that with time and practice I will improve.
So I thank God that he has helped me to last this week.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
PGH (Provincial General Hospital)
This is large general hospital that services most of the rift valley, services are not free but conciderably cheaper than private hospitals. I had been told by Keranga (our rep her in Kenya) that it would be advisable to start at least working in Nakuru Nursing home as PGH was likely to scare me off, he was right.
So this monday, after meeting with the superintendant on friday, I came to PGH looking for more work as at present Nakuru Nursing Home has only 5 patients. believe me there is more work.
The place is living hell, there are no mozi nets, the windows are broken, the celing is cracked as is the paint, 50 patients to a ward many sharing beds and only 3 nurses to care for them all, that is on a good day- yesterday there wre 2nurses and me.
The place is FILTHY, flies everywhere and what overwealmes you the most is the smell. There is only one long drop toilet for all of these patents and one tap.
The floors are mopped but that is about it.
One of the duties that I was assigned yesterday was to make the beds with the nurses, pretty difficult concidering the matresses are falling appart, there are not enough clean sheats and the 'clean sheats' are covered in holes, stains from urine and blood and do not aptly cover the beds. So I was made to make the hard decision of who to give new sheats to and who could wait till tomorrow when the same situation would occur.
The patients: PGH has around 4000 patients admitted per month, at any one time 15 wards with aroud 50 patents. This week I have been on ward, a mens medical ward. There I have seen a glimpse of hell. Here are just a fw cases:
So this monday, after meeting with the superintendant on friday, I came to PGH looking for more work as at present Nakuru Nursing Home has only 5 patients. believe me there is more work.
The place is living hell, there are no mozi nets, the windows are broken, the celing is cracked as is the paint, 50 patients to a ward many sharing beds and only 3 nurses to care for them all, that is on a good day- yesterday there wre 2nurses and me.
The place is FILTHY, flies everywhere and what overwealmes you the most is the smell. There is only one long drop toilet for all of these patents and one tap.
The floors are mopped but that is about it.
One of the duties that I was assigned yesterday was to make the beds with the nurses, pretty difficult concidering the matresses are falling appart, there are not enough clean sheats and the 'clean sheats' are covered in holes, stains from urine and blood and do not aptly cover the beds. So I was made to make the hard decision of who to give new sheats to and who could wait till tomorrow when the same situation would occur.
The patients: PGH has around 4000 patients admitted per month, at any one time 15 wards with aroud 50 patents. This week I have been on ward, a mens medical ward. There I have seen a glimpse of hell. Here are just a fw cases:
- there is a prisoner who accidentally sawed off three of his fingers and thumb with a chain saw whilst chopping wood, the wound is septic and he cannot afford painkillers
- there is a man who has been in the ward for FOUR MONTHS as he has seveare burns (bear in mind here that there is also another whole ward dedicated to burns) and his family live too far away to visit, he cannot afford to be transfered.
- there is another man who's feet are stupps and has burns whith some kid of mould growing on them all over his legs and arms, he is close to a corpse
- a young boy of 15 with an ingrown testes, it has been operated on but how a wound can heal safely here I do not know- last week there was a mother in Nakuru nursing Home (about my age) who had had a cesareian at PGH but the would had gone septic so she had come to NNH to have it sorted out. With beds so close together cross contamination is sure to occur.
- There are numerous cases of men that have been beaten up in the street so have head inguries, the worst of which greans constantly and thrashes around.
these are just a few.
BUT what amazes me is that today when i asked one of them how he was feeling, this was a post operative case, he said oh about 96% not 100% yet but almost, how they can be so positive i do not know.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
this weekend
RUGBY !!! went to Nakuru Rugby Club to see teams from all over the country come to compete in a two day long tournament, saw some really good play
Vanessa's birthday- Vanessa is Karanga (our rep here in kenya)'s daughter who turned 9 on saturday, mayhem of kids milling afound- i think such occasions are the same all over the globe! (cake came from nairobi but still wasnt a patch on yours mum!)
sunday- went to church with a new friend from work and her sisters- the service lasted 3 and a half hours, Lea did tell me that is was long today but still, 2 hours preaching!!! i went for lunch at hers which was an eye opener, they all stay in one room- that is three sisters and one of the sisters babies, in the room is a bunkbed, tv, sofa and chair, coffee table, computer (one of them works selling secondhand computers from the uk-it is not of corse connected to internet) there is also a munute "kitchen" (sink really as things have to be cooked outside- there is no stove) and another small "room" with only a toilet that is a flushing hole in the floor such as they have in japan and a bucket of water for flushing.
but there are SO welcoming! and share everything that they have. money really is not the cause of happiness
Vanessa's birthday- Vanessa is Karanga (our rep here in kenya)'s daughter who turned 9 on saturday, mayhem of kids milling afound- i think such occasions are the same all over the globe! (cake came from nairobi but still wasnt a patch on yours mum!)
sunday- went to church with a new friend from work and her sisters- the service lasted 3 and a half hours, Lea did tell me that is was long today but still, 2 hours preaching!!! i went for lunch at hers which was an eye opener, they all stay in one room- that is three sisters and one of the sisters babies, in the room is a bunkbed, tv, sofa and chair, coffee table, computer (one of them works selling secondhand computers from the uk-it is not of corse connected to internet) there is also a munute "kitchen" (sink really as things have to be cooked outside- there is no stove) and another small "room" with only a toilet that is a flushing hole in the floor such as they have in japan and a bucket of water for flushing.
but there are SO welcoming! and share everything that they have. money really is not the cause of happiness
my day
7 am get up and wash with a bucket of water heated on the stove (or the coal fire outside if the gas is down) or wash my hair under the cold tap
7.15 have breakfast- if im lucky there will be pinapple- SO superior here but more often banana
7.30 leave the house- it takes around 45 minutes now for me to walk to work, (i am getting faster!) and change there. walk is mainly alond a dirt road. the sun is not too hot at this hour so it is a nice walk- unlike during the middle of the day
8.30 start work, cleaning for the fiirst hour, then talk to patients, ask nurses if there is anything that needs doing...
10.30ish have tea, it is made in the kitchen any brought to us in flasks, Makumi and i normally have it in her office or with peter in the lab. it is a completly different take on the idea of tea- very milky and very sugary, now i am an adict even though at the begining of the week i couldnt stand the stuff. and eat a 'dot com' or 'mendazi' wich are different types of fried dough that can be bought outside the nrsing home fropm stree\t sellers for around 5KSH (3p)
for the rest of the morning there might be some patients who come into outpatients who i will help mukami with, generally smile at babies, occupy kids... or i will go to the wards and talk to patients there or go the the lab and learn from peter abou how the investigations on patients are going.
1 have lunch- went into town on friday yesterday to post letters- took me 45 minutes in the heat, was not fun so wont be doing that again! i have been reading a french book so might do that or watch neighbours with the nurses who are all adicts.
afternon, more of the same and leave at 5pm to walk home
we eat dinner at 8ish with Nancy who has kindly refraned from preparing ugali so far... we eat in front of the tv which i dont like for three reasons- we get to knoew nancy less well, the tv is rubbish and i feel tired and just want to sleep on the sofa when im done with her enormous portions!
i generaly go to bed early as have been tired. but do of course write my travel diary first. and carefully fit the mozi net.
7.15 have breakfast- if im lucky there will be pinapple- SO superior here but more often banana
7.30 leave the house- it takes around 45 minutes now for me to walk to work, (i am getting faster!) and change there. walk is mainly alond a dirt road. the sun is not too hot at this hour so it is a nice walk- unlike during the middle of the day
8.30 start work, cleaning for the fiirst hour, then talk to patients, ask nurses if there is anything that needs doing...
10.30ish have tea, it is made in the kitchen any brought to us in flasks, Makumi and i normally have it in her office or with peter in the lab. it is a completly different take on the idea of tea- very milky and very sugary, now i am an adict even though at the begining of the week i couldnt stand the stuff. and eat a 'dot com' or 'mendazi' wich are different types of fried dough that can be bought outside the nrsing home fropm stree\t sellers for around 5KSH (3p)
for the rest of the morning there might be some patients who come into outpatients who i will help mukami with, generally smile at babies, occupy kids... or i will go to the wards and talk to patients there or go the the lab and learn from peter abou how the investigations on patients are going.
1 have lunch- went into town on friday yesterday to post letters- took me 45 minutes in the heat, was not fun so wont be doing that again! i have been reading a french book so might do that or watch neighbours with the nurses who are all adicts.
afternon, more of the same and leave at 5pm to walk home
we eat dinner at 8ish with Nancy who has kindly refraned from preparing ugali so far... we eat in front of the tv which i dont like for three reasons- we get to knoew nancy less well, the tv is rubbish and i feel tired and just want to sleep on the sofa when im done with her enormous portions!
i generaly go to bed early as have been tired. but do of course write my travel diary first. and carefully fit the mozi net.
Nakuru Nursing Home
so what is the hospital like?
clean- i make sure of that (my main activity is cleaning- dust is everywhere here) but horibly out of date by western standards. for example the fact that there is no internet in the whole place. there is no loo roll in the toilets, taps often dont work, power cuts are frequent and ther is a typewriter.
but all of this seems irrelevant here as the care is great and what does it really matter if the paint is chipped?
there is an outpatients clinic where i am positioned with Makumi, we mainly see mothers coming to weigh their babies and for jabs, there is a pharmacy, lab, office, accounts, radiology equip[ment (very clean as i dusted it all morning on friday- can tell from being there that it is seldome used), wards and a kitchen and cleaning area outside. oh and almost all the food that the patients recieve is cooked from the crops grown onsite- it is a big site dispite being situated so close to the centre of town.
clean- i make sure of that (my main activity is cleaning- dust is everywhere here) but horibly out of date by western standards. for example the fact that there is no internet in the whole place. there is no loo roll in the toilets, taps often dont work, power cuts are frequent and ther is a typewriter.
but all of this seems irrelevant here as the care is great and what does it really matter if the paint is chipped?
there is an outpatients clinic where i am positioned with Makumi, we mainly see mothers coming to weigh their babies and for jabs, there is a pharmacy, lab, office, accounts, radiology equip[ment (very clean as i dusted it all morning on friday- can tell from being there that it is seldome used), wards and a kitchen and cleaning area outside. oh and almost all the food that the patients recieve is cooked from the crops grown onsite- it is a big site dispite being situated so close to the centre of town.
first week as a working woman...
so i am at the end of my first full working week and it feels great! i have been working alongside a lovely nurse called Mukami who has been SO welcoming, as have the other nurses. it has been great to make friends and get stuck into the community a bit more.
on the downside (well it depends how one looks at it!) there is not actually that much work to be done as Nakuru Nursing Home is a private hospital (deciving from the name- they dont actually have nursing homes in the same way as we do in the UK for old people) and there are only about 6 patients at the moment. this is due to
a) the fact that people dont have that much money around here
b) the government has been making more and more treatment free in the general hospital and c) there are so many small private hospitals in the area.
so although workwise i am not exactly rushed off my feet it has been a fantasic opportunity this week to talk to people and get in touch with the way of life.
there have been some occasions where the job has really felt worthwhile like seeing a newborn baby recover from jaundice and being able to hold her in my arms at only 6days old! she smiles as well! so i was happy ALL day :-) her name is Lydia and her grandmother said i simply MUST come and visit them- that is something that i have been inundated with this week- invites to peoples houses- many of which i will take up, others of which i will not (young men in the street for example!)
another was seeing a man recover from a stomach opporation, the first time i spoke to him he wasnt really communicative but by the end of the week, with some persistance on my part he said that i was most welcome. even through it is only in a very minor way it feels great to be helping even just a few people.
and breaking down some of the barriers and expectations about visitors to kenya.
on the downside (well it depends how one looks at it!) there is not actually that much work to be done as Nakuru Nursing Home is a private hospital (deciving from the name- they dont actually have nursing homes in the same way as we do in the UK for old people) and there are only about 6 patients at the moment. this is due to
a) the fact that people dont have that much money around here
b) the government has been making more and more treatment free in the general hospital and c) there are so many small private hospitals in the area.
so although workwise i am not exactly rushed off my feet it has been a fantasic opportunity this week to talk to people and get in touch with the way of life.
there have been some occasions where the job has really felt worthwhile like seeing a newborn baby recover from jaundice and being able to hold her in my arms at only 6days old! she smiles as well! so i was happy ALL day :-) her name is Lydia and her grandmother said i simply MUST come and visit them- that is something that i have been inundated with this week- invites to peoples houses- many of which i will take up, others of which i will not (young men in the street for example!)
another was seeing a man recover from a stomach opporation, the first time i spoke to him he wasnt really communicative but by the end of the week, with some persistance on my part he said that i was most welcome. even through it is only in a very minor way it feels great to be helping even just a few people.
and breaking down some of the barriers and expectations about visitors to kenya.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Where I'm staying
I'm now settled in to my host family in Nakuru, the town where im spending six months volunteering. im partnered with another girl from England called Becky, can get confusing as my name i have shortened to B for the time being while i am here as Bronwen is too hard for the locals to pronounce so we both have the B part but oh well!
Nancy our host mother is fairly quiet but very well meaning and a good host mother apart from her strong desire to fatten us up 'as we Kenyans like to eat!' she says with every meal- i did try saying that however i am not actually Kenyan and wont look any more like one no matter how big the portions are! But her cooking is good and she looks after us well, even bought a new mozzi net for my bed when my small single bed one didn't fit on the larger bed (larger luxurious bed i hear you say- well yes it is big but very saggy!)
We share a room with THE most fantastic view over lake Nakuru, the brightness of the pink flamingos can be clearly seen from our window, in that sense we really are living in luxury.
We have a maid who sometimes brings her oh-so-cute baby daughter to work with her, we don't mention this to Nancy though as we are not sure if she is aloud to... it did bother us asking her to wash our clothes at first but we figured that Nancy is paying her and that means that she has an income of some sort to feed her child, she can only be my age and lives in the poorer parts of town. Her English is limited but now she will look us in the face and smile sometimes.
Nancy's Husband David works away from Nakuru during the week on a building project I'm not sure where but he is back at weekends and is very lively and chatty.
They have four children, two girls and two boys two of which are at boarding school and two of which are at university so for the moment we have not met them. the younger two will be back at half term so then we shall have a chance to feel more part of the family. one thing that really strikes me here is the way we don't eat family meals at home around a table- that was something that i always took for granted in Cambridge and quite miss now! but that is just a family thing not a Kenyan thing as many of the others have volunteers have meals around a table with their hosts.
bron xxx
Nancy our host mother is fairly quiet but very well meaning and a good host mother apart from her strong desire to fatten us up 'as we Kenyans like to eat!' she says with every meal- i did try saying that however i am not actually Kenyan and wont look any more like one no matter how big the portions are! But her cooking is good and she looks after us well, even bought a new mozzi net for my bed when my small single bed one didn't fit on the larger bed (larger luxurious bed i hear you say- well yes it is big but very saggy!)
We share a room with THE most fantastic view over lake Nakuru, the brightness of the pink flamingos can be clearly seen from our window, in that sense we really are living in luxury.
We have a maid who sometimes brings her oh-so-cute baby daughter to work with her, we don't mention this to Nancy though as we are not sure if she is aloud to... it did bother us asking her to wash our clothes at first but we figured that Nancy is paying her and that means that she has an income of some sort to feed her child, she can only be my age and lives in the poorer parts of town. Her English is limited but now she will look us in the face and smile sometimes.
Nancy's Husband David works away from Nakuru during the week on a building project I'm not sure where but he is back at weekends and is very lively and chatty.
They have four children, two girls and two boys two of which are at boarding school and two of which are at university so for the moment we have not met them. the younger two will be back at half term so then we shall have a chance to feel more part of the family. one thing that really strikes me here is the way we don't eat family meals at home around a table- that was something that i always took for granted in Cambridge and quite miss now! but that is just a family thing not a Kenyan thing as many of the others have volunteers have meals around a table with their hosts.
bron xxx
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