Friday, June 10, 2011
Edge of the Earth
There is a place where herds of camels circle by the side of the road, where large land turtles drink from roadside puddles, and the distant hills are Ethiopia. This land has known years of war and even now in peace the outside world offers very little help. Basically, this is a place unrecognized by the Western world. There are medical students training under less than optimal circumstances here, where only a few years ago they might only get one lecture per week. My colleagues here at Kijabe Hospital have made a commitment to help these students and I recently spent a week lecturing and doing patient care with fifth year students. At the same time my surgeon friends were doing scores of surgeries; one of my friends did 36 surgeries, 15 of them gallbladders. There is no one in this country who can take out a gallbladder if our team is not in town. Open fractures stay open for months, until we can fix them. Every day in clinic there are at least 2 or 3 large goiters that haven’t been assessed or treated for years. There is slow progress being made and most of it comes from indigenous efforts and money from the diaspora. The entire medical infrastructure is in slow creation, out of rubble and chaos. To be a small part of this building process was amazing.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
counting down...
The time in Africa is winding down for us. Erika leaves in a few days. As cliché as it sounds, I cannot believe it has been a year? It seems like the time has flown by. Is it partly that we haven’t had seasons of distinction, or that everything has been new and interesting, or that we didn’t have the long gray days of winter, or that it gets dark at 7 every day so the days seem short...??
Who knows…
Now we start to think of what we will miss and what we look forward to as we go home...kind of hard to guess what we will miss...We are sure of some things we look forward to! And we are also quite sure of some things we won’t miss...related to driving alone:
potholes everywhere, unmarked speed bumps...lots of them, high beams only, no street lights or white lines, pedestrians, donkeys and bikers in the road...even when pitch dark...no helmets, and possibly cars or bikes coming at you against traffic! What will it be like to actually be able to see where we are going and to feel like we can go out at night just for fun if we want to?
Remember the bandit story? I got a call the other day from the local police telling me they had caught some guys and they wanted me to come and “identify” them?? Imagine? Would you know what the 3 guys who threatened to shoot you or beat you looked like if you had pressed the pedal down and bolted?! And I still don’t feel comfortable going back on that road.
We got stopped the other day randomly. We were between two matatus (local mini bus transport) and the police claimed we were speeding. He didn’t have any way of measuring speed, just the desire to collect some money. The process can easily lead to having to drive to a court hearing, sitting in jail for an hour or two, and then still paying a bunch of money...this would be how you might avoid just giving them the money in the first place...no ticket, just money direct...perhaps for the police to have lunch later. Warren started suggesting amounts that might make it possible for us to just keep going and get on with our day. It didn’t take long to agree on a stupid amount of money, but a pass to keep going...and this was worth it for us on that day.
John (and now Erika) rides motorbikes here. It is part of the deal...and a big part of life here. He loves it! It scares me. Many of you would think we are insane for allowing him to do this. Maybe we are, but it would be pretty crazy to bring a 17 year old here and tell him he couldn’t as well.
What it takes for me to get to the grocery store...distance, hazards...It will be amazing to have the option of walking down the hill to Safeway or QFC! Or even better...just to walk to a restaurant for dinner. John has lots of restaurant fantasies!
But, despite these complaints, driving is actually a luxury here...most people ride in matatus, driven at insane speeds and packed to double capacity. Many people die in these.
(We are grateful to already have a buyer for our car and one of our motorbikes.)
Back to what will we miss?
Today Erika said that she might miss Abraham more than anything when she leaves. Abraham is a local schizophrenic who arrives on our porch every morning. His toothless grin and HEARTY laugh make us happy. He sticks his head in the window over my sink and says, “Hi mama, how are you? Do you have chai?” We tell him that we will make tea and he sits down on the porch and waits. Abraham is very, very dirty...always in the same wiped out clothes and he brings a few “friends” along to keep him company...as he sits alone on our porch. If he isn’t talking to us he is talking to them. He likes to enjoy a muffin and a banana with his tea...and he knows if there are 3 scoops of sugar in the tea...any less and he will say so. He can drink the tea immediately, near boiling point! He must have all the sensation burned out of his mouth! As he drinks it he tells us...”you are good...you are good...” Who wouldn’t miss this? A happy person who shows up every day and tells you...”you are good”, for doing something as simple as making him tea...
Who knows…
Now we start to think of what we will miss and what we look forward to as we go home...kind of hard to guess what we will miss...We are sure of some things we look forward to! And we are also quite sure of some things we won’t miss...related to driving alone:
potholes everywhere, unmarked speed bumps...lots of them, high beams only, no street lights or white lines, pedestrians, donkeys and bikers in the road...even when pitch dark...no helmets, and possibly cars or bikes coming at you against traffic! What will it be like to actually be able to see where we are going and to feel like we can go out at night just for fun if we want to?
Remember the bandit story? I got a call the other day from the local police telling me they had caught some guys and they wanted me to come and “identify” them?? Imagine? Would you know what the 3 guys who threatened to shoot you or beat you looked like if you had pressed the pedal down and bolted?! And I still don’t feel comfortable going back on that road.
We got stopped the other day randomly. We were between two matatus (local mini bus transport) and the police claimed we were speeding. He didn’t have any way of measuring speed, just the desire to collect some money. The process can easily lead to having to drive to a court hearing, sitting in jail for an hour or two, and then still paying a bunch of money...this would be how you might avoid just giving them the money in the first place...no ticket, just money direct...perhaps for the police to have lunch later. Warren started suggesting amounts that might make it possible for us to just keep going and get on with our day. It didn’t take long to agree on a stupid amount of money, but a pass to keep going...and this was worth it for us on that day.
John (and now Erika) rides motorbikes here. It is part of the deal...and a big part of life here. He loves it! It scares me. Many of you would think we are insane for allowing him to do this. Maybe we are, but it would be pretty crazy to bring a 17 year old here and tell him he couldn’t as well.
What it takes for me to get to the grocery store...distance, hazards...It will be amazing to have the option of walking down the hill to Safeway or QFC! Or even better...just to walk to a restaurant for dinner. John has lots of restaurant fantasies!
But, despite these complaints, driving is actually a luxury here...most people ride in matatus, driven at insane speeds and packed to double capacity. Many people die in these.
(We are grateful to already have a buyer for our car and one of our motorbikes.)
Back to what will we miss?
Today Erika said that she might miss Abraham more than anything when she leaves. Abraham is a local schizophrenic who arrives on our porch every morning. His toothless grin and HEARTY laugh make us happy. He sticks his head in the window over my sink and says, “Hi mama, how are you? Do you have chai?” We tell him that we will make tea and he sits down on the porch and waits. Abraham is very, very dirty...always in the same wiped out clothes and he brings a few “friends” along to keep him company...as he sits alone on our porch. If he isn’t talking to us he is talking to them. He likes to enjoy a muffin and a banana with his tea...and he knows if there are 3 scoops of sugar in the tea...any less and he will say so. He can drink the tea immediately, near boiling point! He must have all the sensation burned out of his mouth! As he drinks it he tells us...”you are good...you are good...” Who wouldn’t miss this? A happy person who shows up every day and tells you...”you are good”, for doing something as simple as making him tea...
Wow! Not a great way to go; only in Africa.
A 31 yo Kenyan man works in people’s shambas (gardens). He does a lot of digging and moves around the local area. Two weeks ago he is digging in a shamba on the edge of Lake Naivasha in the middle of the day. Lake Naivasha is one of the Great Rift Valley Soda Lakes that string along from Tanzania up to Ethiopia. It is a 45 minute drive from Kijabe and we like to go there every month or so. Now about hippos. They are plentiful in Lake Naivasha and one rarely sees them out of the water. They spend the day mostly submerged in the Lake, and come out at night to forage for food. They might even go 3-5 kilometers away from the lake at night looking for grass. Since they are in the lake during the day you don’t have to be afraid of them until the night when they can be up around the lake and if encountered on land can be very deadly. That is why everyone stays away from the lake edge at night, or has powerful electric fences to keep the hippos out. Back to our digging man. He is working away in the middle of the day and should have nothing to worry about. He has probably done this typical day a thousand times. The problem is babies. When hippos have babies the mom will sometimes hide the baby along the lakeshore in the bushes and go off foraging for food. Unbeknownst to our digger he is near to a hidden baby hippo. Momma is quite a long way off but looks and sees that a strange man is close to her hidden baby. This will not do and she comes running at a full gallop to “save” her baby. The poor digging man doesn’t stand a chance and is crushed in the hippo’s mouth all along his right side. His right humerus suffers an open fracture, multiple ribs are broken, there are large abrasions/bruises along the right side of the body. He goes home and doesn’t show up to our hospital for 2 days. Enough time for the wounds to fester and him to become septic. We try to save him for about a week, but in spite of OR debridement/ex fix, chest tube placement, antibiotics, intubation and local wound care, he succumbs to his injuries.
Friday, May 20, 2011
i almost forgot...
Today I realized that I had not blogged about our dinner with Jane! Such an amazing treat....
Here in Kijabe we have a vegetable market of sorts. It isn't the best. The ladies liked it better when they could go door to door and just on Tues and Sat. For some reason this has now been made against the rules and so they have to spend 6 days/week sitting all day at their tables in this little market spot. I find it stressful to go there because I feel obligated to try to buy a little something from each person...there are probably about 8 ladies?? at any given time. Their products are not all equal...so it is the situation where you are thinking, "i need to buy tomatoes, i should buy something from her...her tomatoes aren't great...and those over there...where i already bought zucchini...are much better..." And on and on...The problem is, this makes a person like me want to avoid the place if possible and this is bad for business.
Anyway, I have become quite good friends with one of the vegetable ladies. When we introduced ourselves I was sure she said "jean", so I have called her Jean all year. Not too long ago, after being told by someone else that her name was actually Jane!? I asked her to spell her name. The accent makes it hard to discern between these two names. Sure enough, "j-a-n-e"...Jane. She has never corrected me. I am going to go with the idea that she probably can't really tell which I am saying...accents can be helpful!
A few months ago she came to me with a story about her granddaughter who was in the hospital...needing money to get out etc. I suggested that I could give her money to allow this to happen but maybe she could bring me vegetables...just to make it more like a transaction between friends. (So much of our life here is about people seeking donations from us.) She liked this idea and has brought us vegies several times. But the best thing happened...The transaction strengthened our connection. As a result, she insisted that she was going to have our group up for dinner when the kids were here...that meant 8 people! I tried to get her to wait so it wouldn't be so many, but she insisted.
It was a feast! Incredible Kenyan generosity and hospitality. I know we all felt totally humbled and honored...
Here in Kijabe we have a vegetable market of sorts. It isn't the best. The ladies liked it better when they could go door to door and just on Tues and Sat. For some reason this has now been made against the rules and so they have to spend 6 days/week sitting all day at their tables in this little market spot. I find it stressful to go there because I feel obligated to try to buy a little something from each person...there are probably about 8 ladies?? at any given time. Their products are not all equal...so it is the situation where you are thinking, "i need to buy tomatoes, i should buy something from her...her tomatoes aren't great...and those over there...where i already bought zucchini...are much better..." And on and on...The problem is, this makes a person like me want to avoid the place if possible and this is bad for business.
Anyway, I have become quite good friends with one of the vegetable ladies. When we introduced ourselves I was sure she said "jean", so I have called her Jean all year. Not too long ago, after being told by someone else that her name was actually Jane!? I asked her to spell her name. The accent makes it hard to discern between these two names. Sure enough, "j-a-n-e"...Jane. She has never corrected me. I am going to go with the idea that she probably can't really tell which I am saying...accents can be helpful!
A few months ago she came to me with a story about her granddaughter who was in the hospital...needing money to get out etc. I suggested that I could give her money to allow this to happen but maybe she could bring me vegetables...just to make it more like a transaction between friends. (So much of our life here is about people seeking donations from us.) She liked this idea and has brought us vegies several times. But the best thing happened...The transaction strengthened our connection. As a result, she insisted that she was going to have our group up for dinner when the kids were here...that meant 8 people! I tried to get her to wait so it wouldn't be so many, but she insisted.
It was a feast! Incredible Kenyan generosity and hospitality. I know we all felt totally humbled and honored...
Monday, May 16, 2011
seattle weather forecast.
Today a friend from home wrote and told me that it has not reached 70 degrees in over 190 days in Seattle??!? Wow. That is a long time...and 70 is not even a great target in my opinion. This is not good.
The closer we get to returning home the more we anticipate and the more we think about what we might miss. I know for certain that I will miss the weather. Kijabe enjoys some of the most perfect weather in the world. It has to be. We have sunshine everyday, most of our rain comes at night, I rarely need a sweater, never need a coat, and I have worn out a few pairs of flip flops because that is all I wear. I need to get out of this perfect weather place because my skin is getting too much sun! What a problem...
The Kenyans don't experience it quite the same as we do?? Not sure how this works. This is considered the "rainy" season...and the slight change in temperature is classified as "cold". Even when it was dry and a bit hotter we often saw people wearing down sorts of coats and children bundled like they were about to head out into the snow for a few hours. Warren has often removed balaclava type of hats from children's heads wondering if they have sort of grown with the hat on??, as it seems the child must have been a different size when it was first applied!
So apparently there is a lot to experience and perception, even with regard to weather. I doubt that a year in the sunshine is going to help us with having a positive perception of weather in Seattle when we return. We will have to readjust.
As we begin to anticipate all that we will find easy to adjust to upon our return(John talks about his favorite eating spots a lot!), we also think about what we will miss here. I am still obsessed with the sky...every day, and acacia trees, and the color of the air itself...I recently read a description of the African sky..."Everything stands out, as though...a fourth dimension of space has overlain the world."
Exactly.
Hopefully the impact of these experiences and perceptions will color our return and our life from here forward. One of my first goals is to find paint as similar to acacia bark as possible and fill my upstairs with that color! Since it looks different in every light.....should be an interesting challenge.
Ali and friends have reported in from Morocco. Their adventures continue.
The closer we get to returning home the more we anticipate and the more we think about what we might miss. I know for certain that I will miss the weather. Kijabe enjoys some of the most perfect weather in the world. It has to be. We have sunshine everyday, most of our rain comes at night, I rarely need a sweater, never need a coat, and I have worn out a few pairs of flip flops because that is all I wear. I need to get out of this perfect weather place because my skin is getting too much sun! What a problem...
The Kenyans don't experience it quite the same as we do?? Not sure how this works. This is considered the "rainy" season...and the slight change in temperature is classified as "cold". Even when it was dry and a bit hotter we often saw people wearing down sorts of coats and children bundled like they were about to head out into the snow for a few hours. Warren has often removed balaclava type of hats from children's heads wondering if they have sort of grown with the hat on??, as it seems the child must have been a different size when it was first applied!
So apparently there is a lot to experience and perception, even with regard to weather. I doubt that a year in the sunshine is going to help us with having a positive perception of weather in Seattle when we return. We will have to readjust.
As we begin to anticipate all that we will find easy to adjust to upon our return(John talks about his favorite eating spots a lot!), we also think about what we will miss here. I am still obsessed with the sky...every day, and acacia trees, and the color of the air itself...I recently read a description of the African sky..."Everything stands out, as though...a fourth dimension of space has overlain the world."
Exactly.
Hopefully the impact of these experiences and perceptions will color our return and our life from here forward. One of my first goals is to find paint as similar to acacia bark as possible and fill my upstairs with that color! Since it looks different in every light.....should be an interesting challenge.
Ali and friends have reported in from Morocco. Their adventures continue.
Monday, May 2, 2011
another update from africa...
Alison and Myles have been with us for more than 5 weeks now! Katie has been with us about 4. It has been fantastic. It is hard for us to imagine that we will be back to our smaller group after Saturday, when they head off for more adventure in Europe and Morocco! We have shared a mtn climb, a beach trip, hikes, walks, runs, FOOD, animal spotting, piki riding, sports, games...and this weekend the kids went as a group to the Maasai Mara where they camped and drove to see elephants, lions, rhino, hippos...all with babies...and cheetahs and warthogs...etc etc. With some help from our friends and new Kenya connections they were able to do this for very little money. A huge treat!
Katie and Ali are going to leave here with hair twists, scheduled for tomorrow. This will make hair maintenance easy for the rest of the trip!
They have been great sports, tried everything, reveled in being here...and seem to think that Kijabe is the best place of all.
Times in Africa aren't without incident. And here in Kijabe we have recently had a terrible murder of a child and a break in at the hospital, not without some violence as well. The recent bombing in Morocco gave them a little pause...as they contemplate being there shortly.
But adventure includes just that...and they are ready for more! So off they go on Sat. And we will miss them!!
As for us...we have about 11 weeks left here!? John has started his last term of school and Warren has a teaching/training trip planned to another place in Africa. Erika will be with us until mid June. There are a few more guests coming and going and various things to finish before we leave.
We are starting to feel excited about coming home, with bits of realization that there will be hard things about saying goodbye as well. The time is going to fly by!
Warren has been doing a bit of mtn biking. Yesterday he arrived back at the house absolutely covered in mud! And his words were, "i have to learn, i am not 25 anymore...but i really do still think i am!" Apparently, and obviously!, he had taken some amazing falls...including one where he landed head first on a rock...top of head to rock. It was a good test for the helmet. After quite a long soak in the tub and a lot of work on clean up he seemed pretty ok. Learning that he isn't 25 will take some more time.
Katie and Ali are going to leave here with hair twists, scheduled for tomorrow. This will make hair maintenance easy for the rest of the trip!
They have been great sports, tried everything, reveled in being here...and seem to think that Kijabe is the best place of all.
Times in Africa aren't without incident. And here in Kijabe we have recently had a terrible murder of a child and a break in at the hospital, not without some violence as well. The recent bombing in Morocco gave them a little pause...as they contemplate being there shortly.
But adventure includes just that...and they are ready for more! So off they go on Sat. And we will miss them!!
As for us...we have about 11 weeks left here!? John has started his last term of school and Warren has a teaching/training trip planned to another place in Africa. Erika will be with us until mid June. There are a few more guests coming and going and various things to finish before we leave.
We are starting to feel excited about coming home, with bits of realization that there will be hard things about saying goodbye as well. The time is going to fly by!
Warren has been doing a bit of mtn biking. Yesterday he arrived back at the house absolutely covered in mud! And his words were, "i have to learn, i am not 25 anymore...but i really do still think i am!" Apparently, and obviously!, he had taken some amazing falls...including one where he landed head first on a rock...top of head to rock. It was a good test for the helmet. After quite a long soak in the tub and a lot of work on clean up he seemed pretty ok. Learning that he isn't 25 will take some more time.
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