Four weeks in Kenya… almost

Tomorrow (Veterans’ Day) marks four weeks in Kenya.  I’ve survived my first month!  

When most people think of African wildlife, they imagine elephants, zebras, and giraffes.  Unfortunately the only wildlife I’m encountering is the insects (which are almost as big as elephants!).  As I mentioned last time, the rainy season has now started, and with it comes a wave of creepy crawlies.  Here’s a photo of one I found on my front porch recently.  

 I don’t know what it’s called, but the Kenyans assure me it isn’t dangerous.  Even so, I still didn’t like it hanging around my porch.  It was too big to crush with my shoe, so I gave it a kick and sent the thing flying a good 20 feet into the night; it was heavy! 

Cockroaches are regular visitors in my house.  They’re huge!  Luckly I bought a good pair of sandals in Nairobi which now double as insect squashers. 

Yesterday I discovered a scorpion hanging out on my porch.  It was smaller than I expected, but that didn’t stop me… I quickly killed it with the kitchen broom.  I killed another one outside today.  I tried hitting it with a rock but missed, so I grabbed my trusty broom again.  Worst of all are the centipedes.  I was warned that they were big.  I didn’t realize how big until I spotted one on my neighbor’s porch last night.  It was massive: about an inch thick and six inches long!  It slithers around from side to side like a snake, and I’m told they are poisonous if they touch you.  I’ve seen a couple of them so far.  They are truly an offensive sight.  My neighbor chased it away from the door with the broom and then crushed it in the dirt.  The corpse is still there today, but the ants are working on it (that’s the only good thing about the ants: they clean up all the bugs we kill).  I’ve decided that sandals are best for wearing indoors only (and for killing bugs).  I don’t dare walk around outside unless I have closed-toe shoes, and if I get out of bed at night I carry a flashlight.

This afternoon I was having tea with my neighbors outside.  Just past their back porch is a web about a yard in diameter, and in the center is the biggest spider I’ve ever seen.  Aside from the spider, while we were sitting there, we did manage to spot a baboon running through the brush behind the houses… nice to see at least one animal that has less than six legs.

 

 

Dinner with the Americans, Anita, and Sr. Mary

The doctors from America left a few days ago.  They spent five days in Mutomo doing surgeries for children with hernias and undescended testicles.  It was good to hang out with Americans again.  They were a fun group.  They were all women: one surgeon, one pediatric emergency physician, and four beautiful residents.  They brought with them several jars of peanut butter, which they left behind for me at the end of the week.  Peanut butter has never tasted so good!  I sat down with a spoon and went at the jar for a minute before I got control of myself.  

A burger never tasted so good!

My neighbor recently went to Nairobi for business, and she asked if I wanted any food items brought back, so I sent her with a grocery list.  Among the things she brought back for me were turkey (for Thanksgiving in a few weeks), cheese (which is very expensive), and more peanut butter.  Cheese is a real treat.  Yesterday, I had some extra beef patties sitting in my fridge, along with tomato, and some massive Kenyan avocadoes.  So with my new supply of cheese, I was able to construct a cheeseburger, my first since leaving America.

The male medical ward, empty on this particular day.

Nothing too new to report at work.  Last week the ward was very full, and now we are half empty.  In Mutomo, the patients have to stay in the hospital until they pay their bill.  So oftentimes, we will have a full ward, but only half the patients are still actually being treated.  The cost of hospitalization is startlingly low.  I’m told it’s about 350kshs per day for the bed (that doesn’t include any medications or supplies used by the patient).  So that comes to a little over $4 per day.  Still, it can be a heavy burden for the local people here.  I’ve heard that the average resident makes only about 5,000 kshs per month ($60).

The standard of nursing care can be difficult to cope with at times.  Some of the staff seem to have an aversion to patient care.  Patients are regularly left unexercised, unwashed, sometimes sitting in their own urine.  Unless I bring these things up to my coworkers, they often go unnoticed.  But to be fair, there are other nurses who are very helpful and attentive to the needs of the patients.  The nursing administration has been asking me for ideas on how to improve the quality of nursing care.  I’m hoping to collaborate with them on a few projects in the future, but it will be difficult if the nurses aren’t even motivated to work in the first place.  I’ve heard some nurses commenting on how hard I work when on duty… maybe at the very least I can start by setting a good example of work.

Mutomo on a market day.

Every Saturday is market day in Mutomo.  I went for the first time yesterday, accompanied by Sr. Jennifer, a school teacher who lives at the convent next door.  People from all over come to sell their produce and other products in the market.  Some come from as far as Kitui, which is at least a two hour drive on the perilous matatu buses (I’ve heard the drivers are quite reckless).  After going through the marketplace, I stopped by the barber shop for my first haircut.  I brought an electric razor with me to Kenya, intending to cut my own hair, but the thing sounded like it was about to explode when I plugged it into the outlet.  So I’m forced to go to the barber every month.  I don’t think they are used to cutting white-people hair.  At first Sr. Jennifer seemed concerned that the razor wasn’t cutting my hair very well, but after a minute they figured out that they had to turn the razor against the grain.  I was charged 100 kshs (just over $1).  Sr. Jennifer says they usually charge her only 30 kshs… I guess they gave me the mzungu (white person) price, but for $1 I can’t really complain.

Taken at the top of the mountain.

We have a new set of European volunteers: a surgeon from Norway, a surgical resident from Sweden, and another dentist from Sweden.  Today after Mass, I met with the two Swedes and went for a walk/hike up the mountain (it’s more of a rocky hill really).  Thank goodness for sunblock and water bottles.  It was hot, but the walk was short.  We came to the top of the “mountain” for a view of Mutomo.  It was actually a very good view, and from high up I was surprised to see that the landscape is very hilly on the other side of town.  On the walk back home a group of kids spotted us, ran over, and just walked with us.  They seemed very interested by my camera, so I took a photo for them to see themselves.  It’s interesting that many Kenyans don’t smile for photos, but they are all smiles when you talk to them.  If you want to take the smile off of a Kenyan, you only have to hold up a camera.

View from the top.

This guy followed us for a while on our walk. He was friendly, but I'm still glad I have my rabies vaccination.

The boy in front was all smiles two seconds before the photo.

Thrilled to see their own picture.

This coming week, students all over Kenya are having their exams.  Exams are very important here, as the results determine whether you advance from secondary school to college or university.  Not everybody gets to go.  In fact, many students are not even able to go on to secondary school (which would be high school at home) due to the cost of tuition.  Sr. Jennifer explained that tuition is about $60 per term, but it’s enough to prevent some students from continuing their education.  How ironic that while so many students in the U.S. hate going to school, students here struggle for the chance to go.  My appreciation for all the privileges we take for granted at home continues to grow. 

Pray for the students as they take their exams this coming week.