On The Homestretch

One month left!  It’s going too fast.  My departure is just around the corner.  With so little time remaining, I’m trying to fill every spare minute I have, seeing more of Mutomo and spending as much time as possible with my friends.  In fact, my days off work have been busy and more exhausting than my work in the hospital.

The new banner in the center of town announcing the hospital's Jubilee.

Jubilee choir practice.

Wearing our new choir uniform ... they look much better on Africans than on white people.

Dinner with Anita, our new dentist, Anna (center) and her husband Per.

For some reason, the workload in the hospital has been practically zero the last few weeks.  Last month we had almost 30 patients on medical ward alone.  Now we have fewer than 30 in the whole hospital, with only about 8 patients last week on medical ward.  It has made the days extremely boring, but I’ve lately been taking advantage of the free time to work on some new projects.  As I mentioned in a previous blog, I was developing some education materials for diabetic patients.  The process is finally complete.  After a lot of revision, I’ve compiled a small pamphlet to provide to all diabetic inpatients and outpatients.  The pamphlet focuses on basic diet information specific to the local diet, exercise, management of hypoglycemia, foot care, and additional tips for adherence to treatments.  With much help from some of my colleagues, we then translated the book into Kiswahili. 

English and Kiswahili versions of the new diabetic education book.

Instructions in Kiswahili on dieting and other topics.

Foot care in diabetes.

Management of hypoglycemia and exercise.

My next project is to create a very basic education book to teach family members to do physical therapy with patients at home who have had a stroke.  It’s a long way from being an adequate substitute for a professional physical therapist, but resources are scarce here and we’re told the hospital can’t afford to hire one at the moment.  So I figure this is better than nothing.  More to come on that project.

On a recent trip to the town of Machakos with some friends.

Had a visit in Mutomo from the CMMB Nairobi staff.

Rogers teaching me to cook mandaazi in the hospital canteen.

This guy sells sandals in town which he makes from old tires.

Sandals made of tires.

On an outing with the kids from church.

As I said, my activities outside of work have been many.  A couple weekends ago I went with Sr. Celestine from church to take a couple dozen kids for an outing.  We walked a few kilometers up and over the hills to reach Kaseva dam, a local favorite for daytrips.  I carried a backpack full of snacks for them: bags of peanuts, as well as some candies and granola bars sent from family and friends back home.  The kids loved the treats, and it was a novelty having something all the way from America.  While we snacked, some of the kids entertained us with dancing and reciting of poetry/stories in their local language of Kikamba.

Our outing at Kaseva Dam.

Enjoying snacks sent from America.

This small house shelters one mother and 7 children.

Last weekend I went for yet another outing on Sunday after Mass.  Raymond, a member of our church and a retired staff member from the hospital, took our new Swedish dentist, Anna, and me to visit some houses that are being built for the poorest of the poor in the community.  For some years, Raymond has been working closely with Swedish donors to build sturdy, two-room, concrete houses along with an accompanying water tank for families in great need.  The real value is not the house itself, but the water tank.  One of the families we visited consisted of a single mother and seven children, four of whom have various congenital problems: deafness, tremors, mental retardation.  Each day, the children are sent to walk 15 kilometers (over 9 miles) to collect water!  Imagine the time and effort that will be saved by having water accessible within the home.  The houses are designed with iron-sheet roofs which direct rainwater into gutters, which then feed the water into the tank.  We visited another family, also a single, widowed mother with seven children.  This family of eight lives in a tiny mud-brick hut measuring only a few yards in diameter.  The roof is made of grass and has a large hole in it, providing little protection from the cold and rain.  There is only one bed in the home which some of them share, while the rest crowd on the dirt floor to sleep at night.  This is a family which will clearly benefit from having a new home.  These houses cost just above $2,000 each to build, and are completed in only two weeks of construction.  Altogether we visited four families.  Even after so many months living in Mutomo, the poverty can still be shocking at times.

Interior of the above house.

And this is the new house they will receive.

Interior of the new houses.

The kitchen of another poor family.

Foundation laid for the next new house.  It will be done in just 2 weeks.

Using an old thermos and other objects to support the ceiling.

A small portion of the water required to mix the cement.

Beautiful mountains surrounding Mutomo.

Mother of 7 (plus some other visiting kids); 4 of her children were born with disabilities.

The beautiful African sky.

A dry riverbed, with giant boabab trees to the right.

A boabab tree.

Fruit of the boabab tree.  I has a dry, chalky texture, and is a bit sour.  It is apparently high in vitamin C.

Raymond, the man who coordinates for the construction of the housing for the poor.

Dinner with Angela (the hospital counsellor) and Bretta (nurse)

After the long day of touring the new homes, I returned home and immediately set about preparing dinner for a crowd.  Earlier in the week, I had asked a friend or two to come over for dinner.  But somehow, as the week progressed, it turned into a crowd of eight.  It may not sound like a huge crowd, but when you’re working in a small kitchen and with limited water, it becomes a huge task.  It was the largest meal I’ve attempted here: chicken, spaghetti with meat sauce, lentil soup, guacamole, chapatis, cabbage, and chocolate chip cookies. 

Jane (a clinical officer), her husband James (a nurse anesthetist), and Bretta.

The 2 friends I spend the most time with: nurses Benjamin and Moses.

It was a new experience for the guests, as many of the foods were new to them.  They kept eating the spaghetti sauce alone, like a soup.  “No, you’re supposed to eat it mixed with the noodles.”  The chicken was seasoned with rosemary, which nobody had ever seen before, and they kept referring to the bits of rosemary as “trees.”  Everyone was most impressed with the guacamole, and they found the name “guacamole” hilarious for some reason.  All night they kept repeating the word “guacamole” and laughing their heads off over it.  While preparing the chicken, I removed the gizzards and went outside to discard them, only to be chased down by one of the guests who made me bring them back.  She then announced to everyone that I had tried to throw them away… “What!  Why would you throw away the best part?!”  Apparently the gizzards are highly valued, and are often given to the guest of honor at a meal.  Later in the evening, as the chicken was almost finished, the guests began eating the bones!  I never knew they were edible.  I think I’ll just stick with the meat for now.

Dinner with Jane, James, Angela, Bretta, Moses, Me, and Benjamin.

My friends may be learning about Western food, but I am still learning about African food.  A few days ago I was preparing some ugali (the staple food here) for my supper when a friend came to visit.  “What is that?!” he asked, looking thoroughly disgusted.  I told him it was ugali.  “Eric, how can you eat that?” he said.  “If I made such ugali, I would throw it away and start over again.”  And all along I thought I was making it correctly.  He came the next day and gave me a lesson in preparing “proper” ugali.  Tomorrow I’m to gather with friends for yet another cooking lesson, this time to prepare muthukoi, a dish of soft maize with green peas. 

A shop I frequently visit in town.  The owner, Francis, also works as a technician in the operating theater.

Benjamin on an outing to the rocks overlooking Mutomo.

Punda (aka: "donkey) carrying water from the dam.

Visiting the dam with Benjamin, Ellen (daughter of our Swedish dentist), and Yvonne (Benjamin's girlfriend).

Giant cabbages being sold on market day.

Typical shops set up for market day.

View of the stage, where all the matatus (buses) collect their passengers.

Getting a shave at the kinyozi (barber).

Enjoying another game of football with the students of Holy Family Primary.

With two of our church alter servers (and my football opponents): Antony and Daniel.

Having lunch with the elders at GNCA Thome church during  a recent Harambee (fundraiser) to build a new church.

Dinner with Benjamin, Moses, Yvonne, and Kelvin.

Skin grafting for a patient after a snake bite.  It was the first time I've ever seen a skin graft performed.

Dr. Amollo doing the skin graft (with Francis in the background).  Despite being horribly overworked, Amollo can always be seen laughing and telling jokes.

Moses and I meet a few nights each week in the canteen for a game of table tennis.  I seem to be losing a lot lately.

I am having so much fun with my friends in these final weeks.  Saying goodbye to them will be the hardest part of returning home, and yet knowing them has made this entire year worthwhile.

Please continue to pray for me in these final weeks, for the hospital, for the patients, and for the entire community of Mutomo.