Yesterday morning, I had the chance to go on morning rounds at Maseno Hospital. Which in some ways was very similar to my experience on Internal Medicine 1 at Yale New Haven. There were about 5 of us at any given time following Dr. Hardison from bed to bed at the hospital. However... there were some things that were very different (and this is even after you ignore the stark differences... like the lack of monitors or IV poles or 16 beds to a room or the mosquito nets over every bed or the small number of sinks or antibacterial gel)
- On the walk to the hospital, we passed the 4 hospital cows grazing on the grass... on the bright side, their lawn mowers also serve as a tasty dinner
- The hospital rooster could be heard crowing through the window at the start of rounds
- 2 of the people on rounds were in flip flops
- Dr. Hardison reminded a patient who was going to be discharged to take his XRay home with him
And then there were the heart breaking differences...
- Many people don't know that they have AIDS until they present to the hospital very sick with an opprotunistic infection (TB, thrush, cryptococcal meningitis, and toxoplasmosis are the most typical)... so a frequent question on rounds was, "Has the patient been told his (HIV) status?"
- A 12 year old girl had come into the hospital the night before mute and crying... and all signs pointed towards some sort of sexual abuse
- A friendly gentleman had been in the men's ward since he had his leg amputated on January 7... the surgeon did such a poor job that Dr. Hardison has decided to not allow surgeries at the hospital until a new surgeon is found.
- The night before a woman had been brought into the hospital and passed away 2 hours later... her body was still sitting in the ward that morning. While we were on rounds, her family came to pick up the body...
It was a little overwhelming to say the least.
However, there were the moments of sunshine.
Like little baby Elvis, our very own heart breaker at Maseno Hospital. A chubby 8 month old baby with an angelic face who gave out smiles freely.
And you start to find humor in the small things... like when Lorna, one of the clinical officers, asked Dr. Hardison what they should treat schistasomiasis (schistosomes are a parasite that lives in the water of Lake Victoria and crawl up through your feet). Dr. Hardison replied, "Prasoquantil." Lorna asked, "What if we don't have any?" To which Dr. Hardison replied with a twinkle in his eye, " Well, schistozomes have to live too!"
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Orphan Feeding Program Video
Not sure if this is going to work... but we're testing it out! My camera has a video option, so I experimented with it at the Orphan Feeding Program. If it does load correctly, the words to the song are,
"I have a Father who never ever fails. I have a Father who never ever fails. Oh Jesus is my Father who never ever fails" and then a line I don't understand quite yet.
The second clip is of one of the maths lessons.
And lastly, you can see Jess playing dodgeball with the kids... using a soccer ball. The Muzungus were favorites to try and get into the middle!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Orphan Feeding Program
Day 2.5 in Kenya... a different world. Still trying to navigate the kinks in the research system. Hopefully will be meeting with a professor at the university on Monday...
This morning Nan Hardison came and picked us up from the hospital and we drove to a parish that's a little farther out from Maseno. Every Saturday morning they have the orphan feeding program. The kids walk from all over to come. The basic structure is school in the morning. I was put on the spot and asked to teach maths and english. Luckily I was teaching the youngest kids so for math we were counting (the teacher would teach in swahili and then I'd count in English) and then for English we did basic repition. (Good Morning class! Good morning teacher! Hi, how are you? I'm fine thank you. etc.) and naming of objects (this is a pencil. That is a ruler. etc.). After each lesson the kids would write the words on the board into their "book" which was basically like a blue book and I got to go around with a red pen and check their work. Then it was time for singing and games. Lets just say that the kids are pretty entertained by dodge ball... especially when it was one of the "muzungus" (white people) who were in the center. Finally the day ended with lunch. Ugale (like a corn mash... kinda like grits without the flavor) and some cooked kale. The Ugale is super filling and is currently sitting like a rock in my stomach. I'm having to learn how to say, "I'm full" which is really hard to do... when the cook is sitting there waiting for you to finish your first helping so that they can give you a second helping... and there are literally starving kids in Africa... 10 ft away.
When the kids sang... it was amazing. I look at them and by US standards they have nothing... but they sing with joy... and run after a ball made out of burlap sacks because they don't have a soccer ball... and shout, "God is good, all the time!"
This morning Nan Hardison came and picked us up from the hospital and we drove to a parish that's a little farther out from Maseno. Every Saturday morning they have the orphan feeding program. The kids walk from all over to come. The basic structure is school in the morning. I was put on the spot and asked to teach maths and english. Luckily I was teaching the youngest kids so for math we were counting (the teacher would teach in swahili and then I'd count in English) and then for English we did basic repition. (Good Morning class! Good morning teacher! Hi, how are you? I'm fine thank you. etc.) and naming of objects (this is a pencil. That is a ruler. etc.). After each lesson the kids would write the words on the board into their "book" which was basically like a blue book and I got to go around with a red pen and check their work. Then it was time for singing and games. Lets just say that the kids are pretty entertained by dodge ball... especially when it was one of the "muzungus" (white people) who were in the center. Finally the day ended with lunch. Ugale (like a corn mash... kinda like grits without the flavor) and some cooked kale. The Ugale is super filling and is currently sitting like a rock in my stomach. I'm having to learn how to say, "I'm full" which is really hard to do... when the cook is sitting there waiting for you to finish your first helping so that they can give you a second helping... and there are literally starving kids in Africa... 10 ft away.
When the kids sang... it was amazing. I look at them and by US standards they have nothing... but they sing with joy... and run after a ball made out of burlap sacks because they don't have a soccer ball... and shout, "God is good, all the time!"
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
The Journey Begins
Leg one of the plane trip completed. Big fan of Emirates airlines... and I flew economy! Excellent meals, wide selection of movies and music... AND I had 3 seats ALL TO MYSELF!!! YAHOO!!!
Since there's free wifi in the airport in Dubai, I thought I'd throw together a quick post. Still a little anxious about everything with Kenya, but more and more am just getting excited. This is an incredibly opportunity and adventure. I think that facet of the trip is sinking in more and more all the time.
The journey began Tuesday, when I waved goodbye to the Branhouse and Merry took me to the train station. I had an excellent night in Queens with Liz and Chris. Most amazing authentic Chinese buffet EVER
And in true form, since I was flying out the next day they got snow in NYC (luckily it was only an inch and not nearly enough to cause flight delays. The next morning, Chris helped me to get to the air train to JFK... and the rest is summarrized by saying, I got on the flight, it was long, I slept some and watched some movies (Fame and Up) and now, I sit in the Dubai airport for another hour. I know that this post was neither deep nor profound... but with jet lag starting to kick in, this is the best that I can do. :-)
Since there's free wifi in the airport in Dubai, I thought I'd throw together a quick post. Still a little anxious about everything with Kenya, but more and more am just getting excited. This is an incredibly opportunity and adventure. I think that facet of the trip is sinking in more and more all the time.
The journey began Tuesday, when I waved goodbye to the Branhouse and Merry took me to the train station. I had an excellent night in Queens with Liz and Chris. Most amazing authentic Chinese buffet EVER
And in true form, since I was flying out the next day they got snow in NYC (luckily it was only an inch and not nearly enough to cause flight delays. The next morning, Chris helped me to get to the air train to JFK... and the rest is summarrized by saying, I got on the flight, it was long, I slept some and watched some movies (Fame and Up) and now, I sit in the Dubai airport for another hour. I know that this post was neither deep nor profound... but with jet lag starting to kick in, this is the best that I can do. :-)
Monday, February 1, 2010
Control
Time and time again with in my preparation for Kenya, God has brought to light my desire for control and my reluctance to surrender. Don't misunderstand me. Control in and of itself is not a bad thing. It is good for me to be in control of my car when I drive it or in control of my hands when I put sutures in someone's face. The problem comes when I try to convince myself that my plans supercede anything else... and then I try to convince God that if he would follow my recommendations, it would be for the best.
This has come to light the most in my dealings with the Kenyan National Council for Science and Technology. At the beginning of November, I found out that I needed ethics approval from the Kenyan government for my project. Unfortunately, they wanted the the paperwork for the approval 2 months prior to my arrival in the country. As I had a plane ticket booked that put me in Kenya on January 2, this was a problem. So for 24 hours I ran around like a mad woman... trying to get my application in order and contact the Kenyan government and crying many many tears and feeling generally helpless and out of control. I did spend sometime to journal some prayers... and at one point I said, "Father, I know that you're good. I know that you're faithful. I've seen you work in the past. Work again." And in his wisdom, he left me in that state of waiting and worry for another 24 hours to remind me that he is in control. Resolution came in a way that I couldn't have expected: the program authorized moving a rotation to January and delaying my start date and the fellowship paid for my ticket change fees. And then then unexpected blessings (the ones I couldn't have imagined) came... staying at home an extra week at Christmas... meeting Andrew...
After that you'd think I'd learn to surrender and trust.
Nope.
Found out on Friday that the Kenyan government wants affiliation with a Kenyan University (this came as a surprise to all involved with this process)... As I'm flying out on Wednesday, this was slightly distressing and problematic and was going to necessitate itinerary changes once I landed in Nairobi. I already felt anxious about traveling alone... but this intensified all of those feelings. Once again, I found myself coping with the panic of feeling out of control. And in that moment when I finally surrendered, I received word from Dr. and Mrs. Hardison (my sponsors in Kenya) that they had found a professor at the local university who agreed to sponsor me. For the first time in weeks, my excitement about going to Kenya outweighs my nerves and my fears.
God is good.
All the time.
And I pray that this will be my continual prayer:
"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I have put my hope."
Psalm 130:5
This has come to light the most in my dealings with the Kenyan National Council for Science and Technology. At the beginning of November, I found out that I needed ethics approval from the Kenyan government for my project. Unfortunately, they wanted the the paperwork for the approval 2 months prior to my arrival in the country. As I had a plane ticket booked that put me in Kenya on January 2, this was a problem. So for 24 hours I ran around like a mad woman... trying to get my application in order and contact the Kenyan government and crying many many tears and feeling generally helpless and out of control. I did spend sometime to journal some prayers... and at one point I said, "Father, I know that you're good. I know that you're faithful. I've seen you work in the past. Work again." And in his wisdom, he left me in that state of waiting and worry for another 24 hours to remind me that he is in control. Resolution came in a way that I couldn't have expected: the program authorized moving a rotation to January and delaying my start date and the fellowship paid for my ticket change fees. And then then unexpected blessings (the ones I couldn't have imagined) came... staying at home an extra week at Christmas... meeting Andrew...
After that you'd think I'd learn to surrender and trust.
Nope.
Found out on Friday that the Kenyan government wants affiliation with a Kenyan University (this came as a surprise to all involved with this process)... As I'm flying out on Wednesday, this was slightly distressing and problematic and was going to necessitate itinerary changes once I landed in Nairobi. I already felt anxious about traveling alone... but this intensified all of those feelings. Once again, I found myself coping with the panic of feeling out of control. And in that moment when I finally surrendered, I received word from Dr. and Mrs. Hardison (my sponsors in Kenya) that they had found a professor at the local university who agreed to sponsor me. For the first time in weeks, my excitement about going to Kenya outweighs my nerves and my fears.
God is good.
All the time.
And I pray that this will be my continual prayer:
"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I have put my hope."
Psalm 130:5
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Perfectly and Incandescently Happy
Today I turn 26... and my heart and my life is full... I couldn't have imagined the way that God has seen fit to bless me... All I can do is to rejoice in the words of Paul,
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Eph. 3:20-21
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Eph. 3:20-21
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