Riding along on red clay two-track roads with more rocks, ditches, and mudpuddles than ever thought imaginable- this has made up many hours of the past two days of my life. I have traveled with nurses and doctors to faaarrrr out villages and communities to do immunization clinics for children (usually babies) and pregnant women. Yesterday we rode in a small truck that had a cap of sorts with two rows of seats facing each other in the back, that is where I rode. Today we had a bit more of a normal vehicle but definately no shocks. I actually love the rides though, because the countryside is soo beatiful and riding bumpy 2-tracks reminds me of Drummond Island. But yes, yesterday we had an extremely busy clinic. Upon arriving I had no idea what to do or how to help, but thankfully there was one other American girl yesterday who could show me the ropes- and I needed the basics!- I learned how to assemble different simple medical instruments, diluted one of the vaccines, and was able to give orals to the children (being Vitamin A gel and Oral Polio droplets, if you care haha). Today I did many of the same tasks but was the only non-Kenyan in the group; I really enjoyed talking to the men more and being able to ask them questions and begin learning a couple Kipsigis words. I can say them once, but I REALLY have trouble remembering them...ugh. This afternoon on my "lunch break" I just took my water bottle and camera with me and was able to take a few photos of/with the women at the clinic. They knew nothing about a camera and thought it was awesome to see the picture on the back. One man I took a picture with wanted a copy immediately; unfortunately I had to tell him I could not do that ;) This was a really great ice breaker though for a group of people that only speak Kipsigis...sometimes language barriers REALLY STINK but taking a few pictures was fun. One lady, Estell, invited me to her home, but when Alfred came to ask how far it was and to translate, we found out that is was quite far away so I could not go, but thankfully with Alfred translating, he made things clear and the decision was more reflected on him than on me- I didn't want to offend.
Something that is definately a part of the culture here is CHAI! We have tea twice a day, morning and afternoon. The past two days, our afternoon chai has been in restaurants on the way home from community health. It is just funny, because a cup of chai is 10 shillings, which would be somewhere around $.15. I thought of fifteen cents compared to my like $5 typical Bigby/Starbucks treat and could only laugh. One thing though, you always here those stories of people drinking coffee in foreign countries and having their glass refilled over and over; well, today in the White Hotel, I had to learn to be strategic in my chai drinking. My glass was refilled once, and from then on... I casually watched the waitor as he made rounds and when he would near my table, I would take a sip, assuring that my glass was not on the table at the time he came. Yes, this was not the best thing I could have done-but at the time, it is what I did.
And as far as lessons learned from this trip... I cannot tell you what they will be, but I do know that God is frustrating me in ways that I would have never expected and has much different (and I am sure much greater) plans that I had ever imagined.
Praise the Lord that I have been able to have my computer and the internet both function long enough to write this blog.
Hope you are doing well; I would LOVE to hear from anyone who reads this!
I will write soon and hopefully put up pictures; tomorrow morning I leave for an overnight Safari! -Adios all.
Something that is definately a part of the culture here is CHAI! We have tea twice a day, morning and afternoon. The past two days, our afternoon chai has been in restaurants on the way home from community health. It is just funny, because a cup of chai is 10 shillings, which would be somewhere around $.15. I thought of fifteen cents compared to my like $5 typical Bigby/Starbucks treat and could only laugh. One thing though, you always here those stories of people drinking coffee in foreign countries and having their glass refilled over and over; well, today in the White Hotel, I had to learn to be strategic in my chai drinking. My glass was refilled once, and from then on... I casually watched the waitor as he made rounds and when he would near my table, I would take a sip, assuring that my glass was not on the table at the time he came. Yes, this was not the best thing I could have done-but at the time, it is what I did.
And as far as lessons learned from this trip... I cannot tell you what they will be, but I do know that God is frustrating me in ways that I would have never expected and has much different (and I am sure much greater) plans that I had ever imagined.
Praise the Lord that I have been able to have my computer and the internet both function long enough to write this blog.
Hope you are doing well; I would LOVE to hear from anyone who reads this!
I will write soon and hopefully put up pictures; tomorrow morning I leave for an overnight Safari! -Adios all.
***These are some of the women from the clinic today. The picture below is from a walk with Michael and Aliya today near the compound. 
1 comment:
Great reporting on your activities. God is really stretching you.
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