I got my bill for the trip a few days ago, so still feel free to click the chip-in button.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at about 5:30 PM

Dear Folks,

This week has gotten more exciting as it has gone along.  Bear with the medical stuff for a minute… When we arrived at the clinic yesterday a man in the final stages of AIDS was waiting for us; we could not do much more than give him fluids and watch while his friend tried to find a way to get him back home.  He ended up lying down on the ground to wait and we just worked around him.  Later we saw a boy in sickle cell crisis (kudos to Mildred for picking that up); his heart was beating so hard and fast his entire body vibrated.  We treated him with medication and IV fluids and sent him to the hospital using the only form of transportation available – motorcycle (piki piki in Swahili).  We also sent a patient with a potentially broken hip on the motorcycle to the hospital for an x-ray.  Be thankful for 911, ambulances and narcotics.

Today a beautiful thirty-something woman came in with a huge mushroom-like tumor that has replaced one eyeball; we are asking that she be seen in Nairobi and trying to help her get the care she needs.  Later a six-week old infant came to the clinic with grandma because mom died giving birth and dad is working out of town (permanently, it seems).  She cannot afford to buy milk so is feeding the baby porridge (not the ideal diet for an infant with the result being severe diarrhea and malnutrition).  This baby was and maybe still is going to die without intervention.  We sent a runner for a container of cow’s milk from the village which the baby took with a syringe and a finger in her mouth to stimulate the sucking reflex.  She looked a lot perkier when she left; we hope to see her again tomorrow and purchased baby bottles and formula at the Nakumart just in case.

Last night we ate dinner on the shores of Lake Victoria not far from Hippo Point.  The restaurant was reminiscent of a classic “out of Africa” setting with long cloth-covered tables in a high-ceilinged room and cool tile floors.  We ate outdoors on the covered patio at tables set for us, watching the sunset, relaxing and enjoying the breeze, the scenery and each others’ company.

We have one more clinic day tomorrow and Friday off to tidy up, pack and prepare to leave Kisumu for home or safari.  Tomorrow night we are honoring our hard-working local interpreters with a party by the hotel pool.  The time that seemed like it would never end is almost gone and now seems too short – there is so much here that needs to be done and just not enough resources to go around.  We hope to have made at least a small difference.

More to come on Friday, but that will be the last email of the trip (there is no reliable internet on the Masai Mara) until we get ready to leave Nairobi on Tuesday.

Hugs from all of us at SHARE Kenya 2009.

And the second email:

Friday, December 11, 2009 at 6:00 PM

Dear Friends and Family,

Our last clinic day was a fast and furious one.  We saw about 350 patients with the usually unusual variety of illnesses.  Then we cleaned up the clinic spaces as quickly as possible and jumped back on the bus for the last hot, dusty ride back to the hotel.  Our party for the interpreters was not impaired by the big thunderstorm that rolled through – we celebrated in the storm with gifts and stories and dancing (although the barbeque was pretty damp).

Today most of us ran around to do last –minute shopping; some had fresh tilapia with Dr. Bonz lakeside and some went to the equator and some did both!

The safari company is here now and our luggage is being gathered up to go on ahead to Nairobi.  We’re off to enjoy some well-deserved play time.

Love to all – can’t wait to see you in person!

SHARE Kenya 2009

By the way, today is Alicia’s birthday.

Monday, December 7, 2009 at 9:30 PM

Dear SHARE Kenya Groupies,

Thanks for your emails – any that you have asked Dr. Ice to share have been forwarded to the respective party. Several people have had birthdays on the trip and (unbeknownst to us) uncles related by marriage were here at the same time! It is good to know that you are thinking of us as we go through this radical experience.

At church on Saturday, a great-grandma who had her knees injected with cortisone at the clinic the day before boogied in the aisle to Kenyan music; her happiness was contagious. The children danced for us as well. We sang Amazing Grace, Silent Night and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. Looking around the building it was easy to see older adults and children represented but the middle-aged were conspicuously absent, many presumably victims of HIV/AIDS. You don’t think too much about what middle-aged people contribute to a community, but they typically work/earn money, provide for and raise children and help care for their parents. They are missed here in many ways.

We miss our team of engineers from Ohio Northern University, who left for home on Saturday. They decided to undertake the tasks of designing a rainwater harvesting system to collect rainwater from the roof of the clinic during the rainy season and store it for use during the dry season, and installing a solar water heater for the clinic. These and other projects could be implemented by a new group of engineering students next year, by the CARE Kenya team or at a later date by our friends John, Tom, Chris, Matt and Nate.

The Masara village people had a party for us on Sunday, with a band and lots of different foods. Again there was dancing and the children were everywhere. We came back sunburned – it is hot here!!!

One of our wonderful pediatricians (Jeff) left for home as planned today on what turned out to be the busiest clinic day yet – we saw close to 400 patients and were at the clinic until almost dark. All of us are tired but pleased with the work we have done. The cow that comes to graze in the clinic compound every day was back again, too – one of the village boys said it was sick but it must be feeling better because it is leaving large patties everywhere that you have to sidestep as you run back and forth trying to care for patients. We also now have water to flush our commodes, which are still holes flush with the ground but they smell pretty good compared to those without water.

Christmas lights are up at the Nakumatt – the Kenyan grocery where we stop to get shillings from the ATM, water, snacks, etc. It was a nice reminder of all the pleasures of the season soon to come at home as we get closer to the end of our second week.

Best from the SHARE Kenya crew

Here’s another email below from one of the group leaders:

December 5, 2009 @ 5:00 am

Dear Friends and Family,

It is Saturday AM in Kenya and we are setting ready to go back to the Clinic for another day of work. We are averaging about 300 patients a day and today should be no different. Following clinic we will attend church services in Masara Village and then head back to Kisumu – some folks are planning to go out to experience Kenyan nightlife (chaperoned, of course!) this evening. Those who drink beer are appreciating a cold Tusker at the end of the dayJ. Yesterday we went to visit a center for street children (Hope for Victoria’s Children or HOVIC). It was unbelievable – not a pretty sight. They did have items for sale to raise money for the center and together we contributed $700.00 with our purchases.

Tomorrow we are going to the village again but not to work – the villagers are making lunch for all of us – not a small thing to do for 50 people.

Thanks to all of you who have called and sent email – it feels good to know that people at home care about us and are thinking of us.

Love to all from the SHARE Kenya crew.

Anyways, I got another email from one of the group leaders this morning. You can read it below:

Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at about 5 PM

Dear Friends and Family,

We are all hanging in there, although a few of us have begun experiencing the unwelcome effects of eating new foods in strange lands. Nothing that a few highly trained professionals can’t handle…

Yesterday (Tuesday) we had a full clinic day, beginning with our hour-long bus/truck ride on the 2-lane Oginga Odinga Road from Kisumu to Ahero. Vehicles in Kenya move forward on the left-hand side of the road and at that time of day (perhaps all day) it is packed full of trucks (pickups and larger ones for hauling freight but not 18 wheelers thank goodness), vans, buses, motorcycles (many with passengers who have paid for the ride), bicycles (also many carrying at least one paying passenger), pedestrians, cows, sheep and goats. At that time of day the air is cool and you can see people getting set up for their day and going to work, women carrying large loads on their heads and children herding livestock. Ahero was a madhouse because it was market day and everyone was there to trade – this reduced our patient load somewhat but that was not a bad thing for our first full day. We were a little late arriving at the clinic because the rains had caused the road from Ahero to Masara to flood and it was terribly muddy, so much so that the bus was not able to get through and we had to walk the last π mile. Children from the village accompanied us – we wore shoes and rolled up our pant legs but most of them went barefoot through the mud (shoes are a luxury not everyone can afford), many carrying younger siblings. Despite the conditions, the kids are generally in good spirits and interested in talking to the Americans. Unless they are sick, which many were, with meningitis, malnutrition, whooping cough, malaria, pneumonia, abscesses – common conditions associated with poverty in Kenya. We worked all day in tough conditions but everyone considered the day well-spent; we stopped at the outdoor market on our way back to the hotel and took time to shop for souvenirs.

Today the road was drier and we got an earlier start, caring for about 300 patients. We rigged up tarps to provide shade for our intake and pharmacy areas (patients line up and wait for care for many hours in the equatorial sun – folks in the US would never wait that long anywhere!) and are starting to hit our very sweaty stride.

Time now to clean up for dinner, a clinical presentation and then a much-needed rest. We’ll see you in our dreams!

Best from the SHARE Kenya crew.

Thanks for reading!

We had our first full day of seeing patients today.  Sunday it was about to rain so we had to leave so the bus wouldn’t get stuck in the mud.  That meant we had to finish organizing on Monday before we started seeing patients.  There are soooooooo many kids.  They chase the bus as soon as they see it coming.

The bus is borrowed from a school.  It’s not a typical American bus.  There is no AC and we put almost 50 people in it.  There are 3 people sitting on one side, 2 on the other, and a full standing row.  The Ohio people feel like they are going to die in the heat.  Haha!

There is a lot of malaria that we’re treating at the clinic and a lot of people being referred for chest x-rays for tuberculosis.  There is also a lot of pain patients since they have such laborous jobs.

We visited the public hospital yesterday.  It was unreal.  It was like I was seeing it on TV, not like I was actually there.  It’s hard to believe that conditions like that really exist.  There were 2-3 people per bed, no AC, flies all over the patients, all of the beds are crammed into one big room.  Unreal.

The hotel we are staying at is very nice for a Kenyan hotel.  I’m not high maintenance so I am grateful for what we’re getting while I’m here.  If this hotel was in America, probably everyone I know would avoid it like the plague.  But for here it’s a resort.  Really puts things in perspective.

I bought a few souvenirs at the souvenir market today.  Can’t say what because some are Christmas presents.  But I want to buy everything!  I’d have to redecorate my whole house African to make it fit somewhere.  Haha!  If I had room or use for this stuff, I’d buy the whole market.

There is so much more to say, but I can’t type it all at once.  I’ll keep you posted, and Matt will too.  Stay tuned.  Pictures to come….

Monday, November 30, 2009 at 6:15 PM

Dear Friends and Family,

I’m sorry that you did not not get a message earlier - our assistant in Athens was ill today and did not get the message that we arrived safely (Saturday) to pass on to you.  We’re still doing fine – the trip is becoming more interesting every day.

Yesterday (Sunday) we flew over Kenya from Nairobi to Kisumu in small airplanes, so we were able to see the land below.  It was a beautiful, breezy day – not too hot.  It is spring here so everyone is planting gardens and many trees are in bloom.  The Our Lady of Perpetual Hope bus met us at the airport and somehow transported all of us to the Milimani in Kisumu.  Fortunately a truck was available to take a few others or we may not have fit!  We passed cattle, goats and people lining the road in corrugated metal huts which I was told are small shops.  Apparently everyone has something to sell.  The Milimani staff had decorated a cake and made fresh orangeade, which was welcome after that trip.  We waited a long time for our crates of medical supplies and luggage to arrive, but when it did we rearranged things and made our first trip to the clinic to set up.  It was cut short by a major thunderstorm which forced us all back into the bus for a much quicker trip home – speed being critical to avoid getting stuck in the muddy road. This storm caused power outages so we spent most of the rest of the evening by candle/flashlight.

Today we started early and saw our first patients.  We have a crew of interpreters to help translate medical terms – they are a great group.  Fields lining the road for miles approaching the village are planted in rice and apparently helping people make a better living.  Not too many patients were expecting us so we closed the clinic and headed back to the city at noon.  We spent the afternoon doing a variety of things – some visited the hospital, some went to Lake Victoria, some tried to get money and supplies from the local grocery.  We are attending a presentation on tropical diseases this evening.

All the best from the SHARE Kenya crew!

For those who are wondering, Kenya’s time zone is 9 hours ahead of US central standard time. Here’s a map of where Kisumu, Kenya is located:

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