Roosters, AK47s and Proper Gait

It occurred to me earlier that every day in Kenya I have been awoken by a different animal. On day one it was an unrelenting rooster. Day 2 was a quarrel between the neighborhood dogs, followed by a cow who was either really hungry or dying. Either way he was very loud.
After a breakfast of pancakes with plum jam, our family's eldest son Peter walked me to the health center. Peter is a university student studying English literature. He is incredibly articulate and a joy to talk to. He is just like the rest of his family - kind and hospitable.


I toured the health center a day before with Kevin and our coordinator. The center is incredibly overcrowded. Hundreds of people line the benches inside and out of the hospital in anticipation of being cared for. Countless others line the hallways outside of the examination rooms. It is the kind of image Republicans paint for us when they want us to imagine what a health care system would look like if Democrats took over. It was that bad.


I chose to work in the maternity ward for my project mainly because I find that specialty particularly interesting. Almost immediately upon entering the ward, a young lady was carried in by her arms and legs and swung onto a torn-up, barren hospital bed. She had been poisoned by a man who told her he could speed up her pregnancy. Instead he nearly killed her. She was breathing, shaking, and sweating uncontrollably - a telltale sign of an allergic reaction or overdose. Thankfully, IV fluids and the Kenyan equivalent of epinephrine started to stabilize her. Within minutes I hopped into an ambulance with a few staff members and transferred her to a different hospital that was more equipped in dealing with these cases. Some people wake up to Folgers. I wake up to howling farm animals and poisoned Kenyans.

After returning to my health center I sat in on an HIV counseling session. The doctor was advising the Kenyan women on what steps they must take if they are soon to be found HIV positive. It was a sobering meeting no doubt, and I felt the anxiety and tension in the room brewing as each woman's finger got pricked to test for the virus.

Twenty minutes later, each woman entered the examination room one by one to find out their results. Thankfully, none of the women were HIV positive. The doctor's humor may have been a tad misplaced as he revealed the results. He kept joking around, "Are you sure you are negative?" "Check again." It reminded me of this moment during a Family Guy episode. Bad taste. Unnecessary.

For about another hour I took about 20 or so blood pressure readings using a worn-out manual blood pressure cuff. I can't stand manual blood pressure cuffs but it was definitely good practice. I will now be more prepared when my entire hospital has a blackout and needs quick blood pressure readings.

I am now with Kevin at an internet cafe in the downtown area of Kahawa West. We are both excited to go home and stay with our host family. Last night we all taught each other card games. The little girls taught me "AK-47." The game is very simple. The first person to get an Ace a King a 4 and a 7, throws down their cards and goes "AK 47!!!!!!!." I felt like a bad-ass playing that game, even though it was with a deck of cards, not a gun, and I was playing with two grade school Kenyan girls, not gangsters.

Our host family is great fun. They prepare us delicious Kenyan meals and are always so overtly polite. Here is just one example of their politeness: Kevin accidentally walked into a wall and the little girl looked at him and said "Sorry!." I was sorry too. Sorry I had a friend dumb enough to walk into walls.

Both Kevin and I find our work to be quite challenging. We both work within two systems that are structurally flawed beyond belief, underfunded, mismanaged, and incredibly vulnerable to failure. We know there is not much we can do to change any of this. But at least we are doing something, however little it may be, and that contribution, if done by many others as well, will eventually pay off in the long haul.

Thanks so much for reading. There may be many things you have questions about, as I have been told my blog is rather vague. I will be sure to touch base on these things in a future post. I hope this one was a little more detailed for you. Can't wait to see you all when I get back!



TOMMY