Blog Post – June 26, 2009
It is Friday afternoon in Kenya, Africa, and I’m realizing that I really like being away from a world that has internet, cable television, text messaging, and voice mail at it’s fingertips. It’s nice to come back home and not be able to feed the compulsion of checking these things constantly. As I say this, I’m writing this blog while surfing on a dial-up connection that usually doesn’t work on my computer. The connection is oh so slow to what I am used to back home. However, this time away from technology has allowed me to invest in a lot of reading and contemplating things that matter to me. Of course, that isn’t always a good thing for me. :) However, I am thankful that I can’t run to the tv or my computer to find an immediate distraction.
Anyway, to update you on what is going on in Kenya, Nick and I arrived at Kijabe Hospital in Kenya on Tuesday morning. We left the guesthouse where we stayed at in Nairobi at about 9 am, stopped to pick up some essential groceries and of course, toilet paper, and we arrived at the guesthouse in Kijabe at about 10:30 am local time. The roads were surprisingly good until the last 7 km, which was down the mountain to Kijabe. This road was littered with potholes and was extremely roughed.
We arrived to find that we were rooming in a three bedroom apartment with 2 other guys from the States who were already here. One is a software programmer doing some great work in getting the hospital’s computer stuff running better. The other is a resident physician who’s been here for about 10 days already and is staying for 2 months.
The accommodations that we are staying in are extremely nice. It’s a furnished apartment on the 3rd floor of the guesthouse. Much better than I expected, to say the least. We even have a full kitchen at our disposal, which has been nice to take advantage of.
The weather here has been beautiful. It’s usually in the upper 70’s during the day and 50’s at night. I’ve only had to wear sunscreen once, and that was today when I did some hiking and exploring on my own around the area. When it rains, it gets rather cool. The other day, I saw a Kenyan wearing a winter coat and a stocking hat in the morning. It was probably in the upper 60’s….this is obviously their winter.
I had the opportunity to participate in some soccer on Wednesday evening, which was really nice as I definitely need the physical activity. It was fun, although it was pretty clear that soccer is not a natural sport for me.
As for the real reason I’m here, I’ve gotten to do a lot of observing at the hospital, which has helped me to learn a lot about what it is like for medical students to do. I’ve also met some of the staff, and this place is a great place for students and residents to come to. The staff are great teachers and obviously really care about the patients. The hospital is much larger than what I expected. Not sure how to describe it, but it’s definitely a full running hospital…I guess I was expecting more of a rural clinic feel, which is not the case.
Yesterday we did go to a rural clinic though. It took about 45 minutes to get there. The ride there was made in one of the hospitals “ambulances”. Basically an old SUV with seats in the back. Some of the roads to the clinic were ROUGH. It reminded me of when I was a kid driving the pickup in the pasture and hitting a pothole that I didn’t see; except these potholes were everywhere. Also, we went on a gravel road unlike I have ever seen in my life. The pieces of rock were literally huge chunks about 6 inches in length. I couldn’t believe they didn’t pop the tires of our vehicle. We ended up seeing about 60 patients at the rural clinic. I sat in on Nick as he was put to work seeing patients. It was definitely a learning experience to see what healthcare is done like in a rural setting in a developing country.
The food has been pretty good. Nick and I have had a lot of peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwiches, but we’ve also had some good African food. Everyday for lunch I’ve had beef stew (the beef is mighty tough!), rice, and tortilla’s that have been cooked with butter (really good!). We may make spaghetti tonight, which will be a nice change of pace.
We’re planning on going on a safari tomorrow (Saturday) and then with a group of students hiking on Sunday. Looks to be an eventful weekend.
I’m proud to see that the Royal’s won 2 out of 3 from the Astro’s. Hopefully they take care of business and stay out of last place through the season.