Final thoughts

I am sitting in the Nairobi airport waiting to go home, just as I have done 10 times before. This time however, my frequent flyer status has scored us some lounge passes for British Airways. I could get used to this. For starters, the place is air conditioned, unlike the rest of the terminal. It's like a foreshadowing of home, while still here in a foreign land. That would preach, wouldn't it?

That's exactly what we experienced this morning. After breakfast at the Kunste, we rolled out for Kikitemo Feeding Station to see their progress and to visit Grace, my favorite disciple of Jesus. The joy that we always feel with these people is still there, even in their new location. They are just so happy, despite what they have been through. They have first-hand knowledge of how their God can save them from death and pain.

When we met with them in their new dining hall, Grace stood up and said a few words. She told the story of how in the begining, they would look toward the road nearby, certain that their salvation would arrive from the government in Nairobi. Later,when they placed their faith in God to save them, he delivered their salvation from the air, meaning us. She has pledged to serve these people untile she dies. I believe that they are in good hands.

This medical team has been fortunate to see what it feels like to be a part of Gods plan of receipts for this world, and they will forever be changed. Serving others is a great feeling, but serving in the name of Christ is what we were made for.

Thanks for following our adventures is past two weeks. It's been a real privilege to be here.


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Travel Day with a Twist!

The team did so well this week.  We were able to see almost 400 people in three days!  It was an amazing display of Christ’s love poured out through the hands and feet of these great people.  Our Kenyan partners were spectacular as well, chipping in everywhere they could and loving all the kids they saw.

This morning we were able to pack, load and depart the training center before 9:30.  We drove into Kericho, seeing some of the spectacular landscapes that we missed on our dark drive in on Sunday.  Passing through Kericho we met up with Francis Chepkwony, our WBS worker and Feeding Station Director for this area, who had arranged a tour of a local tea factory for us.  Everyone was very excited for this surprise as we drove about 5km down a bad road to the Toror (“higher” in Swahili) Tea Factory.

See the pics at our facebook page, www.facebook.com/kwoministries

Toror is a plant of the Kenya Tea Development Association, a cooperative for small tea farmers in Kenya.  They produce tea for other companies who blend it into finished tea products.  They are different from the multinational corporations in that they are owned by the small farmers.  One of these farmers is on the board of directors for KTDA and also a member of Francis Chepkwony’s church.  That’s how we were able to get this invitation.

The Assistant Production Manager for Toror, who put us in lab coats and hats and handed us off to two supervisors, greeted us.  The supervisors walked us around the plant, showing us how tea leaves went through the various processes to make them ready for use in tea blends.  First they are received, with weights verified from the pickup records. Then they go through a process called wilting, which standardizes their moisture content.  Then the leaves are cut down to a small size, fermented, and dried.  The result is graded by size and shipped off to auction at Mombassa.  They also are sold at the gate of the factory at a greatly reduced price.  We were able to buy some very high grade tea there to take home.

It was a very cool side trip, with no cost and a small time investment.  The team was very grateful; as this is something you would never get to see without some connections.  I really enjoyed it as well, and will always be grateful to Chepkwony for setting it up.  When we had finished, we set out on the long, bad road to Nakuru.

About 25km out from Nakuru, we encountered a new diversion.  We are still not sure why it was there, but they had rerouted all traffic from the highway to a small feeder road and onto a different highway that entered town from the North.  It added almost an hour to our journey, but we made it just fine.  After a brief stop at the Nakumat, we loaded up for the Kunste Hotel.

Now, after a nice dinner and a hot shower, the first one in a while, I feel a lot better.   Tomorrow, we are stopping briefly at the Kikitemo IDP camp and then into Nairobi for shopping and our late night departure for home.  I’ll write some final recollections from the airport, as I always do.  Be blessed.

Clinic Day Three

This morning, we awoke to a changed world.  The rains last night left everything muddy and wet.  We even had a little visit from some mud in the back door of the guest house.  A little problem with the drainage that was easily corrected, but itbrought some drama.  In that kind of downpour, under a metal roof, it was a little scary.  It reminds me of how fragile we really are.  We were never in any danger, but the noise alone can bring apprehension.

 

My apprehension was of a different sort.  Yesterday I promised the widows at Lee McGraw I would come get them in the vehicle for clinic.  I've driven a lot of miles, but not many in mud.  I asked Thomas and Joseph if they thought the road would be ok to travel and they both said yes.  I took Lucas, a local pastor, with me and weset out down the road.  It was slippery for sure, but not as bad as I feared.  There were a couple of spots that were tricky but we made it.

 

The widows and smaller orphans had come up the road past the break to meet us.  When I saw that there were over 25 kids, plus the widows, I locked the wheel hubs and put the vehicle into four-wheel-drive.  We were rolling heavy as we traversed the muddy road, but the Land Cruiser was up to the task.  Breathing easier, we rolled into the Training Center compound to the cheers of the kids.

 

The team had made some changes to the flow of things for this last, heavy day and it was really paying off.  They were able to see 101 kids before a late lunch and then knocked out another 70 this afternoon.  There were some difficult dental extractions, and the sad case of a grandmother, probably 70 years old, trying to care for a baby who was just orphaned by her AIDS infected mother.   We were able to wrap up by 6:30 and begin theinventories and packing we needed to do.

 

Tomorrow we will begin the trip home with the long drive to Nakuru.  We will be able to break it up a little with a possible tour of a tea factory, arranged by our WBS worker inKericho, Francis Chepkwony.  I hope he is able to make it happen, I have never been to a tea factory.  More tomorrow…

 

 

Clinic Day Two

This morning started with an announcement that no one wanted to hear, the water tank is empty.  Seems there was some problem with the pipe that was supposed to be keeping the tank full, so we had to make some adjustments.  Kenyans rapidly brought water from across the compound to fill the tanks, the plumber was dispatched to buy parts, and the local water department guy, a church member, was asked to bring water in his pickup to get the tank up and running.  It was a minor inconvenience, but it reminded me of how many different things it takes to keep Americans satisfied. 

These team members have been real troopers, with very few complaints.  They take the surprises in stride and keep on serving, but Kenyan orphans require a lot less to keep them going.  Running water is not common in this part of Kenya, neither is power or indoor plumbing.  Our place here has them all, even if we are lacking a power company connection.  The new generator has been great at lighting and even making coffee, but it balked at the 5400 watt instant hot water heaters that are used here.  As a result, showers are cold and quick.

Breakfast was bread and butter, with hot chocolate and bananas, and our team eagerly consumed it while preparing for our 9am clinic start.  We had fewer kids to see today, and all the bugs had been worked out of the system.  Kids from Lee McGraw started their walk early, and arrived just as we began clinic.  Everything ran very smoothly.  So much so, in fact that Todd, Susie, and I were able to take a few hours today to walk up to Lee McGraw Orphanage.  

See pics on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/kwominstries

The road was recently damaged by heavy rains, so a vehicle cannot pass.  Three Kenyans accompanied us on the journey.  Dan, the manager at Lee McGraw, Victor, a WBS name-getter, and Washington, a local church member.  Along the 5km long, very hilly road, we took a side trip over to see the Sondu River up close.  It is moving very fast and the sound was awesome.  We were able to reach the orphanage in just over an hour and toured the place with our Kenyan friends and the widows.  The place looks good, but as an experienced overseer I caught a few things for them to correct!

On the way back we found several Kiosks had popped up, no doubt alerted to the presence of mzungu by our earlier passing, and we wereable to buy fresh avocados, bananas, mandazi, and even a stick of sugar cane for Todd.  We also were able to meet a former preacher from the area who had lost his sight.  We met him a few years ago and it was good to see him again.  He has a beautiful, sharp mind but his disability in a place with no "accessability" provisions makes it impossible for him to do the work of spreading the gospel the way he once did.

It was a very interesting, though tiring walk.  I love getting out and moving at a slower pace around these places when I can, it helps to understand the context that they live in.  When we retuned the team was at lunch and we shared our produce bounty with them and enjoy our meal as well. 

The rest of the day went very well. With our Kenyan nurses fully trained, the team hit high gear. We were able to see 125 kids in about 10 hours.  Good thing since tomorrow we will have over 140!  As we finished up, the rains came.  It rained for several hours and then off and on all night.  Being from Midland, it's hard to pray for the rain to end, but since I have to drive the road I justwalked in the mud, I really want it to stop.

Thomas surprised the team tonight with several large jugs of hot water, heated in the kitchen.  We were able to take warm sponge baths for the first time since we arrived.  That was really awesome.  Thomas is still adjusting to being a hotelier.  I'm sure he thinks orphans are easier, too.

Clinic Day One

Finally!  This is what we came here to do.  Today was the first day of clinic, where we begin to do health screenings, vision screenings, dental screenings and real dentistry for our orphans in this area.  Today was for the Dirubi Orphanage (130 kids), tomorrow we will do their feeding station and nearby Lee McGraw Orphanage (110 together).  Then on Thursday we will do Lee McGraw Orphanage and Sondu feeding station (140 combined). On this trip we are able to set up once here at the Vocational Training Center, and have the kids walk down from their homes to us.  This saves us a lot of time packing, setting up, and driving to hotels, like we usually do.  The team all agrees that this is a much better way.

 

Before the clinic opened, I began to teach the directors from all of our orphanages how to build tippy-taps.  This cool invention, which Becca Yocham found on the internet, is a way that kids can have a hand washing station nearly anywhere, and can be built with easy to find, local materials.  The plan is to have one outside every choo (latrines) at our orphanages and feeding stations. You can read more about these at tippy-tap.org.  Also you can see our pictures from the day at facebook.com/kwoministries, assuming the network is stable enough for me to upload.

 

As the kids began to arrive, they first washed their hands with the tippy-tap.  Then they were greeting inside and Rhonda Jones did a demonstration of good hand hygiene, using the black light and special hand cream to show how much dirt and germs remain after washing, then by demonstrating the proper way to wash your hands.  The kids really love the hands-on and the activity really helps break the ice.

 

Next, the kids went to Elise Howard's station where she demonstrated how to brush your teeth and floss.  Each kids gets a flosser and a new toothbrush with cover.  She also brought her guitar to play for the kids, and let them play with as well.  She has been a big help.

 

After tooth-brushing each patient sits down with SheriHoward and a translator to take a medical history and discover any health concerns.  She writes their comments on a patient record card that follows each one from station to station.  This is sometimes a tedious process, as communication between two different cultures and languages is difficult.  While the kids wait on the doctor, they have a vision screening.  Todd Yocham, Becca, Shelly Durham and several of the Kenyan nurses have taken turns at this station.

 

Doctor Howard then meets with each one, trying to help with their health complaints.  Mostly he is respiratory problems and skin issues, but there have been other issues as well.  His son, Daniel has been acting as the pharmacist, dispensing prescriptions according to his dad's directions and also for the dentists.

 

Next the dentists do a quick screening and decide weather they need any fillings or extractions. If not, they are given a fluoride treatment, de-wormed, and sent on their way.  If further dental work is required, these Doctors are well equipped.  We brought a new portable dental machine, giving them the ability to do fillings and complicated extractions with air, water, drills, and suction.  There is also another small drill, and suction machine so the two dentists, Bob Sears and Reno Sonneberg can work simultaneously.  Ruth Sears is supervising the dental side and rotation our Kenyan nurses through the stations so they can see in a practical way how to do many of the simpler processes.

 

Things went very well on this first day and we were able to see everyone, though it took working til 7:30pm to do it.  Tomorrow we plan to streamline operations a bit and try to be done earlier.  Also we are having to adjust to a Kenyan meal schedule.  They typically eat lunch at 2 and dinner as late as 8.  Tomorrow there will be adjustments for that as well. 

 

After we closed up shop, we went to the Dirubi Orphanage for evening devotional.  Their chorus sang us beautiful songs in the near-dark and Thomas delivered an inspiring, short lesson.  He is really a good preacher.  I can't wait to see him in the pulpit at GCR some day.  It was a very long day, but our team was ecstatic with all we had accomplished.  Tomorrow, should be even better.

Nurse’s Training Day

Today was the day that Ruth and Bob Sears and Cheri and Kris Howard have been working very hard for the last several months.  All of the nurses from the clinics at all of our orphanages were here today to learn from our American doctors and nurses. 

Our doctors have been developing a curriculum to teach some basics to these nurses, who have a wide background of training.  Some were midwives, some medical techs, and some have had a 1 year nursing course.  Not knowing the exact educational level of all the nurses, they decided to start simple.  Even I could understand most of it.

There were lectures on basic diagnostics, wound care, malaria treatment, and other medical issues.  The dentists also talked about how to evaluate a tooth, make a temporary filling for a cavity and make toothpaste from common local ingredients.  The focus for the day was on prevention and a variety of topics were covered from food safety to hand hygiene, and more.

See our pics and like us on Facebook. www.facebook.com/kwoministries

All the nurses were very grateful for the training and attention.  They were each given a medical kit, with samples of common medicines and treatments.  Also each got a notebook, with Swahili translations of all the material.  Mauryn communicated with the doctors by email for the last few weeks, doing page after page of translations so the nurses could have good reference material.

In the afternoon, Susie and I went in to Kisumu for water and other supplies.  We arrived back just as the training was ending.  Then came the prep work for the start of clinic the next day.  There were hundreds of items to prepare, medicines to get ready and new dental equipment to test.  After a very long day, everyone was ready for dinner and bed, but we took a few minutes to share a devotional with the training center kids before we turned in.

Tomorrow we start seeing our orphans for medical checkups and dental exams.  We plan to see over 450 kids in the next three days, so we have our work cut out for us!

The Medical Team Arrives

Saturday, Susie, Mauryn, Francis and I spent the day packing and getting ready for the medical team’s arrival.  Francis brought by his new friend from America, an FBI agent named Troy.  Troy is friends with the Colston’s daughter and is here to help teach the team at MITS some conflict mediation techniques.  While we were visiting with Troy, he asked if we had any volunteers who were from Andrews, where he grew up.  We told him the Sears’ were coming that night and they are from Andrews.  He was surprised to realize that he knew them, having been classmates with their son, Truman in high school.  So we set up a plan to surprise the Sears with Troy Sunday morning.

Check the KWO facebook page for pictures from today.

Later Saturday, we went in town to do last minute shopping for the team and pick them up at the airport.  Francis drove one van, and I drove the other.  It was like my final exam for Kenyan driving, Nairobi city driving, also know as urban warfare.  I managed not to hit anything and we made it to the airport around 7:30.  The team was set to arrive at 9pm, but it takes that long to find a parking place at the airport.  It takes skill, teamwork, and ruthlessness to get a parking spot, but we managed.

The medical team arrived on time, and all baggage arrived with them.  That in itself is a miracle.  We spent more than an hour in the airport parking lot loading the vehicles, as all baggage had to be tied on top with our the new tie downs that we brought from the US.  Then we drove on to Kamulu for the night.

Sunday morning, after we surprised Ruth and Bob with Troy, we said a prayer and loaded up for the long journey to Dirubi.  Driving the other van was Arrington, our long time friend, who was very surprised to find me behind the wheel of the second van!  On the way out, we stopped at the Rift Valley overlook to see the view, though it was overcast and somewhat foggy.  I asked Arrington how I was doing and he said I was too fast.  I seemed to remember him being a very fast driver, so I was surprised he was so conservative, but dismissed it as a language problem, or sour grapes.  Turned out he meant something else.

As we approached Niavasha, we found our first Police checkpoint.  I was surprised when they motioned for me to pull over, as they usually do not like to mess with mzungu.  The nice office told me that they had a “sophisticated speed camera” up the road that had clocked me at 92kph, 12kph over the limit.  I doubted the camera story, but kept quiet.  He took my license and went to consult with another officer.  At this point Arrington and Mauryn got involved and tried to find out what they really wanted.  They said that we were going to have to go to the Niavasha Police Station and “post bail” for me for the speeding charge.  They gave my license to a messenger who drove off with it motioning for us to follow.

By this time, the team was getting a little apprehensive.  So was I.  I figured all they wanted was a bribe, but it turns out they really wanted the fine and to charge the American.  So we posted a $35 bail and left, giving the name of our worker in the area who would come on my behalf next week to clear the fine.  So we were on our way again, driving a little slower and an hour late.  We stopped for lunch at the Delemere, our usual roadside haunt and then pushed on to Kericho.  The long diversion was still there, made even slower by our heavily loaded vehicles.  We arrived in Kericho around 5:30.  We made a quick pit stop at the Tea Hotel to borrow their facilities, (Susie managed to shop for soapstone there, again) and then we were off.

The last hour of driving was some of the hardest I have done.  In the failing light, we drove a long, winding, hole-filled road from Kericho to Sondu.  Fortunately, the rain stayed away and we made it fine.  In Sondu, you have to drive through the town to get to the little road to Dirubi.  It feels a lot like driving through the middle of an African block party, and one wrong turn had us wondering if we were stuck. But we pushed through and the team breathed a little easier, at least until we got to the really bad, dirt road to Dirubi.  I wasn’t worried, because I had driven it last week, but some of our passengers were sure we would get stuck.  Finally we arrived in the dark and gave thanks for our deliverance.

We spent a long couple of hours unloading and getting set up for our Nurses’ training Monday, where we are sitting at this moment.   I’ll write more about that tomorrow.